The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) is a applied sciences institute in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. NAIT provides careers programs in applied research, technical training, applied education, and learning designed to meet the demands of Alberta's technical and knowledge-based industries. NAIT offers approximately 120 credit programs leading to degrees, applied degrees, diplomas, and certificates. As of 2018, there are approximately 16,000 students in credit programs, 12,000 apprentices registered in apprenticeship training, 14,500 students enrolled in non-credit courses, and more than 20,000 registrants for customized corporate based training. NAIT also attracts international students from 94 countries.NAIT (2013).
NAIT Quick Facts
. Retrieved 2013-08-21. NAIT is similar to an

Institute of technology An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

university of applied sciences A university of applied sciences (UAS), nowadays much less commonly called a polytechnic university or vocational university, is an institution of higher education and sometimes research that provides vocational education and grants academic de ...

as termed in other jurisdictions. The campus newspaper, the NAIT Nugget, is a member of the Canadian University Press (CUP).

Programs

The polytechnic confers certificates, diplomas, applied degrees and baccalaureate degrees. NAIT's four-year baccalaureate degrees (Bachelor of Technology in Technology Management and Bachelor of Technology in Construction Management and Bachelor of Business Administration) were launched in 2007. NAIT is one of the largest apprenticeship trainers in Canada offering 31 registered trades programs.

History

In 1959, the Alberta provincial government decided to build an Edmonton facility to supplement apprenticeship and vocational training, which was at the time handled by the Provincial Institute of Technology (PITA) in Calgary. The new institution would be named the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) and PITA would be renamed the

Southern Alberta Institute of Technology The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) is a polytechnic institute in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. SAIT offers more than 110 career programs in technology, trades and business. Established in 1916, it is Calgary's second oldest post-se ...

(SAIT). Construction of the new facility began in January 1962. The first class was enrolled in October, a group of 29 Communication Electrician apprentices. NAIT officially opened on May 27, 1963, with a ceremony led by Premier Ernest Manning. The first graduation ceremony happened in 1965, with a class of 326 graduates. In 1982, the government transferred control to the new Board of Governors, chaired by Allan McCagherty. NAIT has been a leading polytechnic for more than 50 years. The school marked its 50th anniversary in 2012.

Campus

The institute has four campuses located in Edmonton and Spruce Grove: * Main campus at 11762 - 106 Street, Edmonton * Patricia campus at 12204 - 149 Street, Edmonton * Souch campus at 7110 Gateway Boulevard, Edmonton * Spruce Grove campus at 281 Tamarack Drive, Spruce Grove. In February 2019, the Main campus acquired 13.27 hectares of the former Edmonton City Centre Airport with the option for another 3.23 hectares, as well as the 4.8 hectare Westwood Transit Garage to the north. This will enable the closure of the Patricia and Souch campuses, and the construction of a student residence building. The Spruce Grove campus will remain open since its crane and hoisting classes cannot be accommodated at the Main campus.

Mascot

NAIT's mascot is the Ook. This is a shortened version of the Inuktitut word for the

snowy owl The snowy owl (''Bubo scandiacus''), also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding m ...

, ookpik. NAIT was presented this mascot in 1964 by the federal Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources, now

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention * Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band * Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehor ...

. Most of NAIT's sports teams are now called the Ooks as well.

Athletics

The NAIT Ooks compete in the

Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) is the governing body for collegiate sports in Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1964, as the Western Inter-College Conference, the ACAC is represented by eighteen schools, including one in Saskatchewan, t ...

. Ooks team sports include

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

, soccer,

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns slidi ...

, and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

. NAIT's official colours are blue and yellow.

Students' Association

South Learning Centre Edmonton Alberta Canada 01A

The NAIT Students' Association (NAITSA) is composed entirely of current NAIT students. It is led by a four-person elected Executive Council, and governed by an eighteen-person elected Senate (two representatives from the 9 program groups). NAITSA is responsible for running the Nest Taphouse Grill, The NAIT Nugget (campus newspaper), campus events, the student health and dental plan, U-Pass and various other services aimed at enhancing student life.

Techlifetoday magazine

Techlifetoday is the polytechnic's official magazine, focusing on people, technology and innovation. It launched in 2007 as techlife, a print magazine, which later expanded t
techlifetoday.ca
in 2016. Techlifetoday has published exclusively online since November 2018 and has earned numerous industry awards.

Organization

NAIT is organized into four academic schools and one academic department: * JR Shaw School of Business * School of Health and Life Sciences * School of Applied Sciences and Technology * School of Skilled Trades (which includes the Department of Culinary Arts and Professional Food Studies) * Department of Continuing Education

Notable alumni

* Robert Barefoot, (Chemical Research Technology), chemist, author, lecturer * Gil Cardinal, filmmaker * Nolan Crouse, (Chemical Technology, Master of Business Administration), Former Mayor, City of St. Albert, 2007–2017 * Patrick LaForge (Marketing '74),

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

Past President and CEO *

Jarred Land Jarred Land (born May 30, 1975) is an American film producer, cinematographer, photographer, and the current president and co-owner of RED Digital Cinema Camera Company, Red Digital Cinema Camera Company and Red Studios Hollywood. Career In 200 ...

, Red Digital Cinema Camera Company President * Kevin Martin,

Winter Olympic The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were hel ...

gold medalist curler * Ian McClelland (Photographic Technology '65), founder, Colorfast Corporation, former MP for

Edmonton Southwest Edmonton Southwest was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2003. Demographics Geography It was located in the city of Edmonton in the province of Alberta. History ...

and former MLA for Edmonton Rutherford * Bryan Mudryk, TSN SportsCentre anchor * Doug Pruden (Architectural Technology '82), push up

World Record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

holder holds 9 records *

Vince Steen Vince Steen (June 17, 1941 in Aklavik, Northwest Territories – February 3, 2007) was a politician. He served as a municipal councilor of Tuktoyaktuk and later became mayor. Afterwards he was also a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Nort ...

