In this first of a series, Momentum invites a Mohawk College alumnus to speak with a current student in the same program to share advice, wisdom, and understanding of how things change and how they stay the same. In this kickoff Q&A, and in celebration of 50 years of nursing at Mohawk College, 1970 Nursing graduate Jan Brimer speaks with Practical Nursing student Jess Mills, who finished her program in December. She has been hired at Joseph Brant Hospital to work in complex and palliative care.

What has been your path to nursing?

Jan Brimer: I graduated in 1970 from the Hamilton and District School of Nursing (HADSON). That was just before the colleges got involved and took over the nursing programs in 1973 and four local nursing schools became part of Mohawk. I was strongly influenced by my grandmother who was a nurse here in 1918, during the Spanish Flu epidemic. I was fascinated by her stories. I don’t remember deciding to go into nursing, I feel I was born to be a nurse. I worked for 20 years full time and part time at Joseph Brant Hospital before cutbacks came along and I shifted to home care. I retired about five years ago but I still carry my licence and I still do consultations and private visits for a local pharmacy.

Jess Mills: I am a mom of five and I live in Grimsby. I did a Pre-Health upgrade program in 2021 before going into Nursing. High school me said, ‘Who needs science?’ Turns out I did. I have wanted to be a nurse since I was 18 (my grandmother was also a nurse) but I started my family young and I wasn’t able to go back to school until now. I’m not sure how I did it, especially since I was studying online while trying to homeschool some of my kids during COVID, but I blinked and here I am. I just want to be a help to people.

Jess to Jan: When you first started out, what did a day in the life look like?

When I was really new, I was responsible for six or seven patients a day on the short-stay surgery ward. So many of those surgeries are day surgeries today. One of the big differences today is that drugs are administered through IV pumps. When I was starting out, nurses didn’t do intravenous, so we were giving analgesics intramuscularly (needles). It was time-consuming to deliver that way but I prided myself on the fact that patients didn’t feel it too much. Also, we worked eight-hour shifts, first seven days in a row, with two days off, and then five days in a row with four days off. We didn’t have 12-hours shifts like today.

Nurses are now thought of as part of the team but when I was starting out, there was a huge gap between doctors and nurses. Now nurses get the respect they deserve.

Jan to Jess: What has been your most challenging experience so far?

The confidence on placements to ask questions of the doctors and the seasoned nurses. They are rocking their jobs and it’s intimidating as a brand-new nursing student to talk to them. In school, it was the workload and the volume of material to cover in such a short time. Many times, I was up to 2 or 3 a.m. reading and trying to grasp the concepts.

Jess to Jan: When you were first going into nursing, what areas did you want to go into and were there any you never wanted to do?

I didn’t really know what I wanted to do coming out of training but I did know that I didn’t want to do psychiatric nursing. I wasn’t comfortable with that. I loved the surgical ward and the fast turnover there. I just always wanted to do hands-on care.

Jan to Jess: Where do you see your career in five to 10 years?

I know I have found my passion in complex and palliative care. There are so many options in nursing and I do also love mental health work. It’s a difficult but rewarding path there. I do know that I don’t want to be stagnant and stop learning. I see some people who are robots and don’t want to learn new ways of doing things.

Jess to Jan: What has been the hardest thing about nursing?

I never dreamed I would be laid off. It was sudden, devastating and very shocking. I had always been a nurse and I didn’t know what else I would do. I had a couple of odd jobs until a former co-worker got hired for home care and convinced me to apply. Home care staff don’t get enough pay or respect but I took every part-time course at Mohawk College about home care and I found I loved it. So, get experience in hospitals but look at other opportunities, too. There are so many things nurses can do.

Jess to Jan: In a career full of burnout, what’s your advice for a long-lasting career?

If you feel stuck or burned out, go somewhere different or go into something else. Look after yourself. Rely on your colleagues to help you through the tough times. Lean on each other. I still keep in touch with a lot of people I went to school with or who I nursed with early in my career. And make sure you take time to enjoy your family and your time off.

What inspires you about working with patients?

Jess: We see people on their worst day and when they feel their worst. But as a nurse, I am there for them and will do whatever I can to make them feel better. I just think of the patients and their perseverance and I know I can do whatever I have to do, too.

Jan: To see their appreciation at the end. They may not have always liked what you were doing at the time, but they know it was for the best. In palliative, I always just wanted to make it the best it could possibly be for the patient and for the families.

What advice would you give to others considering nursing?

