Two faculty from Saskatchewan Polytechnic were recognized through the Technology and Professionals Saskatchewan (TPS) awards.
June 2025
Technology Professionals Saskatchewan (TPS) is the only regulatory body in the Province of Saskatchewan that registers professionals in applied science and engineering technology.
TPS awards professional designations of PTech. (Professional Technologist), and CTech. (Certified Technician). These professional designations are recognized across Canada by provincial applied science and engineering technology regulating associations, and many employers.
This year’s recipients included:
PRESIDENT’S AWARD – Dan Bechard, PTech
Each year, the President’s Award is chosen and presented by the president to an individual who furthers the professional identity of the association to the public.
TPS presented the 2025 President’s Award to Dan Bechard.
Dan holds a Master of Administration in Leadership from the University of Regina and a Computer Aided Design and Drafting (CADD) Technology Diploma from Saskatchewan Polytechnic.
Since 2003, he’s served as Academic Chair for multiple programs at Saskatchewan Polytechnic and led major projects like the Energy and Resource Sciences Lab expansion.
His ability to grow industry partnerships has significantly promoted our profession to students.
THE MAURICE ZIMMERMAN, EXCELLENCE IN TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION AWARD – Mark Ferguson, PTech
This Award is chosen and presented to an individual who deserves the admiration and respect of the public and is a member of TPS. The objective is to publicly showcase a technical instructor who has demonstrated an outstanding level of professionalism and excellence in making a significant contribution to the study of technology.
This Award is named after Maurice Zimmerman, a Professional Technologist who was one of the Association’s founding members, and TPS’s third President. Unfortunately, Moe passed away in 2015.
This year, TPS recognized Mark Ferguson for his outstanding professionalism and excellence in making a significant contribution to the education of professional technologists and technicians. Mark is a 2011 graduate of Sask Polytech’s Instrumentation Engineering Technology program.
Among the many comments his students submitted when nominating him for this Award were:
“Mark displays complex ideas and makes challenging problems very clear. He is well prepared for his lessons and highly knowledgeable in the topics he teaches.”
Mark was recognized for his technical ability, leadership, creativity, innovation and for the many students he has taught and mentored in Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s Instrumentation Engineering Technology program.