SASKATOON – Saskatchewan Polytechnic will be better equipped to teach more post-secondary students thanks to a donation. Fertilizer producer Yara Belle Plaine donated $160,000 to support the school’s power engineering technology expansion project.
The announcement was made Tuesday at the campus in Saskatoon and will benefit Sask Polytech’s power engineering labs in Saskatoon and Regina.
Funds will go towards renovations that will allow its Saskatoon lab to operate in the summer months, which hasn’t been the case, since too much heat is generated by equipment.
“The program being open year round allows the satellite schools, such as Yorkton and Kindersley, those students can come in the summer and train and it puts less stress on the power lab itself,” said Casey Barker, power engineering student in Saskatoon.
“Right now, it’s only open in the winter so it’s constantly in use.”
In Regina, funds will support development of a power engineering technology lab.
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Saskatchewan Polytechnic says the program consistently receives more applicants than it can handle and graduates find jobs quickly.
School officials believe the funding will increase program enrollment 30 per cent to around 200 students annually.
“Our process operators, who comprise almost 40 per cent of our employees, require this type of education and we are committed to providing these opportunities to the province’s workforce,” says Michael Schlaug, Yara’s president and plant manager.
Formerly known as SIAST, Saskatchewan Polytechnic serves approximately 26,000 students throughout the province.
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