Jess: There is no shame in asking for help when you need it. I was doing my placement at Brantford General Hospital and my child was sick. I had to ask for help. I had to ask for help when I needed a study group. We have to swallow our pride and ask for help. And also, when it’s your passion, you just keep going. I would tell myself it doesn’t matter how much I have to read or write, I’m going to get it done because this is what I want to do.

Jan: Don’t ever stop learning. When I moved to home care, I didn’t like it because I had to work on my own. But I took specialization courses in wound care and I really loved to see patients through their journey from pre-op to post-op and back home again. I did a lot of palliative care, too. And I found that very rewarding. But when I first studied wound care, I felt so intimidated. There was so much I didn’t know. Then I took an ostomy course and that was worse. At that time, I was working and dealing with my kids. But I got through somehow.

What sets a nurse apart in the health care system?

Jess: For me, I have a huge passion for advocating for my patients. Nurses have an ability and drive to advocate because they have the knowledge and spend the time with the patients. If we have to repeatedly go to a doctor or a manager, then we will.

Jan: I was also going to say advocating. In a home care setting, we are always trying to get more services and resources for patients and families at home. It’s always about getting your patients the care they need. If you have to step on some toes or tick someone off, so be it. You have to know how to get what the patient needs. Whether it’s 52 years ago when I graduated or this year when you are, the nurse is at the heart of the system.

50 years of Nursing at Mohawk College

The Mohawk College Nursing program began in 1973 when four schools of nursing – Brantford General School of Nursing, Hamilton Civic Hospitals School of Nursing, St. Joseph School of Nursing and the Hamilton and District School of Nursing (HADSON) – came under the College’s oversight.

That move, initiated across the province by the Ontario government, had the support of the College of Nurses. It reflected the growing belief that nurses would have more professional status and career opportunities with a post-secondary college education.

Those predecessor schools had been training nurses for more than 100 years. Three were directly attached to hospitals, while HADSON was an independent school sponsored by the Hamilton Health Association (formerly the Mountain TB Sanatorium) and was located on the Hamilton Mountain brow.

It was an enormous task to bring those four schools, still operating in their existing locations, into one program, says Rosemary Knechtel, who was teaching at the HADSON school at the time of the transition.

She went on to be Mohawk’s Dean of Health Sciences and Human Services and then Vice President Academic before retiring in 2010 after a 39-year career at the College.

“All of the schools had very good reputations. The programs were rigorous and nurses took a lot of pride in where they had gone to school, so there was a sense of loss and a grieving process at first. But bringing the programs together with Mohawk College meant building on all their strengths to create something new and highly successful.”

In 1978, a newly renovated HADSON facility became home to all of Mohawk College’s Hamilton-based nursing students and was named the Chedoke campus. The Brantford site continued until it was eventually closed.

Faculty and staff from all the predecessor nursing schools established careers at Mohawk College, says Knechtel.

She was a graduate of HADSON and took advantage of a “sandwich” program in which students went to Western University for a year, then to HADSON for two years and then back to Western for a final year. They earned a nursing diploma, along with a bachelor’s of science in nursing.

“It was a very innovative program and there were only a few of them in Ontario at the time,” says Knechtel, who went on to earn a master’s degree at McMaster University.

The merger of the four schools into Mohawk College built on their great programs and paved the way for what came later, including a problem-based curriculum, new programs in Practical Nursing and Personal Support Worker, a Practical Nursing partnership with Six Nations Polytechnic, and a great deal of global outreach to improve nursing programs.

It also laid the foundation for a partnership with McMaster University on a Nursing degree program – the first in Ontario – and a new joint facility in the Institute for Applied Health Sciences that is home to Mohawk’s nursing programs, says Knechtel.

“It has been a very deep and productive relationship between McMaster and Mohawk and it’s been a model for others,” she says.

“The Nursing programs at Mohawk College are well recognized and so respected for graduates who provide top-notch care because they were founded on these strong predecessor schools, the enthusiastic support of Mohawk College and later on the partnership with McMaster University in 2001.” 

This story originally appeared in Momentum Magazine.

Varsity athletes might get a lot of the glory but it takes 150 people to make Mohawk College’s Department of Athletics and Recreation operations run smoothly.

“So much of what we do goes beyond varsity athletics,” says Director Matt Ferreira. “We are one of the largest employers of students on campus. We employ close to 100 students across our department.”

All told, the Athletics department employs 150 people, including coaches and assistant coaches and four full-time administration staff.

The department instituted a high-performance culture and structure for varsity athletics a few years ago but that mindset extends into every aspect, says Ferreira.

The student employees in Mohawk College’s Athletics department work in facilities management, manage intramurals, extramurals, and drop-in sports, broadcast games, write game-day stories, post on social media, set up for game day, and act as commentators, statisticians and table staff.

