Red Deer Polytechnic celebrated eight individuals at the 2023 Employee Awards of Excellence earlier this week.
An event was held on Tuesday to recognized the employees’ contributions in serving students, the institution and communities through innovation.
“The dedicated employees we celebrate with these awards ensure our continued growth and success as a relevant, learner-centred polytechnic,” said Stuart Cullum, RDP president.
This year, 18 employees were nominated by their peers for demonstrating excellence in innovation, teaching, service to their community or profession and leadership. There were two winners for each of the four awards given out.
Nursing instructor Natalie Ford received one of two Excellence in Innovation awards for her approach to teaching and course development to enhance the learning experience for students.
Guriqbal Munday, industrial research associate at the Centre for Innovation in Manufacturing (CIM-TAC), was the other Excellence in Innovation award recipient. He was recognized for “significant contributions” to RDP’s advanced manufacturing and innovation applied research program, which includes leading the design of a solar panel cleaner for Wash-Bots.
The two recipients of the Excellence in Service award were Krista Baumgartner, operations manager at the Donald School of Business, Science and Computing, and Alicia Cafferata, applied research specialist at the CIM-TAC.
Baumgartner was recognized for her service in creating enhanced programming and fostering an environment of collaboration and diversity. Cafferata was recognized for her talent and expertise in advancing the institution’s capacity to conduct applied research through securing several research grants.
Maggie Convey, a nursing educator and student support chair in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, received the Excellence in Teaching award for her role in the creation of policies and procedures that have enhanced the delivery of RDP’s nursing programming.
Dr. Bryan Rowsell, physical sciences instructor at the Donald School of Business, Science and Computing, received the Excellence in Teaching award as well for his leadership in creating a learner-centric environment to ensure student success, that is built on increased collaboration between instructors to deliver enhanced academic experiences.
Dr. Maureen Toews, former associate vice-president of teaching, learning and research, and Dr. Tonya Wolfe, associate vice-president in applied research, took home the Excellence in Leadership awards.
Toews was recognized for her leadership in creating strong industry and community partnerships in support of applied research and work-integrated learning opportunities for students. Wolfe was recognized for her contributions in growing the applied research programs in the Centres for Manufacturing and Energy Innovation.
For more information about the 2023 Awards of Excellence, including a list of all nominees, visit rdpolytech.ca/excellenceawards2023.
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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