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The Legacy Gala Dinner hosted by the Assiniboine College Foundation was another resounding success, where Assiniboine students in the Culinary Arts, Baking Foundations and Hospitality students treated their guests once again to an exclusive multi-course menu. The event is held annually in the historic Great Grey Owl Dining Room at the Manitoba Institute of Culinary Arts, at Assiniboine College's North Hill Campus.
"Each year we select a program of interest for the funds that are raised to go towards and this year it was the mechatronics program," shares Connor Ketchen, Foundation Director and Alumni Engagement, "and it is always nice to be able to show our culinary program through the culinary students and in the hospitality program, and having this event raise it for another study choice within the school is always awesome to see."
The proceeds from last Thursday's Legacy Gala Dinner will fund several $2,500 financial awards for students entering the new Mechatronics Engineering Technology (Robotics and Automation) this fall. The Gala Dinner raised approximately $40,000 towards students enrolled in this program for September.
One need only think of our garage door openers, or outdoor motion-sensor lights to know mechatronics is integral to manufacturing and industrial automation. The new program will equip students with cutting-edge skills in an interdisciplinary field that combines mechanical engineering, electronics, computing, and automation, pulling together knowledge from these disciplines to develop automated machines to service industries such as manufacturing and agriculture, to name a few.
Ketchan says they refer to the Legacy Gala as an evening of impact.
"Truly that's what it comes down to," he says. "It's an impact that it has on our college and our community and then for sure our students. It was a great night and one that usually sells out, so it's great to be able to have the community here in the culinary building and showcase what our culinary students and our hospitality students can do!"
"And it comes down to impacting the future of our students, through scholarships and bursaries," adds Ketchan. "Everybody always has such a great time."
Assiniboine College has already announced that they're going to open up six awards for the Mechatronics program through funds raised from the Gala. Four will be scholarships, and two will be bursaries. Once they have clear financials on the event, they'll have further conversations about additional awards.
Scholarships typically have criteria such as academic achievements or community service achievements attached to them. Bursaries, on the other hand, are based on financial needs.
In recent years the Legacy Gala has given proceeds to financial support for Mature Student High School students (2017), Indigenous students (2018), Early Childhood Education students (2019), emergency student needs in light of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020), students in healthcare programs (2022), black Canadian students (2023), and women in public safety (2024).
Applications for these awards are now open.
Please listen to more with Connor Ketchan below!