Students also serve as team managers, handling team uniforms, setting up equipment and assisting the coaching staff for the nine varsity teams.

Mohawk College is home to the state-of-the-art David Braley Athletic and Recreation Centre (DBARC), which houses three gymnasiums, a fitness centre with a weight room, cardio equipment, and walking track, a multi-purpose fitness and spin studio, two outdoor basketball courts, multiple socialization areas, and meeting and office spaces.

Managing those facilities requires a team of 52 students, who are either employed or on co-op placements, says Facilities Supervisor Ashley Mamone, who’s been with the Athletics department since 2018.

The Facilities team interacts with Mohawk students, athletes, faculty, staff and community members who rent gym space. They check in facilities users, clean and maintain equipment, help out with intramural and extramural leagues, provide customer service, and provide game-day set up and tear down.

“We ensure that all programs – varsity, intramural, extramural and community – operate smoothly.”

“This is a busy place and very customer service-focused. The people who typically are interested in working here aspire for a sports-centric career. This shows them what the day-to-day operations are all about.”

“There are incredible opportunities here from a student staffing perspective. This is a big operation and we are really proud of it.”

Recreation Therapy student Alysson Claxton works in facilities within the Athletics department as a Wellness Customer Experience Representative.

“Athletics is a great environment to work in. I’m a very go-go-go person and there is always something going on. I love coming to work every day.”

This story originally appeared in Momentum Magazine.

Analytics for Business Decision Making, a one-year post-graduate certificate, helps mid-career professionals learn the tools and skills of data.

A second cohort of students is finishing a one-year post-graduate certificate focused on Analytics for Business Decision Making.

The certificate offers executive course delivery in afternoons and evenings, with a mix of face-to-face, self-directed, and live online courses.

It requires no prior programming or statistics experience and develops skills that are applicable to any industry.

Students work with real businesses individually and in teams to develop insights from their data.

Anand Nair says the program offers a solid grounding in industrial tools that aid in business decision-making through data modelling and structuring streams of data, along with how to communicate data analytics with colleagues and supervisors and the basics of programming in multiple languages.

He has a bachelor degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA in finance and worked in mergers and acquisitions for three years in his native India.

“I decided that data analytics would be a good extension for me. Only a few colleges in Canada offer analytics for business decision-making programs like this one. I felt the faculty and the industry experience was great at Mohawk.”

His classmates come from diverse backgrounds, have a range of industry experience and come from around the world.

Mergers and acquisitions are all about numbers in balance sheets and profit and loss statements. Using data analytics adds a huge advantage.

“Predictive modelling is most fascinating for me. Using data to predict future trends is mind-boggling to me,” he says.

Nair anticipates he’ll work in finance but is also interested in marketing.

“Data can help us predict the human mindset.”

Anh Nguyen is in the program to build her skillset within her human resources field.

“I realized that data analytics is a necessary skill because HR policies need to be backed up with data so they are of the most benefit.”

Nguyen, who has worked in the banking field in her native Vietnam, says data has to be used to answer questions.

“Without answering questions, the data is useless. The first semester is about the technical tools and the second semester has a focus on answering business questions and how to tell the story of the data.”

Nguyen says she chose Mohawk’s graduate certification program because it’s highly practical, hands-on and project-based.

“It’s an intense workload but there so much demand for this knowledge in so many fields. It’s a perfect blend of technical, business and communication skills.”

This story originally appeared in Momentum Magazine.

Cross-country runner Matias Tessel and basketball guard Stefan Anisko balanced varsity athletics with their studies in Aviation.

Two Aviation Maintenance students made big contributions this past season as Mohawk Mountaineers varsity athletes.

Cross-country athlete Matias Tessel has qualified two years in a row for the national championships and was named both seasons to the all-Ontario second team. In 2021, the team finished with a bronze in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) and last year, finished fifth in the OCAA.

Tessel only began running cross-country three years ago when he decided in 2020 to transfer to Mohawk College. For the two previous years, he had been a sprinter at Wilfrid Laurier University.

“It is a different type of training to go from sprinting to cross-country. The transition was difficult at first and I got injured from over-training. I’m a very competitive person and I just went too hard.”

Tessel, who is from Guelph, says he had to adjust to committing more time to training each week.

“We run 8 kilometres. We do hills and forests, generally in a 2-kilometre loop. That requires building endurance and strength.”

It’s tough to balance varsity athletics with an intense, hands-on program, but Tessel says he managed through concentrating on time management. That included studying ahead, waking up early to run in the morning or squeezing a run in on his lunch break.

Tessel, who is captain of his team, is a “valuable teammate and a very important part of this department,” says Athletics Director Matt Ferreira.

