Diploma in Digital Media and IT - Visual Communications Concentration (Co-op Optional)

at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) Canada

NAIT's Bachelor of Technology degree is the only program of its kind in Alberta and one of just a few similar programs in Canada. If you've graduated with a recognized 2-year technology diploma, the BTech program offers the opportunity to earn a baccalaureate degree with 2 additional years of study.

The BTech degree has been developed to help you bridge the gap between the job you started as a technologist and a career in management. We've received industry demand for leading-edge technologists who have the technical theory, innovative skills, and ethical and social awareness required for sustainable industry. We have also been challenged to prepare critical-thinking practitioners who are able to address technological challenges in today's economy.

What You Will Learn
Hands-on, industry-relevant skills
In the Bachelor of Technology (BTech) program, you'll build on your strong technical background, adding leadership and critical-thinking skills you'll need to take on management and supervisory roles. You'll gain a global perspective, focusing on social, economic and environmental issues.

You'll also develop skills in:

• Innovation, transition and change management
• Effective multi-media communications
• Planning and strategy development
• Staffing and supervision
• Critical thinking and problem-solving

The BBA with Entrepreneurship and Innovation emphasis will help you grow your entrepreneurial mindset and develop skills that are essential to transform business. You'll be led through business ventures from the ground up, focusing on how to create financially, ethically and environmentally sustainable solutions in the marketplace. You'll have the ability to collaborate creatively, apply logic to problems, and complex inductive reasoning in an immersive setting. All entrepreneurship and innovation related courses have prerequisites, so it is important to carefully plan the order of studies.

Do you have an eye for design?
The Engineering Design Technology program will provide you with both a theoretical and practical education that will serve as the foundation for a career as an engineering designer.

This program could be a great fit for you if you:

• Demonstrate a high attention to detail
• Have good math and physics skills
• Enjoy working with computers
• Enjoy working in an office environment

Engineering Design Technology presents a broad spectrum of engineering content, primarily focused on the fundamental principles of engineering design and computer applications common to a variety of engineering disciplines.

Look around you – virtually every printed, silk screened and digitally-rendered display you see every day has moved through the hands of a graphic communications professional.

NAIT's intensive 1-year Graphic Communications certificate program will prepare you for entry into the creative and rapidly evolving digital, print and publishing industry. You'll take projects from the creative planning stage through graphic design, digital file creation, customer proofing and final output. You can also expect to gain practical, hands-on experience with industry-standard software and equipment, and get the opportunity to complete a wide range of projects you're likely to encounter in industry.

Before all this, you'll develop a firm understanding of theoretical concepts and methods that are critical in the various press, bindery and large-format processes that follow digital file creation. This technical knowledge is what sets NAIT's Graphic Communications program apart from other technical institutions.

What You Will Learn
Hands-on, industry-relevant skills
The program has an excellent reputation among the Capital Region’s business community; classroom projects often involve design assignments relevant to their current ventures. Direct industry experience is gained through the program’s two-week professional experience component, allowing eligible students the opportunity to apply their technical and interpersonal skills effectively within a workplace environment.

The graphics industry is constantly undergoing change, whether it is new software developments, updates in output equipment and technologies, or trends in design elements. The program is in constant contact with industry and supply representatives to be sure the training demands are being met and grads have the skills necessary for employment. Skills acquired in this program have allowed our graduates to seek employment opportunities all across North America.

Diagnostic Medical Sonographers are highly trained, in-demand professionals who use ultrasounds to produce and record images of important organs, masses and fetal images. This hands-on accredited program will allow you the opportunity to participate in clinical rotations in major Alberta hospitals. You’ll receive training on industry-standard equipment and get the opportunity to learn on the same technology you’ll use in your practicum placement – and career.

A comprehensive study of electrical principles and practices, this nationally accredited program deals with the operation of electrical and electronic equipment, specialized testing equipment and computer software. NAIT's Electrical Engineering Technology is a nationally accredited and internationally recognized program that provides a comprehensive study of electrical principles and practices. The program will provide graduates with the skills to perform entry-level roles in several industry disciplines, including power systems operation and protection, maintenance and commissioning, electrical machines, industrial and commercial design, power electronics, and programmable logic controllers (PLCs).

