Our parade entry will feature the UM Bison shuttle bus wrapped with thousands of string lights and representation from UM staff, students and faculty members.

As a volunteer, you’ll walk the parade route—approximately 2 km—decked out in one-of-a-kind UM Bison winter apparel. Enjoy the festive atmosphere, a cup or two of hot chocolate and share in the camaraderie with fellow UM colleagues.

The time commitment for the parade is from approximately 3:45 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. All participants will be required to walk the duration of the route. For those who use mobility aids, please feel free to join us in a way that is comfortable for you.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to represent UM and kick off the holiday season! To volunteer, please visit the registration form.

We hope to see you there as we celebrate this year’s holiday season!

Sholeth Art and Seduta Art

Photo by @wdyd.series

When building on art collection, you can start small—or as our first gift guide star might say, tiny. An artist, entrepreneur, and Asper alum, Sholeth Choquette [BComm(Hons)/22] creates tiny art, capturing miny moments of calm and ambiance using a mix of oil, alcohol marker, and linocut prints, and presenting them in ornate vintage frames. These pieces and other stationary are available from Sholeth Art.

You can also find her work at Seduta Art, co-owned with fellow Asper alum and business partner Paul Sogeke [BComm(Hons)/19]. While Seduta is stocked online, Sholeth recommends a visit to the Exchange District location itself, where shoppers can peruse arts, crafts, and stationary supplies—testing the feel of sketchbooks and finding their next favourite fountain pen.

“My vision is to bring joy and creativity into people’s lives through unique and thoughtfully designed stationery, artwork, and art supplies,” she says.

Give the gift of making and art this year and follow along for market appearances and new products on Instagram (@sholeth.art) and (@seduta.art), the online storefronts Sholeth Art and Sholeth Art, or by visiting in-person at 91 Arthur Street.

Miranda Dawn Bakes

Precision and indulgence come to mind looking at a box of Miranda Dawn Bakes treats or one of her sculptural cakes. Offering cookies, macarons, cake pops and more, Miranda Harder whips up perfect personalized gifts for the sweet tooth on your shopping list this holiday season (and all year!).

An Asper marketing student, Harder didn’t initially plan to start a business, but since she began selling eight years ago, she slowly branched out to take on more custom orders and sell at local markets.

Shoppers who suddenly feel hungry after reading the phrase “double chocolate mocha drip cake,” can find Harder’s baking on Instagram (@mirandadawnbakeswpg) and Miranda Dawn Bakes.

Ethereal Stones

If you’re looking for something with a little more sparkle, look no further than Ethereal Stones. From polished rose quartz bracelets and romantic goldstone heart-shaped earrings to dramatic onix necklaces, creator and founder Paula Robles offers bold, expressive, and of course, ethereal handmade jewelry.

When Robles isn’t crafting unique and colourful pieces, she is keeping up with her studies in pursuit of a BComm at Asper. “My dream has always been to make my business grow and make is a recognized brand one day,” she says.

Get a little ethereal this holiday season and find Robles’ handcrafted work on Instagram (@ethereal_stones_) and at UM through the Students Organized Market Initiative (@uofm.somi).

Kingdom Cards

Why not give 52 pieces of art (and a couple of jokers) this holiday season? With Kingdom Cards, you can choose from over 350 different decks of unique and original playing cards—from your favourite franchises and cinematic universes to meticulously crafted illustrated sets.

Run by Asper BComm student Anthony Theriault, Kingdom Cards offers products that are beautiful to look at and perfect for your next game of cribbage, rummy, or even Go Fish. They’re also a favourite among magicians (Theriault would know as a practitioner himself), and sure to be a memorable gift for everyone on your shopping list.

Deck the halls with a deck of cards (and grab one for yourself) by shopping at Kingdom Cards and follow along on Instagram (@kingdomplayingcards) to keep up with new releases and upcoming pop-ups.

oxokat

Wear your personality on your wall, backpack, laptop, water bottle, favourite notebook, and more with oxokat’s adorable illustrated stickers, keychains, embroidery, and prints. A project from Asper BComm student Katherine Bardelas, oxokat specializes in the cute and cartoony.

