 Carpentry Graduates use their Training and Skills to Create Movie Magic
Actors may be the stars of film, TV and stage, but it’s the deftly-created and often inventive sets and props that help bring entertainment productions to life.
That’s what Brendan Neely and Martin McMullen do: the 21-year-olds are scenic carpenters, tradespeople who create scenery for the big and small screens. Drawing on their creativity and resourcefulness, and working closely with other tradespeople, they play a key role in making TV and movie magic happen.
“We’ve made airplane wings, a time capsule, a standard apartment. Whatever you can imagine, we can build it,” McMullen says.
“It really is a dream job. We’re learning so much every day. I couldn’t ask for much more,” Neely says.
McMullen and Neely met and became friends in 2009, during their second year in the Building Renovation Technician program at the Centre for Construction & Engineering Technologies at George Brown College. The two-year diploma program combined practical classroom and lab training with the opportunity to simultaneously complete a carpentry apprenticeship. During the program, they learned building and construction renovation skills, carpentry techniques, new materials application and business skills.
One of their instructors was Allan MacIsaac, a veteran scenic carpenter who, over the last 20 years, has worked on films such as The Incredible Hulk, Lars and the Real Girl and Cinderella Man, and on TV shows such as Cagney and Lacey, F/X: The Series and West Wing.
“It’s exciting to go behind the scenes and see how the film industry works. And you get to work with a wide range of materials that the average carpenter doesn’t use, and have a lot of variety in the projects you work on. It’s also neat to see your work on the screen and be able to say, ‘I made that’,” MacIsaac says.
McMullen and Neely did well in the program—both graduated with honours—and MacIsaac says they had a natural aptitude for carpentry and a diligent work ethic. Earlier this year, he helped them join IATSE Local 873, the union for stage technicians in Toronto. In April, they started working on the set of Suits, a new TV drama that was being filmed in the city.
“We worked with so many different trades and helped build an entire TV set in a studio—it was unreal,” Neely says.
“It was really different from anything I’ve ever done before in carpentry. It was very hands on and technical, with a lot of thinking on your feet,” McMullen says.
Their contributions to Suits did not go unnoticed by Fred Mendelson, construction coordinator for IATSE 873 and the series Transporters.
“Their broad training served them really well—they had a background in ceramics, masonry, rough framing and finishings, so it was easy for them to adapt to whatever we were working on,” he says.
Since Suits, McMullen and Neely have also worked as scenic carpenters on the next Total Recall movie and, currently, Transporters, a 12-part action series to air on HBO Canada.
In addition, they have started their own business, McNeely Renovation Brothers, and have so far worked on projects for residences, a restaurant and a hospital.
“I love doing something different every day and getting to problem solve. And once you do the work, it’s very gratifying to look back and see what you’ve created,” McMullen says.
“You start off with what seems to be nothing but a pile of wood,” Neely adds, “and build something from a picture in your mind that people can use and enjoy—it’s very rewarding.”
CCET creates winning internship match between employer and student
When Ontario homebuilders need guidance on building energy-efficient homes, a good number of them call John Godden. Offering builders help with everything from rating homes for Energy Star and LEED certification, to training in sustainable building practices, to sourcing green home products and technologies, Godden is a go-to guy for customized expertise on eco-smart residential development.
“We’re working on sustainable building approaches that are good for people, business and the environment, and as more builders come to realize they can sell homes that will benefit homeowners over time, there’s a chance to build huge capacity in this market,” says Godden, principal of Clearsphere, which inspects about 2,000 homes a year for sustainability standards compliance.
Godden knows that, to take advantage of the growing business opportunities in facilitating sustainable home development, he’ll have to expand his small company of 10, which is why he has turned to George Brown College.
“Companies spend a lot of money using agencies to prequalify and hire people, and I think a lot of that money could be saved by tapping places like George Brown. Their students are prequalified for companies because they’re trained in current industry practices, plus, they’re motivated to get ahead,” Godden says.
Last summer, the college’s Centre for Construction & Engineering Technologies connected Godden with David Twiddy, a student in the Construction Science and Management bachelor of applied technology degree. Halfway through the program, Twiddy also had a diploma in architectural technology from the college and four years of work experience in that field.