The team of six men and four women trains year-round under coach David Hopton, who coaches triathletes at McMaster University. There is a new high-performance focus in an effort to become one of the elite cross-country schools in the country.

Stefan Anisko, a first-year Mountaineer basketball player, loves the hands-on work in Aviation Maintenance and the state-of-the-art facility at the Hamilton International Airport.

“It’s a great program and I’m really enjoying it. And we had a great season on the court, so it’s a win-win. My teammates are fantastic and I had a lot of fun.”

Anisko, who is at Mohawk College on a basketball scholarship, also had a great year. Men’s basketball finished the season with a 14-4 record, second-best in the OCAA West Division, and won the OCAA bronze medal. Anisko was awarded the OCAA Sixth Man of the Year award and was named to the OCAA All-Rookie Team after averaging 20 points per game (seventh-best in the OCAA). He also shot 40 per cent from three (eighth-best in the OCAA) and made 46 threes (seventh-best in the OCAA).

“Stefan had an incredible year and made a major impact as a rookie,” says Ferreira.

The team, coached for 16 years by Mohawk graduate and former Mountaineer varsity basketball player Brian Jonker, last won the CCAA national title in 2012.

Anisko’s schedule was intense. Classes run every day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and then he had 90-minute practice four days a week and a weekly workout in the weight room. And once, sometimes twice a week, there were away games, which can be hours away.

“As long as I stayed on top of things, I could manage it. My instructors were very helpful. They were always available and so were my coaches.”

Anisko, who lives in Caledonia, says he enjoyed the travel time to away games because it meant more bonding time with his teammates.

“We are more than a team. We are more like a family.”

Tessel graduates in May but has decided to come back in the fall in order to run another cross-country season.

The College supports its athletes in many ways, says Tessel, including buying professional software that tracks training and performance and providing access to a mental performance coach. He says having a smaller roster of sports at Mohawk College is a strength.

“It’s a small community and everyone knows each other. The high-performance focus means everyone is working together to win.” 

This story originally appeared in Momentum Magazine.

The Sports Information team documents athletic performances and aims to fill the bleachers.

As Mohawk College ramps up its varsity athletics performance, the Athletics department is ensuring the achievements of its athletes are well-documented.

Sports Information Coordinator Satbir Singh was hired in September 2021. He runs the Athletics website, manages all the social media platforms, liaises with external media, and oversees all the stories, photography, videos and news releases produced within the department.

That includes the work of two student journalists who write game recaps and managing the relationship with the Broadcast Media program whose students film home games. There are also student positions in photography, social media and graphic design.

Singh also contributes advance stories for high-profile games.

Singh, a Burlington native, worked at the student newspaper at Brock University for five years and served as a broadcaster for basketball and volleyball games. He then worked at a newspaper in Niagara for two years covering community news and politics.

The opportunity to focus on sports again drew him to the opportunity at Mohawk College.

“All my experiences in student positions were so valuable to me. It’s great to give those experiences to students at Mohawk.”

One of his hires is Alex Macdonell, a Health, Wellness and Fitness student, who is filming all home games and producing highly stylized highlight reel videos (also called hype videos) that are being widely shared on the Mohawk Mountaineers Instagram account.

It’s been a busy year. He’s often filming two games a week, which takes about five hours of time. Then sorting through footage and editing it together takes another 10 to 12 hours.

“I love videography so much that I will make sacrifices to do it. That usually means staying up late.”

Macdonell used money he’s earning to buy new cameras and a computer for his videography work. Wherever his career takes him, Macdonell knows videography will be a part of it.

“I’m investing in myself because I want to make videos my full-time job. I’m always thinking about new ideas for videos. I’d say 70 per cent of my energy and thoughts are about videos.”

Macdonell loves that his videos are shared by players, teams and spectators.

“If we can fill up the bleachers and if I am playing a role in that, I’m happy. My job is to show how good our athletes are. There is nothing like being there at the game.”

“We hope to see the excitement and energy of American collegiate athletics infused into the culture of Mohawk College,” says Singh.

“We are celebrating our student-athletes’ achievements and we want to show future students that Mohawk College is the place to come play.”

Undefeated in the regular season last year, the women’s soccer team have their sights set higher for this coming season.

The women’s soccer team at Mohawk College went undefeated in the regular season last year – the first time that’s been done since 1998 – before falling to Durham College 1-0 in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association’s quarterfinals in October.

Ever since, the squad has been focused on reaching the championship this year and on winning regular season games in an even more convincing way.

“We had a lot of close games last year,” says midfielder Paige Epp. “We hope to get some leads in the first half next season.”

