Welcoming Darion Mahadeo from Trinidad and Tobago:

Where did you study? I am a Graduate Geomatics Engineer (Land Surveyor) in my country Trinidad and Tobago. I am a PhD Surveying and Land Information Candidate; I also hold an MSc. Geoinformatics (Distinction), and BSc. Geomatics (Honors)- Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors Accredited. I also have 9 years of professional and academic experience.

All my degrees were obtained at the University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad, West Indies.

What are the requirements to be a surveyor in your area? To be a licensed surveyor in Trinidad, the first requirement is my accredited and recognized BSc. Geomatics Degree. And then I need a proposer who is a licensed land surveyor of Trinidad and Tobago (TTLS) who has been licensed for a minimum of 15 years. Then I need to work under him/her for a minimum of 24 months and complete the professional requirements necessary. Afterwards there will be an examination component, once passed the next stage is the trial survey, and finally once successful, the final stage is the oral defense (viva voce).

How did you get into surveying? Coming out of poverty was the main motivation of me being a surveyor. Education seemed to be the path that could deliver me out of this. However, it all started at the age of 10, seeing my dad who worked as a surveyor’s assistant struggle financially to make ends meet. Surveyor’s assistant in our country does not make as much of an income and having a family (wife and kids) was a great struggle. I wanted to be like my dad, but also be the ‘boss’ (surveyor) rather than a surveyor’s assistant – unlike my dad’s position.

The idea of being outdoors while working together for some days at the office was an attractive reward for the job also – this was the perfect mix for me considering my love for nature. I was then well-motivated, and nothing could have changed my mind, “I am going to be a surveyor”, was my motto from then. Browsing my way through academics, gaining working experience for the past 8 years helped me obtain proper insights within the field as to how they related to all things in the world.

Through my Department at UWI, which is an FIG Member, I was exposed to more in-depth sub-fields of the very broad ‘Geomatics’. Lots of theory made me very excited to pursue the upcoming practical assignments/fieldwork associated with learning new skill sets, and techniques. Having hands-on experience and the knowledge to execute made me more thrilled to learn more and more. I was starting to live my dream! I looked forward to the practical field trips such as cadastral surveys, engineering survey site visits, GPS and GNSS fieldwork, and even bathymetric surveys.

Years passed where I accumulated knowledge and skill sets in the fields of mathematics, cadastral surveying, hydrographic surveying, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Remote Sensing and then I applied them professionally. I am very skilled in conducting ground surveying techniques, developing GIS solutions, understand Remote Sensing Operations, and have a recent passion combining them with Artificial Intelligence to make smarter solutions for and informed decision making. All mentioned here are my interests in the field.

I have also taught courses of the BSc Geomatics at the UWI for some years between 2018-2021. Throughout the years, I have recognized surveying to be a well-respected and rewarding career. I tend to stay within this field and invest my youth towards contributing in whatever possible way I can. I aim to do good and make the world a better place. I aim to complete my PhD and be a Professor at a University someday as well as maintain Surveying and Geospatial practices in my work. I also aim to join professional organizations and attain professional certification to keep abreast with the technology and time.

How long have you been in the industry? I have been in the industry academically and professionally for 9 years.

Are you part of any associations or organizations you would like us to mention? At the moment I am just being responsible for my University (The University of the West Indies).

Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? To share knowledge and ideas with kids. To educate the younger generation (youths) about surveying and geospatial sciences. GKiS posters and incentives are well-designed and equipped for delivering these goals.

Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? So that they can have a fair idea of the field early in life and make more informed decisions as to what career they would like to choose. As well as to be more informed about surveyors (measurement scientists) and how important our roles are to the world.

What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? I aim to follow the GKiS initiatives:

-> to spread the word of the ‘Get Kids into Survey’ Initiative in local area

-> to attend careers fairs, school classrooms & conferences

-> to present surveying as a career to young students

-> to encourage others to join as Brand Ambassadors and help spread the word

-> to educate potential Brand Sponsors about our initiative

-> to feedback to ‘Get Kids into Survey’, with what school/fair/event has been attended etc.

What are your hobbies? Football (soccer), Agriculture, playing with my puppies, spending time with animals and nature, and teaching children, young people and adults.

If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? I would like to be a mini version of myself – a little lad who has the world as his oyster (and chose surveying as a start).

What resource would you like to see next from GKiS? Animation and audio -> video of the characters (maybe Ambassadors do voice overs) 🙂

Anything else you want to add that you think our audience (surveyors, teachers, parents) would be interested in? Share widely with the GKiS organization and spread the word!

