“The most creative people.”
Even before the three decades Clyde Hagans spent working at Science World, he had an adventure-filled career. Clyde served in the US Navy and was stationed in Antarctica as part of Operation Deep Freeze, where he remembers trying to corral penguins.
“We wore huge rubber boots called ‘Bunny boots’ that were designed for extreme cold weather and must have weighed over 20 pounds,” he says, laughing.
“We were in two-person teams running around, trying to be agile, chasing penguins on the snow and ice. It was always a difficult task, but it was a great experience.”
Fast forward a few years and Clyde found himself on a very different type of two-person team. He was a computer science student at Vancouver’s Douglas College and in order to put into practice some of what he’d learned in class, he applied for a co-op term at the relatively new Science World.
Rising to the challenge
It was 1993, a simpler and—technologically speaking—slower time. Back then, new Science World members had to wait almost a month for their membership cards.
“I came in for an interview as a co-op student and they asked me if I wanted to help streamline their system so new members could get their membership cards right away,” Clyde says.
“I’d never done anything like that before, but that’s what I love about Science World; they give you a challenge and empower you to figure it out.”
Clyde was hired and given the length of his co-op term—three months—to attempt this system revamp. He did it in half the time.
“They were like ‘Okay, so what else can we get you to do?’” he says. One co-op term turned into two, which, upon Clyde’s graduation, turned into a full-time position in Science World’s IT department.
“I became the second person in a two-person IT operation,” Clyde says, laughing.
Keep at it
Over the years, Clyde earned a reputation among his colleagues for being one of the first people in the office every morning, and able to help figure out just about any technological conundrum. The jerk chicken he made for staff parties quickly became the stuff of legends.
He transferred to Science World’s Workshop where he worked as an Electronics Technologist and then became an Exhibit Technician, where he helped build and augment many of the exhibits themselves.
“One of my favourites was the music exhibit AMP,” he says. “We set it up to be interactive so a visitor could come and play a keytar, or a set of drums, then record and download their own songs.”
“It was very creative,” he says. “And that’s what I always loved about working at Science World; they’re the most creative people I’ve ever met.”
This creative problem-solving sentiment is one Clyde loved seeing reflected among Science World visitors.
“It’s rewarding to see kids take on a challenge in the Tinkering Gallery and realize ‘Hey, it’s okay if something isn’t successful the first time around,’” he says. “So keep at it.”
After 30 years at Science World, Clyde retired in 2023. It was his former colleagues who nominated him to be honoured as one of this year’s Science World Patrons, in recognition of the outstanding contributions he made to the organization over his three decades there.
“It’s heartwarming to know people thought of you that way,” he says. “To be named a Science World Patron is an unbelievable honour.”