Okanagan College aims to stir up sustainable solutions to beverage sector by-products
April 24, 2025
Benedikt Braun’s deep roots in the wine industry have shaped his passion for the beverage sector leading to a lifetime of working with wine around the world. His passion has led him to Okanagan College where he is working with communities across the Okanagan and Shuswap to solve real world issues.“Having grown up around vineyards in Germany, I’ve always felt a deep connection to wine and nature,” said Braun, an Okanagan College (OC) student and research assistant with the College’s Applied Research department. “B...
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From night shifts to digital cartography
April 24, 2025
Omar Algiasena still remembers those late nights working at Walmart in Salmon Arm, finishing up overnights before swapping his worker vest for a backpack and heading down to Okanagan College (OC). When the rest of the town slept, Omar worked as the overnight support manager at the store and later shifted his focus from inventory management to geospatial coordinates and mapping technologies.Originally from Baghdad, Iraq, Algiasena had come to Canada with an engineering degree but wished to pursue a field of work that combined h...
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New entrepreneurship specialty kicks off this fall at OC
April 22, 2025
With the entrepreneurial spirit alive and well in the Okanagan Valley and Shuswap, Okanagan College is excited to announce an addition to its Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree program, with a new entrepreneurship specialty being offered beginning this fall.Applications are open for the new Bachelor of Business Administration: Entrepreneurship Specialty degree at Okanagan College featuring several new courses that will be offered as part of the College’s popular BBA degree program.Students in the program will stud...
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Thorpe and Friends celebrate 100th student award
April 16, 2025
Okanagan College Foundation is celebrating a significant milestone in philanthropic giving. Two students — Keira Chevallier and Angelina Sebastian — both in the Health Care Assistant program, received awards from Rick and Yasmin Thorpe and friends whose generosity has now supported over 100 students in total.“When we started these awards nearly 20 years ago our goal was to reach 100 students,” shared Rick Thorpe at a ceremony marking the achievement yesterday.“We couldn’t have done this without the support of our friends. Everything...
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GeoVerra’s gift helps students navigate futures in engineering  
April 14, 2025
Future civil engineers at Okanagan College (OC) are getting a high-tech boost, thanks to a generous donation from GeoVerra.GeoVerra has donated six global navigation satellite survey (GNSS) systems, valued at $77,900, to OC’s Civil Engineering Technology program. This cutting-edge equipment ensures students, like first-year learner Lane Wiebe, gain practical, hands-on experience with tools they'll use in today’s technologically advanced construction industry.“Knowing that companies like GeoVerra are invested in our success is p...
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Â黨´«Ă˝students to face tough panel at mock media conference
April 10, 2025
Okanagan College students enrolled in Crisis Communications will have their public speaking skills put to the test at a mock media conference in front of over 100 of their professors, peers, friends, family and members of the Okanagan media.(Media are invited to attend the sessions to be held at OC’s Kelowna campus Thursday from 6:30 to 9:20 p.m. in the Â黨´«Ă˝Theatre)Six student teams will be acting as representatives of companies that are facing a simulated crises occurring in the public eye. Their task will be to address an aggressiv...
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Okanagan College students earn IEEE SysCon research recognition
April 4, 2025
A group of third- and fourth-year Bachelor of Computer Information Systems (BCIS) students at Okanagan College (OC) are making waves in the academic community of technological research with their recent achievement — securing the opportunity to present their research at the prestigious IEEE International Systems Conference (SysCon) in MontrĂ©al next week.“It’s an incredible opportunity for us,” said Kristina Cormier, fourth-year BCIS student, chair of the IEEE Â黨´«Ă˝Student Branch, and member of one of the teams presenting at ...
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Final stretch: $1M left to cross finish line for Thrive Here campaign
March 27, 2025
Kelowna Auto Dealers Association donates $200k in support of Recreation and Wellness CentreThe home stretch is now in sight for the Thrive Here fundraising campaign for a Recreation and Wellness Centre on Okanagan College’s (OC’s) Kelowna campus.The Â黨´«Ă˝Foundation is celebrating $13 million raised towards the $14 million goal thanks to amazing support from the community including a $200,000 donation from the Kelowna Auto Dealers Association (KADA). “This is a meaningful project for us to support,” says Sam Ghessesow, KADA ...
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Early childhood educators partner on Outdoor Play guide
March 24, 2025
Growing up in a small town in British Columbia, Okanagan College educator Linda O’Donoghue recalls a time where she and her friends created a store out of leaf bouquets and headed out around the neighborhood going door to door to sell the bouquets.Their efforts would catch the attention of the local newspaper who thought it was interesting enough for a short story.It was an example of many of the childhood memories that O’Donoghue would reflect back on years later as she worked as an Early Childhood Educator. During those years she ...
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Enactus OC: real-world heroes take the podium with award-winning innovations
March 20, 2025
Enactus OC. If you think the name sounds a bit like a team of superheroes, you wouldn’t be far off.From creating eco-friendly fire logs, to empowering youth with climate change education, to supporting survivors of intimate partner violence, Okanagan College students in the business club Enactus Â黨´«Ă˝are tackling some of the most pressing issues of the day and developing real-world solutions that inspire, educate, and make a difference in their communities.The team, consisting of 27 students from OC’s School of Business, as well as Sc...
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