Fourteen of the 18 players from last year are returning this year. And the team has ramped up its off-season training regimen, with several cardio and strength-training days in the gym each week, plus games in an indoor league.

“We will be stronger this year. The games that we should win, hopefully they come easier,” said coach Paul Giannini.

A Hamilton native, he has 20 years of experience in club and league soccer, where he has enjoyed much success.

One of his club teams won a national championship and every player – including Epp – went to Division 1 schools in the U.S. on scholarships.

Giannini was convinced to take the job at Mohawk College when he met Athletics Director Matt Ferreira, who asked him to retool the team under the department’s new high-performance culture.

“I listened to his plans for the department and the soccer team and I decided I wanted to try it. The experience has been fantastic. I love working with the older players. They are motivated and can deliver what you’re asking of them.”

Giannini has focused on recruiting players from degree programs and has particularly zeroed in on Mohawk’s Nursing programs.

“It takes a long time to build the unity of a team and the leadership of student athletes, so four years gives us more time,” he says. “And Nursing students have very good time management and they are committed and focused. They make ideal players.”

Giannini points out that the grade point average necessary to get into the collaborative Mohawk-McMaster Nursing degree program is more than 90 per cent.

“These are young women who work really hard off the field and on the field.”

One of his recruits is Lauren Snider, a recent Practical Nursing graduate who is playing both varsity soccer and basketball. It means a challenging pace, especially September to November when both seasons are running. It means five hours of training and practices a day, followed by a 12-hour placement the next day. On top of that are games, midterms and assignments.

“The best part of playing two sports is I also had double the support from both teams, which makes balancing a lot easier,” says Snider, who has applied for the bridging program to the Mohawk-McMaster Nursing degree program.

If accepted, Snider says she’s looking forward to picking up where the team left off.

“We were undefeated in the regular season of 2022-2023 and with all the talent on the team, I can imagine Mohawk women’s soccer will go even further this year.”

The team plays home games at Tim Hortons Field, making it the only college team to play on a professional field.

“It’s awesome to play at Tim Hortons Field. It steps up your game automatically,” says Epp, who is studying Urban Planning.

And the high-performance varsity model at Mohawk College matches the facilities, say the players.

Centreback Abi Woods, who is team captain, a first team all-star and a Practical Nursing student, says the players and coaches have fully committed to success.

“Each game and practice we are always progressing. Our coaches push us and challenge us and it’s up to us to achieve.”

Epp and goalie Samantha DeHaan both earned nods as Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Athlete of the Week last season.

DeHaan says the demands of her Nursing program sometimes means she has to miss a practice.

“But if I can’t make it, I set aside time to train on my own. Our team never wants to let each other down.”

Epp had decided she wasn’t going to play soccer anymore when she returned from her college in Massachusetts. But Giannini convinced her to put on her cleats for Mohawk.

“It’s a fun but competitive environment here,” she says. “It was the best decision to come back.” 

This story originally appeared in Momentum Magazine.

The Sustainability Office offers a range of roles for students in delivering campus programs.

Sustainability is a key pillar of Mohawk College’s strategic plan and that comes to life in the Sustainability Office, which offers internships, co-ops, employment and volunteer opportunities for students.

The Sustainability Office is able to hire students for its programs through the Sustainability Initiatives Fund (SIF), a partnership between Mohawk College and the Mohawk Students’ Association.

Each year, several hundred students participate in sustainability programs at Mohawk College.

“Many of our programs and services have an engagement, outreach and peer-to-peer component to them, so students are very important to our team,” says Manager Allison Maxted.

They often come from environmental or technology programs, but also come from business, journalism, graphic design and marketing, says Maxted.

“Sometimes students want experience in their field but sometimes they are driven by their personal interests.”

Programs include an e-waste collection program, a bike loan program, free bike repairs and tune-ups, a secure bike cage, a community garden, a local food farm stand on campus, pollinator gardens and a bee apiary that is managed by a beekeeper.

“Most of our programs come from student ideas. We have an idea bank campaign annually and ask students to submit their ideas. The Sustainability Office and a committee that includes three College representatives and three from the MSA decides which programs to choose and how to spend the fund.”

The farm stand sells the food it buys from a local-food wholesaler to Mohawk students and staff at cost. Sales include Bounty Bags, which feature a recipe and all the ingredients for $20.

The Sustainability Office also manages an orientation program, offering reusable water bottles and a filling station, move-in and move-out donation boxes for any items that could go to charities or recycling, and lots of information so that students understand what sustainability means at Mohawk College.

“We try to make a big splash so it’s really visible.”