During a four-month work placement at Clearsphere, Twiddy accompanied Godden on many site inspections and learned how to rate home features for energy program compliance, eventually becoming able to do parts of evaluations himself. Twiddy also helped with energy modelling—using computer software to simulate the energy use of a house—designing mechanical systems, explaining green building practices to clients and performing administrative tasks.
“It was very eye-opening to see what’s happening at the front line of sustainable development. It was great to be able to take the concepts I’d learned through class work and apply them in the field,” Twiddy says.
Godden found that Twiddy’s educational background and his up-to-date knowledge and skills from his program allowed him to quickly get into the swing of things at Clearsphere.
“He learned stuff a lot faster because of his background and experience. He had the language basis to communicate about industry practices, and had strong abilities in computer drafting and report writing,” Godden says.
Satisfied with the experience, and convinced of the value of leveraging the fresh talent and drive of students training for the field, Godden is looking forward to hiring more CCET students to help him manage his growing business, which involves working not only with production and custom builders but also renovators, building trades, manufacturers, architects, designers and homeowners.
The extra support would also allow Godden the extra time he needs for his other eco-building initiatives, which include leading the Sustainable Housing Foundation, a non-profit he established to promote sustainability in the residential building sector, and volunteering as a writer and industry liaison for Sustainable Builder Magazine.
“This was a test-drive of George Brown, and I’ll be going back to them for more students,” Godden says. “The college is bridging the gap between theory and execution, which provides candidates who are helpful to me, and allows me to influence students who are going to be working in the industry.”
Learn as You Go with George Brown Apprenticeships
George Brown College now offers two new one-year apprenticeship training courses in Electrical Techniques and Plumbing Techniques.
Read the full story here: 
Waterfront Campus Site Visit
In November 2011, Ali Haj-Shafiei's BLDG 2045 - Construction Site Management, Supervision, and Inspection class visited the waterfront campus at 51 Dockside Drive to see for themselves the current construction status of the new 8 storey building and underground parking garage.
See the photos from the visit
Green Retrofit Project Moves Construction R&D to the Top Floor
Canada’s pre-1950s buildings are typically uninsulated, and therefore consume more total energy (primary and secondary energy), than the transportation sector—with direct implications for buildings’ emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Secondary-energy alone, from end users’ heating, cooling, etc. of buildings, produces about one-third of the country’s GHGs. Primary energy is what it takes to convert and deliver energy for end users.
That’s why Professor Christopher Timusk’s building-retrofit R&D project, conducted with students in George Brown College’s Construction Science and Management program, is such a hot prospect to help Ontario reach its goals in emissions reduction. The college’s Office of Applied and Institutional Research put up seed funding for the project in 2009 which has kick-started a total additional $3 million over five years for development and commercialization: from the Ministry of Research and Innovation’s ORF-RE (Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence) program, and from the college itself and industry partners.
“Vintage buildings are often beautiful,” says Timusk, “and notably inefficient users of energy. They are five to ten times as leaky of heat and air as they need to be or should be. Meanwhile, there is only one retrofit recladding system in common use today to insulate older buildings and reduce energy consumption. That system doesn’t meet all the requirements for functionality and aesthetics that we’re aiming for in our project.”
Because Toronto, as one example in Canada, has a plentiful supply of uninsulated vintage residential buildings, Timusk and his team of two students and George Brown College’s School of Architectural Studies professor Steffanie Adams began their R&D in summer 2009 with a pilot project in the Annex neighbourhood. Their initial goal was to create an online, interactive building retrofit guide based on their documenting of best practices, to help homeowners or their contractors insulate vintage houses effectively. Working literally from the ground up, Timusk, Adams and students Robert Giusti and Jason Guihan began at the foundations in a series of local homes, with the consent of homeowners.
The next five years will take Timusk’s team well beyond the basement on this project, from top to bottom and from every angle of a building’s insulation or insulation needs. While the retrofit guide will still be developed to determine and guide best practices in the shorter term, the R&D goal now is to create a unique recladding system, materials and methods, and to move the innovation through further development and commercialization.
The initial industry partner on the project, SMT Research Technologies Ltd., provided sensors and data loggers to the students’ analyses in 2009. Now the company, along with Inline Fiberglass, Trow Associates Inc. and Evergreen Foundation, are partners in the larger MRI-funded project. Adequate lab space to test recladding materials and processes in smaller-scale trials will also be important to the project, before doing larger-scale trials on actual houses or small commercial buildings. Timusk and his team are looking for other partners to join the project, which will create an insulation system that is durable, non-combustible, affordable for the building owner or operator, aesthetically pleasing, and of course will deliver good thermal results.
