Congratulations to the 2021 IT Award Recipients
The challenges of the past year have been immense, and U of A IT professionals met the moment incredibly well. Though IT is often behind the scenes, our annual IT Awards event provides an opportunity to bring this fundamental work out from behind the scenes to celebrate the work IT professionals do to support the thousands of people at the U of A who use IT to safely connect and share information every day.
I am pleased to recognize the following individuals as recipients of the 2021 IT Awards:
IT Ambassador - Colleen Rizzoli (Faculty of Education)
“I cannot say enough about her leadership, her collegial work within and beyond the faculty, the value she brings to every project and activity she engages in, and the high esteem she is held in by faculty and staff alike. She is truly deserving of the IT Ambassador Award.”
Jennifer Tupper, Dean, Faculty of Education
IT Innovation Award (Individual) - Corey Chevraux (Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport & Recreation)
“I speak for our Faculty in thanking him for his service and contributions, and all the ways he has enhanced our business and teaching needs.”
Vivien Chu, Faculty General Manager, Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport & Recreation
IT Innovation Award (Team) - Engineering Student Hire Automation Project Team
Staff on the project team include: Kathleen Edwards (Faculty of Engineering), Breanne Iwass (Faculty of Engineering), Aneta Thompson (Faculty of Engineering), Lorraine McCrimmon (Information Services & Technology), Alok Saraf (Information Services & Technology), Neetika Singh (Information Services & Technology), Len Zhou (Information Services & Technology), Mehran Panahi Akhavan (ApnetE)
“Executing this project in a partnership approach with the Faculty of Engineering and IST has been an excellent strategy of engagement, building a mutual understanding of the issues faced by the faculty/department staff, and the system processing needs of HCM and supporting eForm technology. ApnetE, the external consultant engaged for this project, has been a true collaborator and trusted partner throughout the project.”
Jim Boyes, Technology Project Manager, Faculty of Engineering
IT Client Service (Individual) - Davor Karacic (Faculty of Engineering)
“Without Davor's continuous and consistent enthusiasm, professionalism and expertise, the nanoFAB could not function at the high level of proficiency required by such a broad user base.”
Michael Hume, Operations Manager, nanoFAB, Faculty of Engineering
IT Client Service (Team) - Digital Learning Environment Centre of Expertise in Information Services & Technology
Staff in the DLE include: Chris Goetz, David Laurie, Asim Aziz, Greg Gibeau, Trevor Jones, Anthony Radziszewski, Dominik Royko, Atridad Lahiji, Sherman Lai, Matthew Kluk, Prabjot Gill, Maxim Wawruck, Josh Westlake, Breanna Crichton, Trevor McNeely, Jeremy Bauche, Tom Bowman, Matt Ferguson, Dustin Littlewood, Chris McNeil, Christianne Ussher, Danny Whittaker
“Everyone on this team stepped up and did what was needed of them and they did it [move to online learning] with the utmost thought, care, and professionalism at a time when this University needed them the most.”
Jeff Rawlings, Director, Digital Learning Environment, Information Services & Technology
IT Unsung Hero - Igor Jakab (Faculty of Science)
“For his cheerful and unflinching willingness to go well beyond the call of duty daily, for so many people, I’m honoured to nominate this individual for the 2021 IT Unsung Hero Award. He exemplifies this award.”
Robert Luth, Professor, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Faculty of Science
IT Distinguished Career - Janet Arndt (Information Services & Technology)
“Our team is much stronger with her and we will all miss working with her. She most definitely deserves this award!”
Will Cheng, HCM / CS Technical Manager, Information Services & Technology
Congratulations to our winners and to those nominated!
Mike MacGregor
AVP & Chief Information Officer (IST)