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“THEIR STORIES MATTER” STEPHANIE JOE BRINGS INDIGENOUS VOICES TO JOURNALISM THE MAGAZINE FOR SAIT ALUMNI Fall 2020 08 MEET THE CHIEF CATALYST A portrait in 7 words 10 FUTURE INSIGHTS From recipients of 7 past Alumni Awards 32 24/7 Inside over- night grocery store renosNo surprise, most of us won’t celebrate this many. It might surprise you to learn that in 2016, there were over 8,000 centenarians in Canada * . As Canadians, we’re fortunate to enjoy a high life expectancy, yet no one ever really knows what the future will bring. So if something were to happen to you, would your loved ones have the fi nancial reserves to be able to pay bills and cover living expenses? Alumni Term Life Insurance can help. It can be used in any way ** your loved ones need and now comes in two plan options – Term Life and Term 10. That’s a fi nancial safety net for your family, any way you slice it. Get a quote today. 1-888-913-6333 or Manulife.com/sait Underwritt en by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company. Manulife and the Block Design are trademarks of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company and are used by it, and by its aff iliates under licence. © 2020 The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company. All rights reserved. Manulife, PO Box 670, Stn Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2J 4B8. *Source: The Star, 100-Year Old Canadians Fastest-Growing Age Group In The Country, 2017. ** Conditions, Limitations, Exclusions may apply. See policy for full details. Accessible formats and communication supports are available upon request. Visit Manulife.com/accessibility for more information. AlumniWELCOME 01 THIS FALL, some 5,700 students whose classes must be delivered in-person are back on campus with their instructors, although SAIT alumni would hardly recognize the daily routine. Everyone enters buildings only through designated doors, in single file, two metres apart. Masks, physical distancing and Plexiglass barriers are mandatory — and so is leaving campus as soon as class ends. The rest of our students and employees are taking classes and working remotely via digital platforms such as Brightspace, Microsoft Teams and Zoom. The pandemic continues to remind us of the importance of community, and this year SAIT’s alumni community reaches an amazing milestone: we are only the second polytechnic in Canada with more than 250,000 alumni. See page 20 to trace our path to becoming a quarter-million strong. Our Fall issue usually profiles SAIT’s Distinguished and Outstanding Young Alumni award recipients, but the pandemic has disrupted even that. The Alumni Awards program is on hiatus for 2020, so we’ve turned to eight awards recipients from past years, asking their thoughts on the future and what it might bring (page 10). The philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” For me, that includes staying curious about current trends and staying WELCOME FORWARD! ADJUSTING TO A WORLD WITH COVID-19 INCLUDES TURNING TO THE FUTURE. enthusiastic about lifelong learning. For SAIT, it means launching the School for Advanced Digital Technology (SADT) and the Centre for Continuing Education and Professional Studies. For alumni, it means responding to what you told us in the 2019 Alumni Survey: you want SAIT to truly be a lifelong learning partner that is relevant in your lives and offers opportunities to retool, retrain and upskill. For ways to get started, check out Are You Future-proof? on page 22 and the special continuing education advertorial sharing this issue of LINK. On the same bright September day that the SADT was officially launched in downtown Calgary, SAIT also introduced our strategic plan, New World. New Thinking. Go behind the scenes on page 6 to experience the excitement and energy behind the development of this visionary blueprint for SAIT’s next five years. This issue also shares stories of a SAIT alumna bringing diverse voices to journalism (page 28) plus, on page 9, tips developed to help students in international culinary competitions develop resilience — surely a key skill for Kierkegaard’s concept of living forward. So what does living forward mean to you? Drop us a line at alumni@sait.ca to share your thoughts. I hope you enjoy this issue of LINK! BRIAN BOWMAN // DIRECTOR, ALUMNI AND DEVELOPMENT KOKEMOR STUDIO PHOTO02 LINK QUICK START THE MAKING OF: SAIT’S STRATEGIC PLAN What was the first step in creating New World. New Thinking., SAIT’s strategic plan for 2020–2025? 