The fact that successive senior students in the Construction Science and Management program will benefit, over the next five years, from real-world applied research and development only magnifies the benefit and importance of the insulation retrofit project.
Efficacy Testing of Water Conditioning Technology
This new partnership between the School of Construction Management and Trades and H2O and More Inc, an Ontario-based SME will test claims that H2O’s water conditioning units are more environmentally friendly than traditional units for treating hard water. These products use a bipolar technology that causes the minerals, including limestone, to form nano-crystals that pass through pipes, rather than forming lime deposits and corrosion. The water chemistry is not changed but the properties of the water are, and as trace elements and minerals are not removed it is safe and healthy to drink. This study is to test the efficacy of the product for reducing the scaling and corrosion of pipes.
John Priolo, an employee of H2O, is also a GBC plumbing apprenticeship program alumni so knew our students and faculty would have the skills to deliver a strong project and answer H2O’s product testing needs. He was also keen to bring this exciting learning opportunity to his alma mater.
Product testing is ongoing and already one municipal government and a neighboring university have expressed interest in collaborating on the development of testing protocols and methodology. The project is expected to contribute to the standardization of testing protocols and product quality standards. Water conditioning product manufacturing and sales are largely unregulated industries. The successful marketing of the products following a rigorous testing protocol and verification through laboratory analysis will serve to reinforce government recommendations in regards to best practice and performance of conditioning products.
Priolo hopes that competitors in the industry will follow suit in verifying their products’ performance to ensure consumers know the risks and value that come with the purchase of water conditioning and softening products.
Trading places - teen girls urged to give skilled trades a chance
Victoria Grenkie wears a pink hard hat with her brown work boots. The 19-year-old Orillia woman is in her second year of Construction Science and Management (Bachelor of Applied Technology) (T302) at George Brown College.
Grenkie said she was inspired to look into skilled trades for a career after a speaker came to Park Street Collegiate a few years ago and told her class about the construction industry. "There's always some sort of restoring or revitalization project going on, so there's always going to be work, even in this economy," Grenkie said. "And I like organizing things and I like the science aspect of it. So it's a good fit."
Grenkie is soon to be one of thousands of skilled trade workers the Conference Board of Canada is hoping will shore up the shortfall of 560,000 skilled workers needed by 2030 because more than 50% of the current workforce is expected to retire by 2018.
Read the full story here: http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3375868
Associations Fair 2011
On November 16 2011, the Centre for Construction and Engineering Technologies invited their students to speak with representatives from various associations within their professional industry. This provided students with the opportunity to learn about membership benefits and application processes, get licensing or accreditation instructions, discuss career opportunities within the industry and expand their network of contacts.
Attending Associations included:
See the photos from this event
2011 George Brown College Achievement Awards
The Centre for Construction & Engineering Technologies would like to congratulate all of their staff who were nominated for the 2011 George Brown College Achievement Awards!
Jamie McIntyre – Innovation Award
Ontario Skills Competition Team - Student Service/Experience Award
On May 31, 2011, Alumni Relations & the Centre for Construction and Engineering Technologies hosted a networking lunch at The Chefs' House. Alumni were invited to hear the latest news from George Brown College, mingle with fellow alumni and college faculty and staff, win great draw prizes, and update us on their careers. [Read more...]
On March 29 2011, ninety-five students from the T110 and T148 Building Renovation programs competed in the RONA Cabinet Making Competition at Casa Loma Campus.
[Read more...]
2011 Dinner with the Dean The Centre for Construction & Engineering Technologies held its second annual Dinner with the Dean - Nancy Sherman, on March 29th 2011 to enjoy an evening of food, drink, socializing and acknowledging the great work of our Peer Leaders, Peer Liaisons, Ambassadors, faculty and staff. [Read more...]
2011 Technology Career Fair
On February 8th 2011, The Centre for Construction & Engineering Technologies & the Industry Liaison Office hosted the 2011 Technology Career Fair in our Casa Loma campus gymnasium.
Hundreds of students from the School of Architectural Studies, School of Construction Management and Trades, School of Computer Technology, and School of Mechanical Engineering Technologies were in attendance to hear first hand from over 30 local, national and international employer industry partners how they can fit into the job market. [Read the full story]
Archived News & Events:
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