Sask Polytech students gain a perfect blend of practical hands-on learning and theory providing a recipe for success in the beer production industry.

Lorie Tedford has been a quality assurance (QA) analyst at Great Western Brewing Company for nearly five years. Her experience as a student in the BioScience Technology program helped her choose a specialization.

"I was intrigued by quality assurance. In my job, I test samples from the very start of the brewing process all the way up until the beer is on a pallet,” she says. “The testing is all simultaneous, so you have to be a jill-of-all-trades because production is ongoing.”

Throughout her day, Tedford goes from testing the beginning of a batch, to a brew from weeks before, looking to ensure the pH, alcohol, CO2 and all regulatory requirements of each batch are within specification. As a Sask Polytech student, she worked on an applied research project testing beer samples. That experience shaped her day-to-day work in industry.

“The Sask Polytech program helped develop my adaptability, which is an important skill to have as a QA analyst because I work with six different departments to relay information and offer solutions in a fast-paced environment,” she says.

Tedford took advantage of the opportunity to ladder into the Honours Biology undergraduate degree program at the University of Saskatchewan, completing it in two years. The pursuit of additional education is enticing to prospective students.

Alumna Kalin Izsak is the project coordinator for LGCY, the innovation hub for fermentation at 9 Mile Legacy Brewing. The 2024 BioScience Technology graduate is looking to transfer credits to an Environmental degree with Royal Roads University. The hybrid program will allow her to continue working at 9 Mile. She’s grateful for what she learned at Sask Polytech.

“We were given the tools to troubleshoot. Instructors didn’t hold our hand the whole way through, which is good because it gives the students independence,” she says.

In her work, she collaborates on different research and development projects with scientists and companies looking to expand their brewed products.

“We’re taking novel approaches with brewing. We’re doing techniques no one has tried before, so it’s up to us to figure out how to do that. Having the confidence to experiment has helped me grow in my career,” Izsak says.

Students learn many skills in the program, from working in labs to soft skills like communication, teamwork and voicing when something is unclear in the lab setting. Students take chemistry, anatomy, physiology and botany in the first year before moving to more specialized courses in the second year such as molecular biology, microbiology, analytical instrumentation, immunology, plant tissue culture and animal cell culture. The expansive list of courses provides students with a solid foundation to choose among multiple career paths.

“There are many different jobs you can have as a bioscience technologist, which is why students take such a huge range of courses. They learn a lot of important techniques they can use in any lab situation,” says program head Tarra McCannell.

Adds Tedford, “Most things in the BioScience Technology program compound, so one thing you learn in one class will be brought up in another class. You learn the same theories but you tweak how to apply them in different situations.”

In addition to experience in the classroom, students join labs for four-week practicums. Students have a broad network of industry partners to choose from to gain experience working in a lab.

“I absolutely rave about the program because it allows you to really dive into all these different types of fields of science, get hands-on experience and then have the opportunity to say, ‘OK after experiencing all of these, what resonated?’” Izsak says.

The emphasis on developing lab skills prepares alumni to work in biosciences, biomedical research and applied research. Graduates of the program work in different organizations in different departments such as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, National Research Council Canada, Saskatchewan Research Council, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, Cameco, the City of Saskatoon and Prairie Diagnostics Services.

“Everyone who works in the program loves what we do and what we teach. We take a lot of pride in our job and really believe in our field,” says McCannell. “Students have whatever supports they need. We believe in them and we want to see them thrive in a fulfilling career.”

Says Izsak, “The instructors made the program. I don't think it would have been the same program or same experience if it wasn't for the instructors I had. They made it fun. They made the learning environment comfortable, always.”

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