Connect with Industry

From classrooms to corporations:
students and faculty take care of business

Saint Mary's graduate student Dan Penny has the best of all worlds. While earning a masters degree in applied science, Penny is able to work full-time to support his family. The added bonus? He doesn't pay tuition.

Penny is a full-time programmer for oceanographic research company Satlantic, and studies part-time through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Industrial Postgraduate Scholarship.

"In addition to tuition and resources, Satlantic sponsors me by allowing me to work on my project so many hours per year and allowing me to have a flexible schedule so I can attend class," Penny explains. "In exchange for this, Satlantic maintains some rights to commercialize my research. Essentially it's great for everyone.

"I was drawn to the program because of its co-op nature, which perfectly suits an industry and research relationship."

Penny isn’t the only one on campus making important connections with industry. By expanding beyond the campus environment, students and faculty not only gain knowledge, but share it as well.

Since September 2008, Saint Mary's business professors have been bringing their expertise — and their parkas — to the far north, in the form of 10 three-day seminars. Thanks to the faculty’s passion, government employees in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, are getting a calibre of instruction that would otherwise be unavailable. 

“There are no campuses or training centres to make this type of important management education available in the north,” says David Wicks, Dean, Sobey School of Business.

“The remoteness and small population of Nunavut makes access to education very difficult. Offering a program that participants can complete while they work and not leave Nunavut makes the NAMD unique.”  

The Nunavut Advanced Management Diploma (NAMD) program is designed for Nunavut-based government employees to develop knowledge and skills important to their jobs, without needing to leave their jobs to attend school outside of Nunvaut.

“They’re eager to learn and take these new management skills back to their jobs,” Wicks says. “As an educator, there is a sense of accomplishment with providing this kind of program to people who are hungry for knowledge.”

While initiatives across the country and abroad expand the university's connection to other cultures, there are also innovative programs taking place in our own backyard. The Productivity and Innovation Voucher pilot program, through the Nova Scotia Department of Economic Development, helps companies become more competitive in today's marketplace through increased efficiency.

Barrett Lumber of Lower Sackville and Burgess Baskets of Newport Station both fit the criteria and have been paired with Sobey School of Business professor Dr. Harvey Millar to evaluate processes and develop new models and recommendations. 

As professors forge new paths in industry, students become an integral part in the research and development process.