Bardelas primarily sells at markets at the university, working with UM SOMI, and popping up with a pastel booth of tiny treasures. Living out her dream of selling her creations, Bardelas hopes to open an online storefront next year, all while she pursues her ambitions of becoming an actuary.

In the meantime, shoppers can find oxokat on Instagram (@oxokat) to see her latest illustrations, products, and market dates!

Boligrafo Bonito

For the writers and diligent notetakers in your life, check out Boligrafo Bonito’s handcrafted wood pens. You can find BComm student Jamie O’Neill [BA/24] dusting off oak, elm, and cherry wood chips as she works in the fabrication lab, turning wood and crafting unique ballpoint pens perfect for everything from your most pressing correspondence to your everyday writing needs.

Boligrafo Bonito uses sustainably sourced wood to create shapes that are comfortable in the hand and beautiful to look at, offering a spectrum of warm tones that show the organic wood grain.

Whether you need a gift for the difficult-to-buy-for friend or you need a pen to write down your shopping list, check out Boligrafo Bonito on Instagram (@boligrafobonito) and at the North Forge Makers Market (@northforgemb).

Asper School of Business students and alumni bring bold ideas to life every day, whether in the classroom or the marketplace. Be part of a vibrant community of entrepreneurs and emerging business leaders. Learn more about Asper programs of study today!

Browse the Asper Gift Guide archive for even more gift ideas!

Justin Malang and Ethan Sinclair are both Mechanical Engineering students that worked at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in Longueuil, Quebec. Justin assisted their structural team by performing bolt analysis on the stratospheric gondola. Through this position he has connected with other likeminded interns from across the country and gained hands on experience within the ever-growing space industry. Ethan worked as a project management student on the Gateway External Robotics Interfaces (GERI) which is one of Canada’s contributions to the Lunar Gateway project, a space station in orbit around the moon. In this role he tracked technical documents under review, supported other project management interns and scheduled future project milestones. While they each had different roles and responsibilities, they both had the amazing opportunity to meet CSA astronauts David Saint-Jacques and Joshua Kutryk.

Mohammed Towhidul Islam, Nicole Davis and Kristen Semenko are three Biosystems Engineering students all specializing in Biomedical Engineering. Mohammed worked as an intern at Shared Health in the Provincial Clinical Engineering Department. He was responsible for conducting detailed reviews and analyses of current clinical engineering related standard operating procedures as well as developing and executing a national survey to benchmark these practices against other jurisdictions. Nicole worked at Kane Biotech, designing and conducting experiments for patent research by analyzing data using image processing to develop design parameters for the company’s biofilm product packaging. She also assisted with prototype testing for product development through analytical, biochemical and molecular biology related experiments. She enjoyed being creative, hands-on and finding design solutions that abided by the project’s constraints and limitations. Kristin had the opportunity to work out of province with the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) at their Chalk River, Ontario location. Kristin was a student technologist in the Deuterium and Tritium Technologies Branch. Her project focused on producing and testing the catalyst used to produce heavy water through the water-H2 catalytic exchange process (the isotopic exchange where deuterium takes the place of protium in a water molecule to make heavy water). Her main responsibilities included operating and maintaining catalyst exchange rigs, conducting research on level sensing methods and compiling the findings into a memo, and assisting in the large-scale production of exchange catalyst.          

Faisal Alsaidi and Hannah Mooney worked at the University of Manitoba, where there are ample opportunities to get involved with research. Faisal, a Computer Engineering student, did research in the University of Manitoba Biosensors Research Lab. His work involved the build of a machine that can determine dielectric properties of cells. These properties can help identify whether a cell is cancerous, what type of cell it is and other useful information that researchers may need. His research focused on designing a real-time particle/cell detection program given raw binary data from the machine, which will be implemented in the second generation of the machine once it is complete. Hannah, a Biosystems Engineering student specializing in Environmental Engineering has been working in the Soil Dynamics and Machinery Lab under Dr. Chen. The lab focuses on projects involving agricultural machinery, soil dynamics, sustainable and conservation agriculture practices, tillage, plant fibres and discrete element modelling for different mechanical soil operations. Her main responsibilities included conducting field work, data analysis and report writing for an agricultural study on the Indigenous Three Sisters farming method, supported by the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF).

