The April 13, 2017 Board of Governors’ Meeting at the new Events Centre, represented an opportunity to tout the successes of the Applied Research Innovation and Entrepreneurship Services.
ARIC, the Applied Research and Innovation Centre, had humble beginnings as a grassroots offshoot of the College's School of Community and Health Studies, and has morphed into a juggernaut encompassing health, aviation, and technology.
Dr. Deepak Gupta, ARIES’ Executive Director, highlighted how “every sector of the economy is affected by research and innovation.” And it’s up to Centennial College to provide experiential learning that seamlessly blends into the modern workplace.
There’s no better example of this, perhaps, then 2006 Story Arts Campus Arts and Animation graduate Chaitan Pettukola, who went on to co-found BiteBank Media, a dental patient / practice management software enterprise that produces cutting edge high-def/4K content-heavy content.
Pettukola, who was asked to make a presentation at the event, says his firm, founded in 2011, reached a peak of some 150 employees. He reports that they have “hired every student they worked with,” a testament to the undeniable quality of Centennial College graduates. “Working with Applied Research was amazing,” says Pettukola. “We get students who’re really good, as they’ve already been vetted by the college.” The company has hired an astounding 26 Centennial College graduates.
Bohdan Ruzycky, Professor and Program Coordinator, 3D Artist/PM, was Principal Investigator for the first BiteBank project, helping the company develop polygonal geometrics, using the kind of industry standard software that you’d find at DreamWorks or Pixar. He said that working on a one-on-one basis with students, allowed him to select the candidates best suited for research.
Richard Mitchell graduated Centennial’s Digital Animation program in 2011. He was immediately hired as “lead artist” by BiteBank. He’s now Technical Director for the firm. He praised the “strong foundation of skills,” Centennial College provided and said the Applied Research program taught him “invaluable skills that serve him to this day.”