Introducing our latest Brand Ambassador from Arizona, USA – Robert Lopez!

Here’s a bit about him:

“I am a registered surveyor in Arizona.

Introducing our latest Brand Ambassador from Florida, USA it’s Tanya Hopper:

If you are not a surveyor, what do you do? Associate Director of Talent Acquisition at Atwell. I am a dedicated resource for our Survey and Mapping group. I am also chair of our survey scholarship program, and I’m launching a Young Surveyor program internally this year. I also plan to become a CST proctor in the next few months.

How long have you been in the industry? 2+ years in survey, 5.5 in civil engineering

Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? I believe in the mission! I think survey is a wonderful profession, and I take pride in helping it grow by introducing newbies to the industry.

Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? Only 14% of licensed surveyors are under 34, and the average age of a PLS is between 58-60. If we don’t put in the work NOW, we will have an even smaller pool of candidates down the road – with major infrastructure project underway. We are already in a major surveyor shortage. It’s a great profession and it basically sells itself – we just have to give it a little introduction so youngsters can enroll in geomatics programs.

What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? Visit middle and high schools, teacher conferences, be an advocate at survey conferences, persuade other surveyors to get on board, and attempt to work with boy/girl scouts and 4H clubs.

What are your hobbies? Camping, hiking, fishing, crabbing, gardening, mountain biking, cooking

If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? Human

What resource would you like to see next from GKiS? Do you remember quizzes in magazines when you were a kid? Each answer had an arrow that pointed you to a different new question. I think it would be cool to have one with survey related professions and have questions such as “do you like being outside,” “are you good with math,” “do you like working with computers,” etc. and have some of the responses lead to Crew Chief, Drafter, GIS, etc.

Anything else you want to add that you think our audience (surveyors, teachers, parents) would be interested in? Seek and find- “find the monument”

Introducing Jon aka The River Surveyor from Storm Geomatics! To have a go at their Wild Water and Risky Rivers Homework Project please click here.

Company Name – Storm Geomatics

Location – Warwickshire & Bristol England

Why is it important for your company to help Get Kids into Survey? There is an international shortage of qualified land surveyors. We have joined forces with The Survey Association in the UK to ensure “every young person knows about survey as a career.”

What do you do? I am a river surveyor! Using the latest technology I measure rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. These measurements are used by our clients who are engineers to create flood defence solutions. 

How long have you been in the survey profession? Since 2007 when I became a trainee land surveyor. I am now senior surveyor for Storm Geomatics and lead the most complex projects.  

How did you end up getting into the geospatial industry?  The opportunity came to follow a career that involved 50% of my time being on site all over the UK and 50% of my time processing the data I collect in the office.

State a funny fact about you… We once discovered a forty-foot barge at the bottom of a river during a survey.

Favourite piece of kit and why? Any kind of multibeam scanner. I spend many hours skippering our compact survey vessel Storm Geoswath I. I also play a key role in creating specialist survey techniques to gather even more data for our clients. That way they know when they use Storm Geomatics, they get the best value for money. 

Favourite Survey technique and why? Interferometric sonar because I know when I survey into the depths lakes or rivers this is the unknown and what we discover has not been found before.

Your website

How did you choose the character and what does he/she/it represent? Mean to you? What’s his/her name? This character is based on Storm’s most experienced and knowledgeable river surveyor who has been with the company since it was founded in 2007.

Introducing our latest sponsor EveryPoint! Check out their Homework Project here 

Company Name –  EveryPoint

Location –  Redmond, WA, USA

Why is it important for your company to help Get Kids into Survey?
We have been working in the geospatial industry for a long time and have seen the profession age without a lot of young people entering the industry. Working with survey and geospatial tools is fun and exciting! We believe kids need to be engaged with surveying concepts at an early age to know that surveying is an option for them. Also, the next generation will be using mixed reality tools which are built on geospatial information. Opportunities to grow in this industry have never been better!

What do you do? Our company, EveryPoint, makes software tools that uses photos of real things like trucks, trains, and piles of stuff and turns them into a digital version. Our tools help businesses by answering important questions like: “Is my train broken?” or “Has this big box been in my storage room for too long?” By getting answers to these questions, companies can work better and smarter.

How long have you been in the survey industry? We have been building tools for surveyors and geospatial professionals since 2011.

