Alberta Advanced Education has approved Olds College to offer a dynamic new post-diploma certificate in Agriculture Technology Integration. Designed for students who already hold a diploma or degree, the new certificate will provide students with an understanding of how related technologies and components interact to provide accurate information and real-time monitoring and controls to the agriculture producer.
“As technology applications on-farm and in agribusiness continue to iterate through multiple versions -both hardware and software – a significant skill gap exists within the industry when it comes to supporting agriculture producers adopting new technology,” says Debbie Thompson, vice-president of Academic and Student Experience.
“The new certificate will provide students with opportunities to recognize the connectedness of, and interactions between, hardware and software to enable producers maximum uptime in the field. Graduates will be able to apply this knowledge to link emerging technologies with existing farm infrastructure.”
With the launch of the Olds College Smart Farm in June 2018, and most recently the Smart Ag Innovation Centre, the College now has a cutting edge learning environment for students to learn about agriculture technology. The Agriculture Technology Post Diploma Certificate is one of many exciting new ag tech initiatives that are being developed and launched as Olds College continues to grow and evolve as Canada’s Smart Ag College.
Applications for the new certificate will open October 1, 2019, with the first intake of students on campus for a September 2020 start date. To qualify for admission, students must hold a diploma or degree in mechanics, agriculture, land, environment, technology, engineering, forestry or information systems, or a journeyman agriculture equipment technician or heavy equipment technician.
Source: Government of Alberta
