SAIT Alumni Awards
SAIT is proud to recognize graduates who are making an impact in the community, on the national stage and worldwide.
SAIT’s Alumni Family members — a network of more than 260,000 strong —are community builders, innovators, and leaders in their industries. Help us honour our graduates and their achievements by nominating them for a 2022 SAIT Alumni Award.
2022 Alumni Awards nominations
Nominations for the 2022 SAIT Alumni Awards are now closed.
SAIT’s Alumni Awards celebrate graduates of distinction — trailblazers in industry who invest in their community and continue to support SAIT. Alumni are honoured in two categories: The Distinguished Alumni Award (DA) and the Outstanding Young Alumni Award (OYA).
Nomination criteria
Distinguished Alumni Award
Established in 1988, the Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes a SAIT graduate who demonstrates:
- proven leadership skills
- exceptional achievements in business or industry
- outstanding contributions to the community
- a history of support for SAIT
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Established in 2009, the Outstanding Young Alumni Award recognizes a SAIT graduate who:
- has graduated from SAIT in the last 10 years and is 35 years or younger
- has proven leadership skills
- exhibits exceptional achievements in their field of endeavour
- demonstrates outstanding contributions to the community
Shelley Kuipers
2021 Distinguished Alumni award winner
A serial entrepreneur, Shelley Kuipers knows the power of starting something new. She also understands how challenging launching a business can be — especially for women. Using a feminist-forward financial platform, Kuipers and her The51 co-founders match successful investors with talented entrepreneurs. Since 2019, the organization has engaged more than 100 investors in over 30 ventures, investing $16 million in Canada and the United States.
Petroleum Engineering Technology '87
Entrepreneur and Investor
Mike Lamacchia
2021 Distinguished Alumni award winner
After joining STARS full-time in 1999, Mike Lamacchia launched North America's first mobile human patient simulation program. Using a custom motorhome equipped with groundbreaking technology, Lamacchia led a team bringing critical hands-on skills training to all corners of the province, preparing rural medical professionals to face complex and challenging emergency situations. Today, Lamacchia oversees STARS' operations across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Emergency Medical Technician Paramedic '90
Chief Operating Officer — Provincial Operations, STARS Air Ambulance
SAIT's Distinguished Alumni
See all our Distinguished Alumni award recipients dating back to 1988.
Doug Braden
2021 Outstanding Young Alumni award winner
In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to grip the world, Doug Braden got a call from a local physician asking how quickly InkSmith could manufacture 10,000 face shields. In mere days, Braden shifted InkSmith's focus away from selling 3D printers and laser cutters to school and began retooling its infrastructure to create and manufacture personal protective equipment (PPE) for Canada's frontline workers.
Mechanical Engineering Technology '11
Chief Technology Officer, InkSmith