How did you end up getting into the geospatial industry? Our investors roots were in the geospatial industry and we saw an untapped potential to provide toolsets for non-geospatial companies. We were frustrated with complicated tools that only highly trained surveyors could use. For example, why couldn’t a dump truck driver scan a pile of rock to find out volume? We decided to change how businesses work by providing tools that non-geospatial professionals could use to solve business problems.
  

State a funny fact about you… Our company is almost entirely former musicians!

Favourite piece of kit and why? An iPhone! It may sound like a silly answer for surveying, however, it has a powerful combination of being a high resolution camera, computer, and internet communicator. We are able to deploy solutions to every person’s pocket within a company, making everyone a mini-surveyor.

Favourite Survey technique and why? Photogrammetry! Our roots have always been in image based solutions and we see a lot of potential for photogrammetry and a LiDAR data fusion. Taking the best of both worlds, we can make highly detailed digital twins.

Your website

How did you choose the character and what does he/she/it represent? Mean to you? What’s his/her name? We chose our team member Melissa Webster to be our character. She is a great role model for girls who want to work in technology. She is super smart AND a former collegiate softball athlete. We hope kids can relate to her and realise they too can work in this industry one day.

Introducing our sponsors 90 Degree!

Company Name – 90 DEGREE

Location – Romania, Transylvania, Brasov

Why is it important for your company to help Get Kids into Survey? The geospatial industry is growing rapidly and is expected to continue to do so in the coming years. By introducing kids to this field early on, they may be inspired to pursue a career in it and take advantage of the many job opportunities available.

We witnessed a lack of technicians in the sector in most fields, and I believe that as time goes on, the globe would suffer greatly as a result of this lack of knowledge. Personally, I believe that a company like this should exist to introduce every sector of technology into schools sooner, because they can blend the fun side of each profession with the technical part. In this approach, even children who may lack parental support and guidance will have access to a wide range of opportunities.

Overall, every organisation, including ourselves, will have enough manpower to keep the survey technology going.

What do you do? 90 DEGREE specialises in creating engaging point cloud/CAD/3D BIM fly-through animations. These types of visualisations are highly effective marketing tools for companies that offer 3D scanning services, as they allow potential clients to see the results of the scanning process in a clear and engaging way. In short, our company helps other businesses showcase their 3D scanning services using dynamic and interactive visualisations.

How long have you been in the survey industry? We have been in the industry for 10+ years (in surveying), processing data, scanning, filming the scanning process, but for the last 2 years we focused only on fly-through animations.

How did you end up getting into the geospatial industry? I did not participate in any surveying studies for the same reasons stated above: a lack of guidance in both family and school (thus, again, with good guidance, perhaps a kid somewhere will have this opportunity). I had no idea what a point cloud was until a few years ago, but once I knew what it was, I found the concept fascinating. So, in this way I was able to merge my photographic love with the amazingness of scanning.

While my initial path was as a videographer for a scanning company, something more geared towards the artistic aspects of these fields, 3D scanning, point clouds and deliverables, likely sparked an interest in my path.

As a video editor in the geospatial industry, I have a unique opportunity to use my creative skills to help visualise complex data sets and communicate important information to others.

State a funny fact about you: If you did not know: stags are good swimmers, capable of reaching great speeds in water. They will occasionally cross lakes and rivers in search of food on the other side. These animals are far more powerful and adaptable than you may have anticipated.

So, fun fact: our cartoon character can swim, but I can’t. Well, in Transylvania, we are widely known for other things, not for swimming, if you know what I mean.

Favourite piece of kit and why? As members of this industry profile, we are accustomed to working with a wide range of systems and the many types of point clouds that can come from them. We are not in a position to choose between platforms because they all have something unique to offer and may exhibit various types of projects.

In our opinion, each organization should have the ability to promote their services based on their budget and the market services that they offer. And now we’ve arrived on stage

Favourite Survey technique and why? The most popular survey technique is, of course, 3D scanning, because the major workflow that we use includes cad drawings, 3D building models, and, of course, point clouds.

As previously said, 3D scanning techniques feed our work routines, thus it takes first position.

Your website

How did you choose the character and what does he/she/it represent? Mean to you? What’s his/her name? Elmer the stag has an exceptionally broad geographic distribution, and cultures all around the world have attributed this animal metaphorical importance. Because stags shed their antlers in the autumn and regenerate them in the spring, they are signs of the changing seasons and heralds of fresh life. So we can say that the stag is a symbol of rebirth.