During the pandemic, the Sustainability Office also managed a mask recycling program that diverted 260,000 masks from the landfill.

The volunteer Green Team, which launched in September, is an opportunity for students to collect hours towards their Co-Curricular Record. Those who contribute five hours get a Green Team designation, along with a sustainability kit that includes reusable mugs, cutlery and dryer balls.

A key function of the Green Team, which has about 30 volunteers registered for this semester, is pop-up teaching at the centralized waste station in the Fennell campus cafeteria to help students understand how to sort properly.

Volunteers also do community cleanups and host workshops, such as a recent one that showed students how to have a wasteless winter break, says Cassi Brennan, Green Team Junior Coordinator.

She is in her final semester of Environmental Technology, working 15 hours a week for the Sustainability Office.

“Sometimes it’s a challenge to balance my studies and work, but because it’s sustainability I love it. I never dread going to work. I’m very happy and grateful to be in this role. I get to work with people who are super passionate about sustainability.”

Eva Dannys managed the community garden last summer after graduating from the Environmental Technician program in April 2022.

Her greatest challenge was getting all the garden plots ready after two years of reduced maintenance during the pandemic.

“The weeds definitely took over and the plants spread. It took a few weeks before we could turn over the gardens to get stuff growing.”

The garden is 51 plots measuring eight feet by four feet. The garden is free to use and simply requires registration in the early spring. Dannys, who now works as a quality control analyst for Collective Arts brewery, also provided advice and guidance about how to plant, grow and harvest vegetables and herbs.

Members have access to gardening tools and to a seed bank of donated seeds.

“You can pick and plant what you want. Everything you could need is on site.”

Last summer, students, faculty, staff and neighbours grew fruits and vegetables in the community garden. A kids’ summer camp at Mohawk College and outpatient rehabilitation patients from St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton across the street also managed plots.

“There is something so satisfying about growing your own food,” says Dannys. “There are a lot of life lessons in gardening and a community garden brings together people with lots of experience and those who have never had a garden. A community garden is so amazing in that way because people can learn from each other.” 

This story originally appeared in Momentum Magazine.

Makerspace and the Digital Creativity Centre help students harness their creative learning. 

Business student Ryan Tshiyoyo uses Mohawk College’s Makerspace every day to design and create new pieces of clothing for the brand he created in high school. 

“If I’m having a bad day, I go to the Makerspace and make a T-shirt and I feel better about myself.” 

Makerspace – part of the Digital Creativity Centre within the Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation – is a place to explore, learn, experiment and create. It provides 21st century learning of digital skills, collaboration, and experiential and applied learning. 

Students, faculty and staff have access to a range of maker equipment and experts who teach how to use it either one-on-one or in group workshops. 

The Makerspace is housed inside the 5,600-square-foot Digital Creativity Centre (DCC), a home to three 3D printers, a laser cutter, a Cricut, a vinyl cutter, a heat transfer machine, a UV printer, a cold roll laminator, a T-shirt press, and equipment to practise coding or build digital devices. It also features a recording studio, editing suite, AV/VR studio and project rooms that feature whiteboards and large monitors. 

“DCC and Makerspace are meant to be a jumping-off point for students to come in and find something that allows them to express themselves in ways they may not have considered before,” says Richard Mader, Manager of Digital Skills. 

“Projects can be fun and recreational but also students are inspired to make things they care about. The sky’s the limit on what can be done in the Makerspace.” 

Students use Makerspace to work on class projects, too. 

“As a college, it’s our mandate to prepare our students for the workforce of tomorrow and the layers of digital and technical skills they will need,” says Marilyn Powers, Director, Academic Technology in the Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation. 

“Supporting digital literacy and helping students master vital digital skills is at the heart of what we do in the Digital Creativity Centre. Employers want to see the digital creativity of students. DCC and Makerspace is a great place to explore that.” 

Tshiyoyo is working to get his upstart “street fashion” brand off the ground. He takes second-hand T-shirts and jeans and upcycles them with his own designs or he produces items from scratch. 

Ryan working on the clothes stamping machine“It’s not a hobby. This is who I am as a person.” 

The range of the equipment available to him in the Makerspace, and the help provided to use it, has been a huge benefit to Tshiyoyo. In a good week, he creates four or five items that he’s adding to his collection. 

“I tell other students about it because so many people are sleeping on what’s there. You are able to build and create so much and try different things,” he says. 

There is a constant buzz in Makerspace, says Noah Giunta, who is one of seven Digital Skills Technicians in the DCC. 

“It’s not quiet like the library but it’s not the cafeteria, either. It is a busy place where people work hard.” 