06 CONTENTS ON THE COVER After conducting thousands of interviews, journalist Stephanie Joe (JA ’16) is herself interviewed by SAIT trained photographer, Keane Straub, for this issue’s LINK profile. LINK graphic designer, Rebecca Middlebrook (GCPT ‘13) worked closely with Joe in preparation for the shoot. “I wanted to show how Stephanie is at home in multiple worlds at once so choosing a familiar location to her — Calgary’s Nose Hill Park — was key.” 26 09 22 PROFILE: JIM GIBSON A LINK Q&A with Jim Gibson, Calgary connector extraordinaire and the first Chief Catalyst with SAIT’s School for Advanced Digital Technology. 08 EXPERTISE & INSIGHT PRO TIPS Develop resilience in five steps with tips created by Academic Chair Georg Windisch for culinary students when things get dicey. 09 “We have no way to predict what technologies are going to be created and what new tasks will evolve from new technologies — we need to create a nimble and robust framework to respond.” COMMENT RECEIVED DURING SAIT’S STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS 06FALL 2020 FALL 2020 CONTENTS 03 Editor-in-Chief: Brian Bowman Supervising Editor: Astrid Gagnier Managing Editor and Online Editor: Alison O’Connor Editor: Nancy Cope Digital Content Specialist: Nicole Brandt CONTRIBUTORS: Afton Brazzoni, Nancy Cope, Amy Dowd, Colesen Faunt, Jeremy Fokkens, HarderLee Photography, Pat Kane, Kokemor Studio, Kate Kunz (ACA ‘84), Nathan Kunz, Bryce Meyer, Rebecca Middlebrook, Sarah Nealon, Alison O’Connor, Karin Olafson, Provincial Archives of Alberta, Jill Purdy, Zachary Robertson, SAIT Archives, Julie Sengl, Keane Straub, Jared Sych, George Webber, Giselle Wedemire (JA ’13), Michelle Woodard Graphic Designer: Rebecca Middlebrook (GCPT ’13) Copy Editor: Cathi Bishop Advertising Sales: Josh Naud Printing: BP Media Inc. Cover photo: Keane Straub LINK is published twice a year by SAIT Alumni and Development as a service to Southern Alberta Institute of Technology alumni, donors, students, partners, faculty and staff. LINK invites your comments and letters to the editor. Please direct them to alumni@sait.ca. SAIT Alumni and Development 1301 – 16 Avenue NW Calgary, AB T2M 0L4 Phone: 403.284.7040 Address updates: 403.284.8279 For all other inquiries: Fax: 403.284.8394 Email: alumni@sait.ca sait.ca/alumni Publications Mail Agreement No.40064317 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation Department 1301 – 16 Avenue NW Calgary, AB T2M 0L4 LINK is made possible through affinity programs with SAIT’s partner companies: Using the group buying power of SAIT’s 250,000+ alumni, these partners offer preferred insurance rates and comprehensive coverage. When you choose their products and services, you get low group rates and help support SAIT alumni programs and events. FEATURES INTO THE WIND As digital literacy becomes essential, LINK asks eight SAIT Alumni Awards recipients for their perspectives on changes and challenges facing industry, business and not-for-profit — and how the new School for Advanced Digital Technology will make a difference. 10 IT TAKES YOU TO BUILD A COMMUNITY A timeline tracing the path to 250,000 graduates from SAIT — only the second Canadian polytechnic to reach this milestone. 20 ARE YOU FUTURE-PROOF? Where to start when you’re renewing work skills, re-entering the job market or re-imagining what’s next. 22 INNOVATION Two SAIT research projects with the potential to save lives, around the globe and closer to home. 26 IN THE LOOP PROFILE Stephanie Joe (JA ‘16) 28 LOOKING BACK 31 ON THE JOB Meet two specialists in round-the-clock renovations. 32 10 06 3104 LINK FALL 2020 ONLINE CONTENTS CHECK OUT WEB-EXCLUSIVE VIDEO, IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS AND HOT-OFF-THE-PRESS SAIT NEWS BY READING LINK ONLINE! FIND OUR EXPANDED, FULLY INTERACTIVE WEBSITE AT SAIT.CA/LINK. STAY CONNECTED WITH YOUR ALUMNI COMMUNITY, DISCOVER WAYS TO GET INVOLVED, SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS. TELL US WHAT YOU LOVE (AND DON’T LOVE) ABOUT LINK AT SAIT.CA/LINK Read an expanded interview with Bryce Dillabough (CVT ’02) and Red Seal carpenter Lance Nielsen, co-founders of Longboard Construction, talking to LINK writer, Giselle Wedemire, about retail renovations that happen while the rest of the world sleeps. On November 4, SAIT welcomed the Fall Class of 2020 to the SAIT Alumni Family in the second digital convocation ceremony to be held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, SAIT graduated nearly 4,500 students, making the alumni family more than a quarter-million strong. See highlights from the ceremony at sait.ca/link. Stephanie Joe (JA ’16) goes in depth about her career path, childhood inspirations and passion for telling Indigenous stories in an on-camera interview with LINK writer Keane Straub. Plus, see