JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

EDITOR’S NOTE“thisinstitutefulfillsone of thegreatestneedsin oursociety.”– Ernest ManningPremier of Alberta, 1943-68Photo by blaise van malsen“this institute fulfills one of the greatest needs in our society,” saidErnest Manning at NAIT’s official opening ceremony in the spring of 1963.The late premier’s remarks remain as true today as they did nearly fivedecades ago, when technical education was undefined and NAIT’s futureyet to be written.In this commemorative issue of techlife, we celebrate NAIT’s goldenanniversary, and the more than 170,000 students and thousands ofstaff and faculty whose lives have been enriched by the school. We’veattempted to provide a snapshot of what has transpired at NAIT overthe last five decades, but it is by no means complete.People and programs have come and gone, athletics championshipshave been won and lost, and facilities have been demolished and built.What has remained is Alberta’s need, and the growing demand, for theunique brand of education served up in the classrooms and labs, byexperienced, passionate faculty and staff.That became evident during the process of compiling our Top50 Alumni list (p. 36). From inventors to innovators, from artists tophilanthropists, from CEOs of the largest companies to owners of smallbusinesses, NAIT graduates solve problems, create wealth and improvelives every day – not only in Alberta, but across the country andaround the world.Many of the 162 nominations we received were familiar to the 11of us tasked with evaluating them – after all, NAIT has produced itsshare of interesting personalities, many of whom we have covered inthe pages of techlife and its predecessor Alumnait. Many nominations,however, were for individuals who have avoided the spotlightbut whose accomplishments were as impressive as any. Wehonour them all.We’re also taking advantage of this opportunity for a secondlook at some of the stories we’ve covered in the last five years(p. 17) and, to keep it interesting, we’ve asked some of our expertsto weigh in on the future of several fields, including oil sands,food production, education and alternative energy (p. 32) – theirpredictions may surprise you.We hope you enjoy reading this special issue and would loveto hear from you about this and previous issues. You can do so inless than 10 minutes by taking our readership survey (p. 12).And, although much has changed since first student Bill Richesarrived early in a cab on that October morning in 1962 (p. 22),some things do remain the same – our students are as eager, theOokpik as cherished and Manning’s proclamation as relevant asit was 50 years ago.Here’s to the next 50!Sherri KrastelEditoreditor@techlifemag.cav6.1 2012 11