Assiniboine students welcome public to Showcase of Applied Research and Innovation

Students in five programs at Assiniboine Community College are showing off their applied research projects and business proposals this Friday at the Showcase of Applied Research and Innovation.

“Having students work on a project, usually in teams, is a valuable learning experience, in addition to learning how to put a business plan or other project together. This showcase gives the students the opportunity to present their projects to alumni, people in business and the community and to gain valuable feedback in return,” said Bobbie Robertson, Dean of Business.

There are five opportunities for the public to see and hear the major projects created by students in the Agribusiness, Business Administration, Communications Engineering Technology, Interactive Media Arts and Land & Water Management programs.

Among the projects looking for investors:

• Using wood chips instead of sand and salt on winter roads;
• Helping visually-impaired people navigate a building by using a network of beacons to give continuous voice instructions;
• Providing apartment dwellers with composting bins that use red wiggler worms and soil to break down compost materials organically.

Members of the public can “invest” up to $25,000 in play money, named “CACCEY cash” after Assiniboine’s sports mascot, in projects they deem worthy.

9:30 a.m. to noon: Trade Show — Visit the trade show displays in the gym and invest your CACCEY cash.

10 a.m. to noon: Cando Rail Services Idea Pitch Competition — Lecture Theatre, Room 180. Individual students will have 60 seconds to pitch their idea to a panel of judges, followed by 90 seconds of rapid-fire questions. A total of $1,500 will be awarded to the top five pitches.

1 to 3 p.m.: Project Presentations — various classrooms. Business and Agribusiness student groups will make 15-minute formal presentations of their work to a panel of industry judges.

1 to 3 p.m.: Prairie Hearts documentary screening— Lecture Theatre, Room 180. Interactive Media Arts students will screen their Prairie Hearts documentaries.This five-part lifestyle series will soon be available on the Bell MTS Fibe TV1Stories from Home video-on-demand service.

3 to 4 p.m.: Student award presentations — Cafeteria. Student winners of the day’s competitions will be announced at the end of the day.

The event is free and open to the public. It runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 5 in the gymnasium on the Victoria Avenue East campus in Brandon. For details, please visit assiniboine.net/events.

Photo: Mabel Figueiredo won the Best in Show award at the college’s 2018 Showcase of Applied Research and Innovation for her applied research project to protect the breeding grounds of the Western painted turtle in the Boissevain area, south of Brandon.