JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

“One of our very first memories was watchingthe 1972 Canada-Russia hockey series. Weskipped classes to see Canada win the finalgame. I still remember jumping up and downin our living room hugging each other as PaulHenderson scored that memorable goal.– Ed Toupin, Electronics Engineering Technology ’73Nolan CrouseChemical Technology ’73nolan crouse, st. albert’ssecond-term mayor, owes much ofhis success to a healthy appetitefor knowledge and risk. Take histransition to the big city and NAITas a 17-year-old farm boy lookingfor life skills and a technicaleducation. “I knew nothing aboutanything,” he says, but eventuallyan MBA followed his diploma,as well as a lengthy career, splitbetween industrial management,entrepreneurship and coachinghockey. But when politics occurredto him as a way to build on hislove of community service, hedecided to take another chanceon a learning curve. “I didn’t haveany knowledge of politics per se,”Crouse admits, but he had whathe needed. “You end up using allthe skills you have but … in anentirely different realm.” Today,he sees the job as a way to makea positive impact – and, judgingby his experience, as achievablefor others. “People who want tocontribute in a broader sense canget involved, make change andbuild their community.”— Scott MessengerFrom left, Ed Toupin (Electronics Engineering Technology), NolanCrouse (Chemical Technology) and Laren Giacomuzzi (ElectronicsEngineering Technology) in June 2012. All graduates from 1973,they trace their 40-year friendship to campus and the year theyroomed together in an apartment on 109 Street and 107 Avenue.Photo supplied by ed toupinroger dootsonCarpentry ’77Alumni Award of Distinction ’08in 1971, a 17-year-old farm boy from Irma, Alta., got his first big-cityconstruction job loading concrete blocks onto a scaffold and makingsure the bricklayers had enough mortar. His name was Roger Dootson,and the small but vital role on the site of the Dominion Bottlingwarehouse in Edmonton’s west end had him instantly hooked.He graduated from NAIT and eventually joined PCL, where hebecame a respected executive and leader on many high-profileprojects, including the southeast leg of the Anthony Henday and theterminal expansion at the Edmonton International Airport. “I justlove being part of building things,” he says. “To go back and see thefinished product, even years later, is very satisfying.”Dootson is a builder not just of buildings, but of the constructionindustry itself, having served on several boards to advocate for theindustry, such as the Merit Contractors Association and the Albertaand Canadian construction associations.During Alberta’s last boom, which hit as baby boomers beganto retire, Dootson foresaw a potential leadership vacuum at PCL justwhen good leaders would be crucial. In response, he led teams toGermany and the United Kingdom to recruit seasoned constructionmanagers “to help us through the high tide.” Everyone hired on thoserecruiting trips remains in Alberta today, he says.Dootson retired from PCL last year and now devotes muchof his time to his Roger Dootson Charitable Foundation, helpingyoung Albertans follow their dreams of a career in the trades andprofessions. It’s just his way of making sure tomorrow’s bricklayershave enough mortar.— Eliza Barlowv6.1 2012 43