Introducing Trent Williams from Utah, USA!
Where did you study? I got my degree in Surveying from Salt Lake Community College and Salt Lake City, Utah and have started by bachelors in Geomatics from Great Basin College in Nevada. I’ve pressed pause on that for a second but will be starting back up in the fall.
What are the requirements to be a surveyor in your area? Utah requires a two year degree with 4 years expirience. Of the expirience, two years must be in the field and two in the office.
How did you get into surveying? Like most surveyors I just “fell into it”. I interned at an engineering company in high school as a drafter. The ultimate goal was to get in to mechanical engineering, but the only place that had an internship was a civil engineering firm. I started drafting full time once I graduated high school and soon started helping in the field and fell in love with surveying.
How long have you been in the industry? Nearly 20 years.
Are you part of any associations or organisations you would like us to mention? Utah Council of Land Surveyors (UCLS) and Wisconson Society of Land Surveyors (WSLS). By default NSPS and WFPS (Western Federation of Professional Surveyors.
Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? Partly because of the dire need to get more surveyos into the industry just to have employees. Mostly becuase I am at a place to start giving back to a carreer that has given so much to me. I feel that GKiS is a great resource to do that.
Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? Part of it is to open the field as a possible career option. Another reason is because it envolpoes so much of our lives. Smart cars, GPS programs and the like are becoming part of our normal daily use and getting kids into those fields and surveying will only make the geospatial industry stronger.
What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? Right now as the chair of the UCLS education committee we are going lots of out reach. I will continue that outreach with the GKiS program and materials. I’ve already started conversations with the school districts in the area.
What are your hobbies? I love to golf, backpack, point out survey projects to my family every time we drive past one.
If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? It would have to be some sort of mountain climber. Our logo is a siloutte of mountains.
What poster or resource would you like to see next from GKiS? I’m not sure I have a suggestion right now. Really excited about the new development poster!