Diploma in Digital Media and IT - Game Design Concentration (Co-op Optional)

at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) Canada

NAIT's Radio and Television programs are 2 distinct, yet interrelated full-time diploma programs. Each of these dynamic 2-year programs takes a non-traditional approach to teaching that will provide you with learning opportunities through hands-on experiences.

Undertake the typical job functions found in radio and television stations by acting as the staff for NAIT's campus radio station (NR92) and television newsroom (NAIT NewsWatch). Using industry standard digital equipment and labs, and while working in modern studios, you'll hone written, technical, communicative and production competencies.

Our instructors are highly-qualified professionals with years of industry experience and our program is well-recognized across the country. If you flip on your TV or radio at any given time, you're likely to see or hear NAIT alumni working across North America.

This nationally recognized program provides a wide range of training and will give you the skills necessary to make full or partial dentures, repair crowns, bridges and orthodontic appliances. You’ll learn the art and science of creating corrective devices for natural teeth and tissues.

A dental technologist is a master of their craft and an essential member of the dental-health team. To be successful, you’ll need to display meticulous attention to detail and an equal combination of technical skills and artistry.

What You Will Learn
Hands-on, industry-relevant training 
Throughout the program, you’ll recreate the appearance of natural teeth in fixed restorations such as crowns and implant restorations using porcelain, metal alloys and ceramic materials. For corrective devices like orthodontic appliances, you’ll learn the physical and biological forces of handling waxes, wires and acrylic materials.

You’ll have an individual workstation in the dental lab, complete with the latest industry-standard equipment, like:

• press ceramic furnace
• digital laboratory scanner
• acrylic injection system
• pressure thermal-forming machine

You can expect to spend, on average

• 32 hours per week attending classes over the course of a semester
• 10-15 hours per week studying and completing class assignments

This program offers a rewarding and challenging career for those individuals interested in providing emergency medical services to the sick and injured in a prehospital care environment. Primary Care Paramedic (formerly known as Emergency Medical Technician-Ambulance) training utilizes the facilities at NAIT, active treatment hospitals, basic and advanced life support ambulance services and other allied emergency services.

In addition to the program being offered twice a year at its main campus, NAIT also offers the program twice per year in partnership with Lethbridge College and once per year in partnership with Lakeland College as part of its Emergency Services Technology Diploma Program.

What You Will Learn
Hands-on, industry-relevant training
In this certificate program, you will learn about providing basic emergency care, including assessment and treatment of patients with a variety of medical disorders and injuries.  Your learning environment will consist of lectures, labs, clinical simulations and practicum.  Areas of learning will be focused on but are not excluded to:

• Introduction to emergency medical services and pre-hospital care
• Human anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology
• Basic life support skills including medical and trauma management
• Pharmacology
• Diverse patient populations including management of some pediatric disorders and assisting with childbirth

You will also be trained in physical and mental health self-care, to ensure you are prepared for a demanding patient care environment.

Practicum will consist of placement with an ambulance service and one week in an acute care hospital emergency department. You will be expected to work shifts including evenings, nights and weekends, and you may be required to travel outside of Edmonton for your practicum placement.

The first 6 courses in the program consist of a mixture of lectures and labs of approximately 400 hours, and the last course will consist of practicum placement of approximately 240 hours.

You can expect to spend, on average:

• 28 hours per week attending classes over the course of a semester
• 15 to 20 hours per week studying and completing class assignments
• 40 hours per week on practicum

An animal health technologist (Veterinary technologist) is a valuable member of the animal health-care team who performs a large range of tasks, such as nursing care, diagnostic procedures and client interactions, to assist veterinarians in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease in animals. The program focuses on practical skills used in both small and large animal practices, including lab work, radiographs and medical and surgical nursing.

What You Will Learn
Hands-on, industry-relevant training

You can expect to spend, on average:

•     30 hours per week attending classes over the course of a semester
•     8 to 10 hours per week studying and completing class assignments

You’ll train in NAIT’s Animal Health Clinic, which provides basic veterinary services for dogs and cats owned by NAIT staff and students. It’s here where you’ll receive hands-on experience in procedures that include spays and neuters, vaccinations and teeth cleaning.

As an Animal Health Technology student, you must handle ill or injured animals of all shapes and sizes. You’ll travel to farms and animal hospitals and treat more than just dogs and cats. To be successful in this program – and career – having a genuine interest in the treatment of all animals is a must!

Collect, distribute, treat and manage our most valuable resource
Freshwater is the planet's most important resource. It's necessary to sustain life, cultivate food and generate power. Although 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by water, less than 1% of it is freshwater. This natural scarcity, coupled with an increasingly environmentally-conscious society, has created a strong demand for highly skilled, well-trained professionals in the field of water management.
The NAIT Water and Wastewater Technician program – the only such program in Alberta – is designed to provide you with the important skills necessary for a rewarding career in this growing industry.

Hands-on, industry-relevant skills
In this program, you'll be instructed in the fields of water treatment, water distribution, wastewater collection and wastewater treatment. You'll experience a combination of traditional classroom delivery, self-study and tutor-supported activities.
Hands-on training in labs will help you develop the skills to maintain and operate mechanical equipment, treat water and enter the workforce prepared and ready to go.

By the time you graduate, you'll have a better understanding of:

• Basic chemistry, math and electricity
• Water and wastewater treatment processes
• The operation and maintenance of water distribution and wastewater collection systems
• Hydraulics
• Blueprint reading

Respiratory Therapists are dedicated to the diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and education of patients with heart and lung disorders. As a Respiratory Therapist, you’ll work with patients of all ages, from infants and children to adults and geriatrics. The Respiratory Therapist is a crucial life-saving and life-supporting professional, and as a NAIT graduate you’ll be well equipped to work in a wide variety of hospital and health care settings.