, Northwest Territories MLA * Corbin Tomaszeski (Culinary Arts '92), chef on Food Network's

Restaurant Makeover ''Restaurant Makeover'' is a television series on HGTV Canada that currently airs as reruns on the Food Network Canada and ''HGTV Canada'', as well as the Fine Living channel and Food Network in the United States, DTour and in over 16 other c ...

Bruce Woloshyn Bruce Gerald Woloshyn (born March 22, 1964 in North Battleford, Saskatchewan), son of Gerry & Phyllis Woloshyn. He is a digital effects artist and supervisor. Television credits His visual effects television credits include *'' Andromeda'' *'' D ...

, (Radio and Television Arts '84), Visual Effects Supervisor * Percy Wickman (Finance '69), former Edmonton alderman, and former MLA of

Edmonton-Whitemud Edmonton-Whitemud is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada. In 1989, its constituents unseated the Premier of the day, Donald Getty, by voting for Liberal candidate Percy Wickman. The district was ...

* Olivia Cheng (Radio and Television Arts), Canadian Actress *

Dave Quest David Jonothan Quest is a politician in Alberta, Canada, who was elected to the province's Legislative Assembly on March 3, 2008 as the Progressive Conservative MLA for Strathcona-Sherwood Park. Political career Quest served two terms as MLA ...

(Business Administration '85), Politician, Strathcona-Sherwood Park MLA *

William (Billy) Morin William Morin IV (Cree: *Nahtokitopi*: "Rides a Sacred Horse"; born 1987 or 1988) known as Billy Morin is a Canadian Cree First Nations leader and the elected Chief of Enoch Cree Nation since August 2015. He has built partnerships among Indigenous a ...

, Indigenous leader,

Enoch Cree Nation The Enoch Cree Nation #440 ( cr, script=Cans, ᒪᐢᑫᑯᓯᐦᐠ, ) is a First Nations band government in Alberta, Canada. Members of the Nation are of Cree ancestry and speak the Plains Cree dialect of the Cree language group. The band i ...

Chief, * Morris Panych (Radio and Television Arts), Canadian Actor and Director * Cathy King (Radio and Television Arts), Gold Medalist curler *

Dave Pettitt Dave Pettitthttp://davepettitt.com is a Canadian actor who has performed in commercials, television and voice-overs. Career Since 1995 he has voiced roles for over ten television series and at least five video games.Database (undated)."Filmo ...

(Broadcasting), Canadian Actor and Voice-over Artist *

Barb Higgins Barbara Joan Higgins (born September 21, 1962) is best known in Southern Alberta for her 21 year career as senior anchor, writer and producer of the 6 o'clock news for CTV Television Network, CTV Calgary. As a journalist and documentarian, Higgin ...

(Business Administration and Radio and Television Arts), Television News Anchor and Journalist * Natasha Staniszewski (Radio and Television Arts '55), Sports Reporter and Anchor *

Travis Toews Travis Toews (born 1964) is a Canadian politician elected in the 2019 Alberta general election to represent the electoral district of Grande Prairie-Wapiti in the 30th Alberta Legislature. He was appointed as Minister of Finance of Alberta and ...

(Unknown), Canadian Politician, Accountant, Rancher, Business Owner, Minister of Finance of Alberta and

President of the Treasury Board The president of the Treasury Board () is a minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet. The president is the chair of the Treasury Board of Canada (a committee of Cabinet in the Privy Council) and is the minister responsible for the Treasury ...

. * Bob McLeod (Administrative Management), Politician, Northwest Territories MLA and 12th

Premier of the Northwest Territories The premier of the Northwest Territories is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian territory of the Northwest Territories. The premier is the territory's head of government, although the powers of the office are considerably le ...

* Richard Newman (Radio and Television Arts), Broadcaster and Writer * Bol Kong (Radio and Television Arts), Professional Basketball Player with

National Basketball League of Canada The National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada; french: Ligue nationale de basketball du Canada) is a Canadian professional men's minor league basketball organization. The NBL Canada was founded in 2011, when three existing Premier Basketb ...

(NBL) and NBA Draft. Named All-Canadian at NAIT. *

Pierre Lueders Pierre Fritz Lueders (born 26 September 1970) is a Canadian Olympic, world and World Cup champion bobsledder who competed from 1990 to 2010. He piloted both two-man and four-man bobsleigh, retiring after the 2010 Winter Olympics. He was named to ...

(Unknown), Canadian Olympic Athlete, and bobsleigh World Cup Champion, and Head Coach * David Dorward (Unknown), Politician, Edmonton-Gold Bar MLA and Business Owner * George Rogers (Business Administration with Accounting '80), Politician, Leduc-Beaumont MLA, City Mayor, Businessman * Bob Peterson (Photography '65), Photographer *

Holger Petersen Holger Petersen, (born 23 November 1949) is a Canadian businessman, record producer and radio broadcaster. He founded the independent roots music record label Stony Plain Records in 1975 with partner Alvin Jahns. The label was sold to True Nor ...

(Unknown), Businessman, Music Records Producer and Radio Broadcaster

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Northern Alberta Institute Of Technology Universities and colleges in Edmonton Colleges in Alberta Vocational education in Canada Educational institutions established in 1962 1962 establishments in Alberta