a behind-the-scenes gallery from Joe’s photo shoot in Calgary’s Nose Hill Park. SAIT’s new Strategic Plan reinforces its commitment to equipping graduates with skills for the future. Read the full plan and learn how SAIT is leading change at sait.ca/strategic-plan. BRYCE MEYER PHOTO FAUNT, EARLE, KLAK, ECHARRI PHOTO REBECCA MIDDLEBROOK PHOTO FALL 2020 ONLINE CONTENT 05 SHARED ON SOCIAL Take a look at who shared SAIT news and LINK stories from the Spring 2020 issue: PREFER TO READ LINK ONLINE? Fill out the form at sait.imodules.com/ReadLINK to update your reading preferences. SEVEN WAYS TO STAY CONNECTED WITH SAIT Read LINK online at sait.ca/link @ Update your contact information and send us your email address by visiting sait.ca/alumni and clicking on Stay Connected. @SAITAlumni @SAITAlumni Southern Alberta Institute of Technology @saitalumni Support SAIT alumni- owned and operated businesses with the Alumni Business Directory. Find the list at sait.ca/alumni and fill out the online application to register your business. FAUNT, EARLE, KLAK, ECHARRI PHOTO06 LINK QUICK START THE MAKING OF: SAIT’S STRATEGIC PLAN A GLIMPSE BEHIND THE SCENES AS SAIT CHARTS ITS PATH INTO 2025 “The world has changed. What better time to launch a new strategic plan that positions SAIT as a change agent, preparing people for the workforce of tomorrow …. What’s particularly exciting for me is our promise to equip students with skills needed for the future and the potential for people to have a meaningful, lifelong learning relationship with SAIT.” SONJA CHAMBERLIN // DEAN, SCHOOL OF HEALTH AND PUBLIC SAFETYQUICK START 07 Flashback to February 2019. Across the 70-plus giant Post-it Notes plastering the walls of SAIT’s Trojans Gymnasium, hundreds of vibrant ideas are outlined in colourful scribbles and hurried handwriting. At this strategic planning Town Hall meeting, instructors and staff are firing on all cylinders, imag- ining SAIT’s course over the next five years. It’s the first of many brainstorming sessions to come — sessions that will ultimately involve 1,831 alumni, staff, students and industry members. In all, SAIT’s strategic planning team gathers 3,000 written comments, hosts 28 school and department sessions, conducts eight focus groups, and analyzes more than 1,200 survey responses. Common themes quickly emerge, including these comments: “Diversity, inclusion and equity should be the foun- dational lens through which we operate.” “Leverage more online, mobile learning, targeting a new generation of students and their digital needs.” “Bridge technical programs with business, financial, management and essential skills.” “Be the leader in lifelong learning and continuing education in Alberta.” And so a plan took shape. Just a year after the process started, SAIT’s 2020–2025 strategic plan, New World. New Thinking., was approved by the Board of Governors. It was announced publicly on Sept. 9 as part of a combined — and physically dis- tanced — live and live-streamed event that launched a key SAIT strategic initiative: the School for Advanced Digital Technology. “Re-evaluated against current circumstances, this is the right plan for our evolving world,” SAIT Presi- dent and CEO, Dr. David Ross, said during the event. “Skills for the future, learning for life, global per- spective, industry driven — it’s right for the future ahead of us, and continues what I believe is this institution’s long history of adaptation, innovation and delivering job-ready graduates.” Read SAIT’s strategic plan at sait.ca/strategic-plan Following the launch, the Chair of SAIT’s Board of Governors, Scott Thon, said: “SAIT’s foundation for more than 100 years has been to develop career- ready graduates. “Today, the pace of change affecting industry has greatly accelerated. Guided by the 2020–2025 strate- gic plan, SAIT has a renewed commitment to ensuring that our graduates, whether they be starting a career or changing their career, have the next-generation skills industry needs to drive our economy.” Among the thousands of comments gathered during the strategic planning process was this one from Art Kung (EMT ’90), a chaplain with SAIT’s Interfaith Centre. “Innovation isn’t limited to methods or tools — it’s infused into the DNA of our students and staff,” he wrote. “This strategic plan will affect the work we do, and more impor- tantly, the people we become.” —with files from Amy Dowd, photos by Jill Purdy FACING PAGE AND ABOVE In 2019, brain- storming sessions like this one — hosted on campus by SAIT’s strategic planning team — helped gener- ate ideas for charting SAIT’s next five years from more than 1,800 alumni, staff, students and industry partners. Next >