What You Will Learn
Hands-on, industry-relevant training
Learn to plan and implement diagnostic procedures for patients suffering from a wide range of heart and lung disorders. This 3-year diploma program will feature simulation experience, with classroom and lab instruction, combined with clinical rotations in various hospital settings. The program features hands-on training in areas such as:

• Human anatomy, physiology, pharmacology and pathophysiology
• Airway management and cardiopulmonary testing, monitoring and resuscitation
• Assessment of cardio-respiratory patient status; ventilator support; testing and evaluation of respiratory equipment

You can expect to spend, on average:

• 27 hours per week attending classes over the course of a semester.
• 10 to 15 hours per week studying and completing class assignments.
• Upon successful completion of the RET program the graduate is eligible to challenge the Canadian Board for Respiratory Care (CBRC) entry-to-practice certification examination to become a registered respiratory therapist.
• In order to practice as a Respiratory Therapist in the province of Alberta, technologists are required to be registered with the College and Association of Respiratory Therapists of Alberta to obtain a license to practice.

The new Automotive Service Technology diploma is a unique opportunity to get the technical and career essential skills you need to succeed in the automotive industry. It can also serve as a pathway to apprenticeship.

This two-year diploma provides exposure to new trends and technologies. Once you complete the program, you will have the knowledge, skills and hands-on experience in dynamic shop environments to diagnose vehicle systems, and repair and maintain vehicles.

The diploma program offers a direct pathway into trades training at NAIT without having to first be a registered apprentice. After graduating, you will be eligible to enter the job market having all apprenticeship technical training completed.

What You Will Learn
Industry-approved training
A career in the automotive industry calls for an understanding of both technical knowledge and career essential skills.  Learning outcomes for this program include being able to:

• Identify safety hazards and comply with legislation
• Diagnose vehicle systems
• Repair and maintain vehicles
• Select and use tools and equipment for diagnosis and repair of vehicles
• Describe and discuss automotive systems and component operation
• Demonstrate written and verbal communication skills

NAIT’s Geoscience Technology program provides students with a diverse education and hands on training in the field of earth sciences. From resource exploration to environmental remediation, graduates use their knowledge of geology, hydrogeology, geophysics, geochemistry and other geosciences to inform major decisions across broad spectrum of industries.

As a graduate of the Geoscience Technology program, you will be trained to make professional contributions to the environmental, energy and mining sectors.

Hands-on, industry-relevant skills
In addition to lectures and labs, the program has a two one-week Field Schools. One is located in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies mapping geological outcrops and the other is on campus using a suite of groundwater monitoring wells, where students are trained in groundwater monitoring and sample collection. These activities allow students to better understand the how and why of classroom theory, as well as collect field data for classroom analysis.

You’ll participate in a wide range of activities, including:

• Researching, interpreting and mapping geology of a given area
• Identifying common rocks, minerals, glacial deposits
• Using software applications used in the field
• Performing basic topographic, geophysical, geochemical, and geological surveys
• Conducting environmental site assessments
• Creating conceptual site models for remediating contaminated sites
• Evaluating natural resources for production and extraction

On average you can expect to spend:

• 28 hours per week attending classes and labs over the course of a semester
• 10 to 20 hours per week studying and completing class assignments

Environmental Monitoring & Assessment students investigate the impact of human activities on air, water, soil and vegetation, and gain a solid foundation in environmental sampling, assessment and laboratory skills. Students learn how to monitor and assess environmental quality, apply principles of quality assurance/quality control, manage waste, and reclaim and remediate land. Graduates may conduct environmental site assessments, collect samples from surface and ground water, air, soil and waste, or analyze samples for pollutants in an environmental lab. They work with industry, consultants or government on land and water remediation and reclamation, and investigate environmental issues for various research groups.

Hands-on, industry-relevant skills
During the first semester, you'll acquire skills and knowledge in the general sciences of biology and chemistry, communications, ethics, botany, zoology, genetics, and lab techniques and calculations.

You'll then be trained in the following areas
Field Skills:

• Perform field analysis of soil, vegetation and water quality
• Monitor air pollutants
• Collect environmental samples from air, water, soil, plants and waste for further lab analysis
• Conduct environmental site assessments – ESA (Phase I - III)
• Maintain and calibrate field equipment for environmental sampling

Additional Skills:

• Design and manage group-based projects
• Measure effects of pollutants on the environment by studying toxicology
• Use current solid and hazardous waste treatment technologies and monitoring systems
• Use legislation and standards related to environmental issues
• Employ pollution prevention and pollution control technologies
• Use quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) principles to obtain accurate data
• Generate and keep detailed log books
• Compile and manage data using MS Office
• Write reports, perform literature reviews, and prepare and give presentations

The Nanosystems Engineering Technology program is the only program of its kind in Canada. In it, you will be exposed to face-to-face, hands-on learning in our labs including in our specialized cleanroom facility.

In the program, you will learn about the fabrication and evaluation of micro- and nanomaterials and devices commonly used in a wide range of industries, such as health care, smart devices, and energy production and storage. You’ll learn how to operate systems and equipment used by nanotech researchers and manufacturing companies, such as the scanning electron microscope (SEM), which is used to obtain images of objects at the nanometre scale.

If you are seeking a multidisciplinary career in science and technology, this program will appeal to you. Nanosystems offers a growing number of high-tech and non-traditional career paths that will constantly challenge you with new and complex problems to solve.