NAIT community award winners, achievers and community builders | April - June 2025

  • July 4, 2025
  • 6 minute read
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Celebrating the impact of alumni, students and staff

Congrats to these leaders, innovators and creators

NAIT grads, students and staff do amazing things. To celebrate that fact, we share news every season about those who’ve won awards, reached major milestones, or played leading roles in building their communities.

Here’s the latest group. Please join us in congratulating them.

(Know someone we're missing? Let us know.)

GG for Giannitti

Juan Giannitti (above, Digital Media and Information Technology – Animation ’25) is the 2025 winner of the Governor General’s Collegiate Bronze Medal for achieving NAIT’s highest overall average at the diploma level. Giannitti came to the polytechnic from Argentina, and hopes to open his own digital animation studio in Canada.

“I’m not here only to seek a better education, but to [find] a better future for [my family],” he says.

Learn more about Juan Giannitti’s accomplishment

Champion chocolatier


This May, Priya Winsor (Baking and Pastry Arts ’19) rose to the top of the Food Network’s Spring Baking Championship, taking home the US$25,000 prize. She plans to use the money to expand her St. Albert-based business, Compass Chocolates. “I’m still stunned,” says Winsor, who had to keep her success a secret since last year, when the season was filmed.

Read more about Priya Winsor’s win

Architecture ace

The Prix de Rome in Architecture – Emerging Practitioners goes to a recent architectural school grad with exceptional potential. For 2024, that was Daniel Wong (Architectural Technology ’18), who earned his master’s degree at the University of Toronto.

The $34,000 prize will fund an internship at a firm in Paris, and a research residency at another in New York City. Wong is the first NAIT grad to win the award.

Best business innovators

NAIT’s Business Innovation Showcase is an annual gathering of student startup entrepreneurs and problem-solvers. This April was its biggest iteration yet – an 80-booth takeover of the Feltham Centre involving 100 students and 400 visitors, complete with awards. Congrats to

Learn more about the 2025 Business Innovation Showcase award winners

The art of teeth

Competition for the KZW Award for excellence in denture prosthetics attracts the best in the field from around the world. Though practitioners from 21 countries vied for the prize in 2025, none could top the work of Jade Connors (Denturist Technology ’15, Dental Technology ’12). The owner of Edmonton's Pearl Denture and Implant Centre is the first Canadian to win the international award.

Canada's best wedding photographer – again

This spring, Professional Photographers of Canada named Railene Hooper (Photographic Technology ’16) the 2025 Canadian Wedding Photographer of the Year. "This isn’t just an award, it’s a recognition of something I pour my entire heart into," Edmonton-based Hooper wrote on Instagram. This is the second time she has won the award.

Fantastic four

There is no higher award at NAIT than an honorary degree. This year’s recipients were recognized at Convocation in June for contributions to the fields of mining and energy, education and business, arts and culture, and trades and diversity.

Meet Jim Carter, Brent Hesje, Carol Moen and Holger Petersen

Among the greats of goalball

This May, Blair Nesbitt (Bachelor of Business Administration ’15, Accounting ’12) was named MVP at the Canadian National Championships for goalball, where he led the Alberta team to victory undefeated. As national champs, the team earned a place in the International Blind Sports Federation Americas Championships this summer in Brazil.

Nesbitt and the team hope to carry on to the 2026 World Championships in China and the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.

St. Albert superstars


Each year, the St. Albert Gazette asks readers to choose the best of the suburban city’s businesses, including restaurants, retail, health and wellness, skilled trades contractors and more. The 2025 list featured six businesses owned by NAIT grads:

Hooray for Highway Hijinks

Game Development student Alex Ritchie was off to the races in June at Game Con Canada, the country’s largest gaming expo, held annually in Edmonton. His video game, Highway Hijinks, was named Most Innovative Indie Game. The game sees players steer a vehicle at speed through a post-apocalyptic landscape. It’s available on the online gaming platform Steam.

A magnificent seven

NAIT Celebrates is the polytechnic’s annual recognition event for alumni, industry partners and friends of the institute who’ve made an outstanding community impact. Announced in April, this year’s group represents the fields of health care, culture, business and trades:

Learn more about why each was named a 2025 NAIT Celebrates recipient

NAIT welcomes Doreen Cole

NAIT’s Board of Governors is responsible for managing and operating the polytechnic. Doreen Cole joined as its newest member for a three-year term starting in June. Cole brings more than three decades of leadership experience from her time in Canada’s energy, mining, utilities and education sectors.