Technologists will also learn critical skills and experience in:

• The structure, operation, protection and control of electrical power generation, transmission and distribution systems and electrical motors
• The planning, design and specification of power, lighting, control and communication systems in buildings and industrial plants
• Control of plant systems and motors through the use and application of PLCs and variable-frequency drives (VFDs) and the application of communications technology linking these various plant systems
• Researching, writing and presenting technical reports

An electrical engineering technologist should possess an aptitude toward math and physics applications. In addition to electrical and technical abilities, the technologist relies upon good written and verbal communication skills and the ability to work within a team environment in a dynamic workplace.

To be successful, electrical engineering technologists need:

• Analytical skills
• Experience using recent technology
• Oral and written communication skills
• Ability to work in teams
• Basic electrical design
• Basic maintenance knowledge

Upon completion of the program, Electrical Engineering Technology graduates will have the ability to:

• Communicate and conduct themselves professionally in a workplace environment
• Identify safety hazards and implement safe work practices
• Create and interpret engineering design packages
• Analyze and troubleshoot electrical circuits and systems
• Perform entry-level field service activities
• Configure and test protection, control and communication devices and systems.

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) student with an emphasis in Finance, you learn about investment trading, mergers, valuation and acquisitions. You'll also develop a well-rounded basis of critical thinking. The BBA with Finance emphasis takes concepts beyond banking and money management to practice quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques, logic, and deductive reasoning vital to business decisions. Finance emphasis students in the BBA degree are shown how to make effective financial decisions in areas including law, economics and international finance. All finance-related courses have prerequisites, so it is important to carefully plan the order of studies.

Cybersecurity is essential to protecting organizations, networks, applications and users from a world of online threats. You will gain advanced operational skills and security strategies to defend against attacks and manage risk. You will also learn about the technical, legal and political issues regarding cybersecurity.

What You Will Learn
Advanced cybersecurity skills
The Cybersecurity post-diploma certificate will establish you as a leader with essential skills in a high-demand field.

Through the course of this 10-course program, you can expect to learn how to:

• Operate cybersecurity services and defend against existing and emerging threats targeting organizations and their assets
• Adapt and align information security strategies to an organization’s goals
• Manage cybersecurity governance programs that meet organizational, regulatory and industry standards
• Demonstrate leadership through critical thinking, communication, ethics and ongoing professional development that supports an organization’s cybersecurity
• Interpret and apply cyber risk management at operational and strategic levels
• Apply forensic principles to investigate security incidents
• Use penetration testing techniques to simulate a cyber threat and identify vulnerabilities

The focus of this program is the accommodation and food and beverage segments of the hospitality industry. Students gain business and customer service skills in food and beverage service techniques, front desk check-in procedures, financial accounting, economics and written communications. The Hospitality Management program is a two-year course of study which provides students with the skill sets and abilities required to work in the hospitality industry. The program focuses on service skills for food and beverage, catering and front-desk operations with specific courses in hospitality law. The second year examines marketing, financial management, supervisory skills and advanced courses in hotel, restaurant and catering operations. A 400-hour work experience term is also included.

The program is also built around traditional business subjects such as business communications, accounting and organizational behaviour. Courses are delivered through lab and lecture formats beginning with supervisory skill development and progressing toward more complex management functions. The Hospitality Management program provides training and skill development in:

• business communications
• food and beverage service
• banquets and catering service
• operations management
• front-desk principles and procedures
• hospitality law
• supervisory principles and procedures
• organizational behaviour
• computer applications
• introduction to marketing
• introduction to accounting
• general tourism knowledge

Graduates of the Hospitality Management program may find employment in a variety of sectors and positions within the tourism industry, as:

• food and beverage servers
• food and beverage supervisors
• food and beverage managers
• banquet and catering supervisors
• front-desk supervisors
• front-desk managers
• front-desk agents
• night auditors
• reservations agents
• entrepreneurs
• consultants

Chemical Engineering Technology is a two-year diploma program that prepares the graduate for employment in the hydrocarbon and chemical processing industry (downstream petroleum industry). The program deals with the processing of oil, natural gas and bitumen into final products such as motor gasoline, diesel or jet fuel, propane, butane, utility gas and others. The program includes the study of the production of secondary petrochemicals such as ethylene, vinyl chloride, methanol and others.