|
SAIT Polytechnic - The History
In 1916 Canada's first public
technical school opened its doors in temporary quarters in a former police and
fire station adjacent to the Colonel James Walker School in southeast Calgary.
Named the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art, it was established to
train returning World War I veterans. The Institute offered classes in these
makeshift facilities until moving to its current location in 1922. A
three-storey red brick and sandstone building built in the Collegiate Gothic
style opened that year and was shared by the technical institute and a Normal
School for the training of teachers. Now known as Heritage Hall, the original
building was magnificently restored in 2001 and commands one of the best views
in Calgary of the city's downtown on the banks of the Bow River and the Rocky
Mountains to the west.
The University of Alberta was also housed in Heritage Hall at that time as an
extension campus to offer university courses to Calgarians. This arrangement
continued until the establishment of the University of Calgary in 1960.
The Institute was taken over by the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940 and served
as the No. 2 Wireless Training School of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan
until 1946. During the war years the Institute's classes were offered under the
bleachers of the Calgary Stampede Grandstand.
The Institute returned to its war-time transformed campus in 1946 and the
subsequent years witnessed tremendous growth as demand soared for technicians
and technologists. Apprenticeship training began in 1948. The Institute was
renamed the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in 1960.
In the ninety years since its establishment, SAIT Polytechnic's programs have
grown to include certificates, diplomas, applied degrees and apprenticeship
training in dozens of disciplines. SAIT provides relevant, skill-oriented
education in business, communications, construction, energy, engineering
technologies, health, hospitality, tourism, manufacturing and transportation.
SAIT provides career training and upgrading to over 70,000 registrants a year.
In recent years SAIT's training expertise has experienced increased demand by
regional corporations for employee training, by First Nations for
career-development, and by global corporations internationally. SAIT serves more
than 150 corporate clients including the top 10 Alberta energy exploration and
production companies, and has created more than 350 customized training packages
for all industry sectors.
International training is growing for the institution. Major successes of recent
years include that SAIT was selected as one of only three ExxonMobil training
centres in the world, delivering energy sector training to more than 35,000
Kazakhstan citizens since 1997. SAIT is currently providing training and
education in countries world-wide.
In 2004 SAIT established its third Calgary campus with the opening of the Art
Smith Aero Centre for Training and Technology, strategically located at the
Calgary International Airport. This is one of the premier aviation training
facilities in Canada, featuring many specialized labs, an array of aircraft and
helicopters as well as a hangar large enough to accommodate the Institute's
Boeing 737-200, used for hands-on technical and maintenance training by
students.
SAIT programs are well thought of among business leaders because they are
designed with employers in mind. More than 1,000 business professionals,
participating in 65 program advisory committees provide advice and guidance to
the institution. In addition, SAIT's Board of Governors hosts three Chairman's
Circle meetings every year. More than 70 business and community leaders provide
insight to the institution on economic, technological and societal trends in
their respective fields, towards developing SAIT programming.
This comprehensive advisory system explains why SAIT Polytechnic enjoys one of
the best graduate employment records in Canada - an average of 97 per cent over
the past five years. This impressive record also reflects the numerous
partnerships the Institute has with leading national and international
companies. These partnerships have also led to the establishment of 11 Centres
of Technology Development on campus, many of them unique in Canada. These
specialized facilities ensure that SAIT graduates have the advanced skills that
will enable them to realize their career ambitions and at the same time
contribute towards the highly-skilled workforce required by the economy.
|
