OLDS — Olds College has received a silver applied research and innovation excellence award from Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) for the creation of the college’s Smart Farm and Smart Agriculture Ecosystem.
The CICan Awards of Excellence recognize best practices undertaken by institutions across the country, as well as individual leadership and achievements. Its 2021 awards of excellence were announced April 26.
The Smart Farm is at the heart of the Smart Ag Ecosystem at Olds College. It was launched in the summer of 2018 on a 100-acre parcel of land and has since expanded to encompass the college’s entire 2,800-acre farm.
Olds College president Stuart Cullum is delighted by the award.
In a news release, he said the Smart Ag Ecosystem creates a place for producers, industry partners, students, faculty and others to “look at the opportunities and challenges facing the agriculture industry and investigate solutions to transform agriculture for a better world.”
“I would like to thank our peers and CICan for recognizing Olds College with this award,” he added.
“It is because of dedicated people working hard every day to improve educational programs and campus life, that colleges and institutes are able to offer such remarkable student experiences and training opportunities,” Denise Amyot, president and CEO of CICan said in the news release.
“This strong leadership was on full display this year, as COVID-19 forced all of us to adapt and innovate to meet unprecedented challenges.”
In February this year, Joy Agnew, associate vice-president, of applied Research at Olds College was named one of the top 50 most influential people in Canadian Agriculture by Canadian Western Agribition (CWA).
Last December, Olds College was recognized as one of Canada’s top 50 research colleges by Research Infosource, a research, consulting, and publishing firm.
— With files from Blayne Meek of Olds College corporate communications and marketing.
