To better equip students for the needs of an evolving economy, several Lethbridge Polytechnic programs have aligned with industry and community members for projects that provide valuable insight and feedback.
"Projects and showcases are an important part of advanced applied learning, giving our students unique opportunities to test ideas and theories while aiding in the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills," says Dr. Kenny Corscadden, vice-president - academic and research. "Through deliberate connections with industry and community partners, students receive valuable feedback that helps them refine their plans and build confidence in advancing their ideas."
One such showcase involves students in the polytechnic's Virtual and Augmented Reality (VXR) program.
"When people think of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), they often associate them with entertainment: video games, movies and similar experiences," says Trinh Simpson, instructor, Centre for Trades. "In the VXR program, we encourage students to explore ways to develop virtual experiences for different tasks, such as immersive safety training, interactive learning and more. VR and AR can improve how we do so many things; we just need to ask the right questions."
Each September, students in the one-year VXR certificate program begin developing virtual experiences that meet the needs of an industry partner. This year, student groups were asked to propose and create virtual safety training experiences for the Alberta Construction Safety Association, and AR-based learning and engagement experiences for community events hosted by the Lethbridge & District Exhibition.
Students also partner with Lethbridge Polytechnic's Spatial Technologies Applied Research and Training (START) Centre, giving them access to on-campus researchers who can assist in bringing their ideas to life. START helps facilitate workshops so students can develop and practise their ideation and presentation skills in preparation for showcases.
On March 13, VXR students took their presentations to a START Centre event funded by the Regional Innovation Network of Southern Alberta (RINSA). Here, students pitched their ideas and concepts to industry leaders to gather feedback, constructive criticism and insight into their projects. Using this valuable input, students will prototype their ideas or develop a proof of concept for final presentations to industry partners in April. Students will also have the opportunity to share their presentations at the START Centre's exhibit at Inventures, an annual tech community event hosted by Alberta Innovates.
Held May 21 to 23 in Calgary, Inventures connects start-ups and learners with visionary leaders, innovative thinkers and industry pioneers. Students will pitch their ideas and receive direct feedback from these industry professionals and experts, which can aid students' goals of further refining their ideas and even produce internship and job opportunities.
"Presenting to Inventures is almost like the student's first business presentation," says Simpson. "Over the year, they developed, researched, created and refined a visual concept as a business pitch. These opportunities give students a front-row seat to the big leagues, learning what works and what doesn't."
Five additional student showcases and symposia are scheduled in other polytechnic programs:
- Bachelor of Criminal Justice (BCJ) students will present their final research projects at 1 p.m. on March 29, after the Public Safety Applied Research in RINSA event. More than 40 fourth-year students will present their findings from the self-driven research projects they completed during their final year in the degree program. These students will also be the polytechnic's first BCJ graduates.
- Students enrolled in Agriculture Sciences, Engineering Design Technology, Civil Engineering Technology, Geomatics Engineering Technology and Environmental Science programs will present final projects to instructors and peers at the Lethbridge Polytechnic Student Applied Research Symposium held at noon on April 4 in two primary locations on campus. Opening and closing remarks will be held in the Swing Space (AN1804), with poster presentations taking place in the main Trades, Technologies and Innovation Facility hallway and rooms TT1939 and TT1940.
- Students enrolled in the Interior Design Technology, Architecture Animation Technology and Virtual and Augmented Reality programs will take part in the School of Spatial Technology's Vanguard Student Showcase at 5 p.m., April 11 in The Cave (CE1300).
- Multimedia Production students will present their capstone projects, which include animation, 3D content, graphic design, branding, video, website and other digital projects to instructors and peers at 11 a.m., April 24 in The Cave (CE1300).
- Students enrolled in the Computer Information Technology (CIT) program's Systems Analysis and Design course will hold team project presentations starting at 9 a.m. on April 25 and 28 in the E.C. Fredericks Theatre (CE1365). These presentations will showcase the culmination of students' entire second year of work in the CIT program, where they designed custom database systems for real-world businesses. Throughout the year, students learned to understand business needs, design solutions, and perform the full development and implementation processes. They will be demonstrating the systems analysis techniques they employed and the software solutions they developed.
