Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

BCIT celebrates 50-year anniversary starting with 'Fab 50' event at first campus

Darpan News Desk Darpan, 05 Oct, 2014 11:52 AM

    BURNABY, B.C. - It's been 50 years since then-premier W.A.C. Bennett officially opened the doors of the B.C. Institute of Technology in Burnaby, and that milestone is being celebrated at the school that now has five campuses.

    On Saturday, the polytechnic institute held a "Fab 50" event featuring all things 1964 — from vintage cars to an X-ray machine and broadcasting equipment used at the school half a century ago.

    A Beattles tribute band entertained former graduates and visitors at the Burnaby campus.

    Gary Hanney, who attended BCIT's first broadcast class and worked mostly as a camera operator before retiring in 2008, said he remembers wearing a shirt, tie and sport jacket to school.

    Hanney said the two-year broadcasting program was considered cool in those days but most of the students were men and jobs were plentiful in a blossoming industry.

    "When we started here there was one building and now it's a huge campus," he said.

    BCIT spokesman Dave Pinton said anniversary events will also be held throughout the school year at the other four campuses of BCIT — in North Vancouver, Richmond, Vancouver and Delta.

    The school began with 647 students and this year has nearly 48,000 people enrolled in programs including engineering, business, shipbuilding and health, said Pinton, who wore a 1960's skinny tie and horn-rimmed glasses to the birthday bash.

    Since 1964, about 155,000 students have graduated from BCIT, which provides the majority of apprenticeship training in the province.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Surrey Six Slayings: Judge To Deliver Her Decision In Murder Trial

    Surrey Six Slayings: Judge To Deliver Her Decision In Murder Trial
    VANCOUVER - It was a shocking gangland crime that could rightfully be called a bloodbath: six men murdered, execution-style, two of them innocent bystanders who happened to be in the wrong place.

    Surrey Six Slayings: Judge To Deliver Her Decision In Murder Trial

    Former SNC executive pleads guilty in Switzerland on criminal charges

    Former SNC executive pleads guilty in Switzerland on criminal charges
    MONTREAL - A Swiss court has accepted a guilty plea from a former SNC-Lavalin senior executive, who was accused of fraud, corruption and money laundering, and labelled the Montreal-based engineering and construction company as a victim.

    Former SNC executive pleads guilty in Switzerland on criminal charges

    Chilean searchers find bodies of Cdn skier JP Auclair and Sweden's Andreas Fransson

    Chilean searchers find bodies of Cdn skier JP Auclair and Sweden's Andreas Fransson
    Chilean searchers on Tuesday found the bodies of two professional skiers, including a Canadian, who had been missing since an avalanche swept them away while they were hiking in the country's south.

    Chilean searchers find bodies of Cdn skier JP Auclair and Sweden's Andreas Fransson

    Pan Am Games torch relay will cross Canada, hit 130 Ontario communities

    Pan Am Games torch relay will cross Canada, hit 130 Ontario communities
    TORONTO - The torch relay for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games will be a national event, with stops in five Canadian cities as well as more than 100 Ontario communities.

    Pan Am Games torch relay will cross Canada, hit 130 Ontario communities

    14 people cast ballots in wrong ridings in New Brunswick election

    14 people cast ballots in wrong ridings in New Brunswick election
    FREDERICTON - Elections New Brunswick says 14 people voted in the wrong ridings in last week's provincial election, 11 of whom where allowed to later cast ballots in the correct ridings.

    14 people cast ballots in wrong ridings in New Brunswick election

    Canada has just 26 special forces 'advisers' in Iraq, not 69, says letter to NDP

    Canada has just 26 special forces 'advisers' in Iraq, not 69, says letter to NDP
    OTTAWA - The number of Canadian special forces soldiers advising Iraqi and Kurdish forces is much smaller than originally thought.

    Canada has just 26 special forces 'advisers' in Iraq, not 69, says letter to NDP