Civil Tech Grads Meeting Brandon's Infrastructure Needs

Graduates of Assiniboine’s Civil Technology program are playing critical roles in Brandon’s infrastructure projects.

The City of Brandon’s Engineering Division has a number of large infrastructure projects on the go, preparing for future growth. Among those projects is the Southeast drainage project, the Southwest lift station and North Hill water and wastewater upgrades.

From drafting and design to materials testing, to contract administration, to project management, Assiniboine graduates are involved at every stage of that process.

Teresa Grime graduated from the Civil Technology program in 2016 and is now employed as a project manager in the City of Brandon’s engineering department.

“I do a variety of projects, anything from streets and roads to underground with sewer and water. My day-to-day is managing the whole project, making sure that everyone is where they’re supposed to be, when they need to be there,” she said. “And, contract administration as a whole for each project.”

Rylee Martin, a 2019 Civil Technology grad, is working for the City of Brandon as a design and inspection technician.

“In the winter, I help draft and design our capital projects, under the supervision of engineers. And then, in the summer, we tender out those capital projects to be completed by contractors. And so, I am on-site during the summer, when construction is happening, to ensure that all of our specifications are being met.”

Andy Brauer, another Civil Tech grad, is in charge of materials testing for the City of Brandon. He told us that after moving to Canada from Germany, he couldn’t find a construction job. “I made a decision to go to [Assiniboine],” he said. “This opened different opportunities.”

After working for several years with Manitoba Infrastructure, Andy was hired to manage the City of Brandon’s materials testing lab.

“It was a little bit difficult, because the lab was at this point empty,” he said. “But now, we have two and one-half employees, doing quality control testing for all asphalt, aggregates and concrete density shots. We do quality control. We do soil drilling, investigations for future projects.”

Kyle Winters graduated from the Civil Tech program in 2009, and is now the City of Brandon’s manager of design and construction. He acknowledges the major role that the program played in his career development.

“The program was really important for me. It kind of just really opened a window as to all the different opportunities that were available after you completed the Civil Tech program. That meant getting into surveying, inspection, design, and eventually moving into being a supervisor and then a manager,” he said.

“I’m actually working toward becoming a licensed engineer. EGM (Engineer Geoscientists Manitoba) is starting to offer those who have significant experience in the engineering field the opportunity to become licensed, similar to what a P.Eng (Power Engineer) would be.”

Reflecting on her time as a student in the Civil Tech program, Teresa said, “It gives you a good overview of all the parts of municipal infrastructure. And, in my day-to-day job, I have to deal with all those different parts when it comes to streets and roads construction, and then it’s underground, doing sewer and water replacements. I found that the program prepared me as a whole for all those roles.”

Rylee agrees, and said, “Going into [Assiniboine], I really didn’t know anything about civil engineering, and the school definitely helped gave me an idea and understanding of what the job entails. The biggest benefit of going to school is the work experience program, where you get to be right in the field, and you get to learn that hands-on experience.”

From his perspective as a manager who now hires and supervises graduates, Kyle said, “Over the last ten years or so I think we’ve hired 15 to 20 Assiniboine grads. It provided an opportunity for me and then opened my eyes to what some of the other students that were coming out of the program were capable of.”

As Brandon works to develop infrastructure to serve the city for decades into the future, the opportunity for Assiniboine’s Civil Technology grads to work with industry and contribute significantly to future growth is vital to achieving a shared objective for the community.