“I enjoyed learning about sustainable agriculture from a diverse range of sources – specifically my co-workers who come from diverse backgrounds, my supervisor who shared her expertise with great enthusiasm, and the MMF who allowed me to strengthen my Indigenous perspective within the field and personally. I was surprised with how much my interest in the topic grew simply because of the knowledgeable people I was surrounded by!” – Hannah, when asked about some of the highlights of her position.

Two other students who worked locally this summer are Sudipta Dip and Bianca Cavalcanti. Sudipta is a Computer Engineering student, and worked for the Government of Manitoba in the Education and Early Childhood Learning department. Sudipta was responsible for a variety of technical and administrative tasks. He provided desktop and IT management support to staff, including guidance on issues related to printers, PCs, computer assets, service orders, telecommunications, and internet services. Additionally, he utilized tools like Power Automate, DAX formulas, and various scripting languages to automate office tasks and streamline projects. A significant part of his role involved providing data analytics and insights for application support, which helped inform decision-making within the department. His work was gratifying to him as he could see the impact of his work improving efficiency of various tasks for his colleagues, improving not only the outcome of the processes he automated but the overall day-to-day work experience for his colleagues as well. Bianca is a Biosystems Engineering student who worked with Manitoba Hydro in the Power Platform team, where she was responsible for developing and maintaining core applications to meet business needs. This involved creating custom solutions to streamline business processes, enhancing user experience and optimizing data analysis tools.

Rajan Gill is an Electrical Engineering student who worked at Ciena, an Optical Networking and Software company where he worked as a New Product Introduction (NPI) Hardware Engineer. The NPI team focused on the bring up and initial production of groundbreaking products fresh out of research and development. His team developed the hardware and automated tests used to calibrate these products. Some of Rajan’s responsibilities included assisting in the development of automated tests for Ciena’s next generation of WaveLogic modems. This included writing high level MATLAB and low-level C firmware to perform various analog switching tasks used during calibration. Rajan had the opportunity to work on writing a new firmware load for a test PCB used in the calibration step of the new WaveLogic 6e modem. This was a very exciting project for him personally because he had the opportunity to learn and use tools and software that he had little experience with previously. He said it was amazing to know that his work and contributions would be directly used in production of modems being sold across the world.

Nouraldin Aboutaleb is a Civil Engineering student who worked at ATCO Electric in Calgary, Alberta. Nouraldin worked as a member of their Civil Engineering team as well as the lines team where his main responsibilities were to draft and design new transmission lines. Throughout his Co-op placement he had the opportunity to go on many site visits and observed the teams building new transmission lines.        

Co-op/IIP provides crucial support to students to secure and succeed in their placements. These supports include mock interviews, resume building workshops, networking opportunities and the Career Connect portal which advertises a multitude of available Co-op internships. To learn more about the program, attend one of their information sessions, held in mid September every year.

If you are still unsure about joining Co-op/IIP with the Price Faculty of Engineering, here are some wise words from some of our students:

“Have an open mind for each experience – you will never feel like you know enough and that is normal, these positions are meant to be a great learning experience!” – Hannah Mooney          

“A Co-op placement is a great opportunity to learn everything about your current job, company, industry, etc. You will likely be surrounded by experts in your field so ask questions and aim to understand everything that you’re working on. This will further your learning and allow you to make connections with what you’ve learned in the classroom.” – Kristen Semenko

“It’s normal to feel imposter syndrome at first, and it’s okay if you don’t know everything or have little experience. Having a Co-op placement is an amazing opportunity to build confidence, connections and knowledge for future endeavours.” – Nicole Davis

“Be proactive and take initiative. Seek out opportunities to learn and contribute, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Building strong communication and interpersonal skills is crucial, as is maintaining a high standard of professionalism and safety in all your work.” – Mohammed Towhidul Islam

“At the start of the school year, there’s always tremendous excitement, in part because we’re always welcoming a crop of new students who have never been here before,” said University of Manitoba president Michael Benarroch.

To read the full story, please visit Global Winnipeg.