The DCC offers one-on-one or group sessions in person or online to help students learn how to use the College’s learning management system and other digital tools.

This story originally appeared in Momentum Magazine.

Mohawk students have plenty of job opportunities to work in college labs and innovation centres. 

Deivy Munoz-AcostaDeivy Munoz-Acosta is among 40 students working on applied research projects at Mohawk College through the Campus Student Employment Program (CSEP), part-time contracts and co-op placements. 

A second-year student in the Computer Systems Technician-Software Support program, Munoz-Acosta works in image processing analysis. He evaluates sensor data across a number of parameters to evaluate a blast furnace’s working performance. 

He worked part-time as an international CSEP student in Sensor Systems and Internet of Things (IoT) Lab before being hired as a full-time research assistant last summer. Now, he’s doing a full-time co-op placement there. 

Munoz-Acosta has been working on a project with a national steel manufacturer that uses vision systems employing specialized image processing to determine whether the steel company’s blast furnace is running optimally. 

Other IoT projects have required him to use 3D modelling and coding skills. The lab, which includes seven research assistants, eight to 10 CSEP students and several full-time staff, takes on a great deal of industry work. 

Munoz-Acosta was a research assistant and a professor in electronics and mechatronics in his native Colombia. 

“I love research because you are changing projects and learning new things all the time.” 

He chose to come to Canada to further his career, and after exploring his options, he felt Mohawk College offered the most complete program for him. 

He learned about employment opportunities in applied research when he saw the on-campus applied research department in Mohawk College’s IDEAWORKS. 

“This is a big project and it’s applied directly to industry. It will be an important part of my resumé. This has been a wonderful opportunity for me.” 
 

Career path confirmed

David Brack, who is in his final year of Computer Engineering and Mechatronic Systems, also works in the IoT lab. During the time he worked on the project with a global leading steel manufacturer, he developed a computer vision algorithm based on thermal images. It automates a manual raking process to remove slag from molten steel in the steel manufacturer’s ladle metallurgy facility. 

The system gives the operators real-time feedback and suggestions, with the hope that will increase quality and consistency, says Brack. 

“This project has been a great challenge for me since a lot of the concepts needed, such as computer vision, are taught later in my program. I was also unfamiliar with thermal imaging, which meant I needed to review a large amount of research papers before starting to get familiar with the concepts.” 

His applied research work has demonstrated to Brack that he wants to pursue a career in computer vision and AI. 

“The project was a great opportunity for me to build on the skills I learned at Mohawk while challenging me to be creative and learn concepts outside my education and comfort zone. It forced me to think about what I want to do after I graduate and enabled me to make a plan to achieve those goals.”  

Research in the sky

Mackenzie Van Vliet spent a week experiencing cold like she had never felt before while working in -50C weather in Churchill, Manitoba in January to conduct cold-weather testing of drones for Hamilton-based company Skygauge. She is a research assistant in the Unmanned & Remote Sensing Innovation Centre (URSIC). 

Van Vliet, who is studying in the Digital Health degree program, had never considered working with drones, but when she happened upon a drone demonstration at a fair, she was immediately intrigued. Now she’s interested in how drones can be applied to health care. 

Since landing a job in URSIC, she’s worked on a series of projects, including using drones to measure the volume of ponds and to support police operations, and has landed advanced drone pilot certificate in advanced operations, issued by Transport Canada. 

“I am really excited to have it. I want to eventually become a flight reviewer after I get more flight time and knowledge.” 

She will continue travelling for projects, including back to Manitoba and to Ottawa and St. John, and says her job has exposed her to advanced software and to being involved in project management. 

“I’m part of weekly check-in meetings with clients. Everyone is so supportive in the lab and works really well together as a team,” she says. 

“We are getting to do things that haven’t been done before. If you want to try something, you try it. If it doesn’t work, that’s OK. You try something else.”

This story originally appeared in Momentum Magazine.

It was a banner year for Mohawk’s Advertising students, who earned almost two dozen nods in national and global competitions.

The industry awards piled up for Advertising students at Mohawk College in 2022.

“I think the industry has a lot of respect for our students. Awards are a way of validating what we do at Mohawk,” says Professor Jef Petrossi.

Striving for awards changes the standard of student work, he says.

“They are always reaching for a better idea. It adds an extra level of competitive thinking. That’s great preparation for the industry. Awards prove that you think differently.”

In last year’s One Show student competition, Mohawk College had 11 finalists and Gold Pencil winners in third-year advertising students Catherine Looy and Jan Benavente. The school finished tied for 26th globally.

“Powerhouse ad schools from around the world enter,” says Petrossi.

In Canada’s biggest award show, the Ad and Design Club of Canada (ADCC), Mohawk College also came away with Gold Medal winners in Nick Kidd and Amaris Branco, along with four Silver and three Bronze winners.

In the Applied Arts awards, Mohawk amassed three wins and in the National Advertising Challenge, which asked students to develop concepts for the Toronto Zoo, Nichole Fazzari won Gold.

Kidd and Branco converted a win for their Sleep Country campaign at the ADCC awards into internships and a job offer to join a large agency in Toronto as a team.

“We were over the moon to be named as finalists and to get to go to the awards show. It was so cool to get to see amazing industry work,” says Kidd. “When they announced we had won, we thought we had misheard. We were in shock.”

They got to accept their award on stage and Branco shouted, “Take that, imposter syndrome!”

“It was a fate-changing moment for the both of us,” she says. “I still struggle with imposter syndrome but winning that award definitely helped. I’m here for a reason.”

The College is choosy about the awards programs it enters into, says Petrossi.

“We really focus on the awards that will get us eyeballs in the industry.”

What sets advertising apart is that its awards programs bring industry and student awards together. It is a tremendous opportunity for students to make connections with potential employers, says Petrossi.

Petrossi, who has taught at Mohawk for 15 years, says the college encourages its students to build portfolios that show a diversity of ideas, sectors, brands and platforms.

“Advertising is a thing without a right answer. Portfolios are often received differently by different people. But if something has won an award, people will look at that work differently, even if they didn’t like it, because they know a team of judges has liked it.”

Anisa Rouhani has earned five awards in industry competitions, along with a faculty award. Her honours include a win at the 2022 Applied Arts Awards for a Grey Poupon campaign called “Hip Hop’s Favourite Condiment.” She also earned two Silvers in the ADCC awards in 2022.

Now in her last year, Rouhani is serving as junior art director at an agency in downtown Toronto.

While Rouhani appreciates the awards, it is her instructors who stress that they will open doors in the field.

“It’s great to get the recognition that what I’m doing is good.”

Both Kidd and Branco have high praise for Mohawk’s program, which is split into two streams: creative and business/strategy. Students have a common curriculum in first year and choose their stream for years two and three.

“I feel lucky to have enrolled in the best Advertising program in Canada that anyone can find,” says Kidd.

“For an exceptional advertising education and portfolio building experience, I highly recommend Mohawk College,” says Branco. 

This story originally appeared in Momentum Magazine. 

A new Bachelor of Business Administration-Trades Management is a three-way collaboration between Mohawk, George Brown and Algonquin colleges.

Mladen Ivankovic learned about Mohawk College’s new Bachelor of Business Administration-Trades Management program through a LinkedIn post. He was immediately intrigued and contacted a dean at Mohawk. He was granted entry into the fourth semester in September 2022 based on his previous diploma.

BBA-Trades is a degree completion program in collaboration with George Brown, Algonquin and Mohawk colleges. Those with apprenticeship/journeyperson training, or trade-related diploma programs are eligible for advanced standing.

“It is exactly what I was looking for. I’m looking at expanding my career development into project management and handling budgets and timelines and I want to know more about the corporate finance and accounting side so that I can get into management.”

The program focuses on the business administration, managerial, accounting, project management, leadership, communication, application of data to make decisions and applied research competencies needed by people working in or with the skilled trades to grow their own businesses, take on greater responsibilities in their current work environments, or pursue management careers.

“It’s a great program. The advantages of having three colleges involved is that there is a broader spectrum of instructors who are involved. These are experts in their fields.”

Ivankovic says the program is demanding but practical.

“We came to Canada as refugees from Serbia. I learned a lot from my parents about perseverance. They had to rebuild their lives in a new country with two young children.”

His father was an assembly line worker at Ford in Oakville and his mother – a nurse in Serbia – studied at Mohawk College to become an RN in Canada.

“She balanced it all, so I know I can. My parents are my mentors and my idols. I have so many opportunities in front of me because of them.”

Ivankovic was working at Ford when he quit to go to Mohawk for Electrical Engineering Technology. He graduated in 2018 before working for an electrical company in Chatham and then as an engineering services technician at Burlington Hydro in 2020.

“With a full-time job, it’s a challenging workload. Time management is critical. You have to stay on top of things. You can’t fall behind. It’s achievable if I set time aside for studying.”

That means waking up at about 4 a.m. and working well past dinner to fit it all in. He also studies hard on weekends.

Ivankovic has his eyes set on doing an accelerated Masters of Business Administration at McMaster.

“This program is giving me the education background that will grow my career.” 

This story originally appeared in Momentum Magazine.