We had a rough start moving forward, and we started from virtually zero after opting to go it alone, so we can say that, like the antlers, we started growing anew. We can only pray that each autumn they will fall and that each spring they will begin to sprout again!

It’s Infinity Land Surveying LLC Character spotlight!

1.   Company Name – Infinity Land Surveying, LLC
2.   Location – We are based in Phoenix, AZ but we are licensed in Arizona and New Mexico with plans on Nevada and Colorado in the near future.
3.   Why is it important for your company to help Get Kids into Survey? Having 3 kids of my own, I want them to have a successful career and love what they do. A career in Surveying provides just that, and there is so much opportunity for the next generation. Our biggest obstacle is that most kids do not know what Surveying is. If they did, we would not need to recruit because once they saw how rewarding this career is, they would be lined up at the door with applications in hand…lol.  
4.   What do you do? I run the day-to-day operations at Infinity Land Surveying.  This includes talking with clients to understand their needs, preparing proposals, drafting existing maps\plats, calculating coordinates, upload\download data collectors, performing fieldwork, drafting the field work, and creating different types of Survey drawings (Boundary, Topographic, As-Builts). Once these maps and documents have their final drafts, they are then and recorded with the County. 
5.   How long have you been in the survey industry? I started going to school for a Land Surveying Engineering in 1999 and graduated in 2003 from New Mexico State University.  I then went to work in the private land development industry for 8 years, then went into the public sector working for the State Power Company for 6 years before starting my own company.  All in all I’ve been in this industry 24 years….and counting 😊
6.   How did you end up getting into the geospatial industry?  I took a geology class when I was at community college and one of our labs was mapping a prehistoric formation.  We woke up early and drove way out into the country.  Once there, we loaded up our back packs with everything we needed for the day and started hiking out in to the unknown.  Being that it was a community college class, it was small and we were able to have great conversations with our professors.  My geology professor could tell I was in hog heaven running around the hills with a backpack and a camera strapped to me.  On the way back to the truck he asked me about what I was going to major in once I transferred to the University.  I really didn’t know so I said “Well this was fun, maybe I’ll study Geology”. He just shook his head and said “Why in the world would you want to go and do that?”  I was kind of shocked that he said..lol, but I responded that what we did today was so fun and I’d love to get paid to go off-roading and hiking 😊  He smiled and told me about the Surveying Engineering Program at New Mexico State University.  My next trip to NMSU I made an appointment to meet with the Dept. head.  His name was Dr. Reilly and he welcomed me with open arms, took me to lunch, and then showed me the amount of jobs and the salaries that Professional Land Surveryors were making and the rest is History!!
7.   State a funny fact about you…I was named after my Great Great Grandfather (William Masi) who was a Frontier Land Surveyor during the 1880’s.  He had a mail order bride because there were very few women on the frontier back then. They had 3 daughters together, but he was the last of his family to carry the “Masi” name and being that he had 3 daughters, he would not be able to carry on the Masi last name, so he decided on a rule that all of his daughters’ sons should have the middle name of “Masi”.  Well my Grandfather is William Masi Wing, my father is Daniel Masi Wing, I’m William Masi Wing, and my son is Tanner Masi Wing. The funny part about it, is that I never know anything about this until my 3rd year of going to school for Surveying. 😊 My dads cousin went on a geneology trip when he retired and found all of this information.  He even found William Masi’s old pocket compass and gave it to me. One day I plan on going up the Cheyenne, WY and researching some of the Surveys he completed and maybe even retracing them.
8.   Favourite piece of kit and why? I love my GNSS receivers because I started out turning angles with conventional equipment (total station) on a 2–3-person crew and it would take 3 days to break down a mile section.  GPS\GNSS was very new at that time and a lot of the older Surveyors didn’t trust it and wouldn’t use it.  This was a great opportunity to learn all the ins and outs of GPS\GNSS so I could convince the others, that it was a great tool. Once I showed them that we could break down a mile section in 4 hours, they became believers..lol.
9.   Favourite Survey technique and why? Boundary Surveying, because it’s basically like a big treasure hunt.  First, you have to research the history and that can be very interesting. Then you have to use clues from the research to calculate search coordinates.  Then you get to go out and hunt down those coordinates by car, foot, atv, etc. Just getting to some of these places can be an all-day adventure, but once you get there the real work starts. Using metal detectors and 100-year-old field notes, we comb the desert looking for original monuments.  It is a very special feeling when you find a monument that is over 100 years old and your holding the notes from the person who set it with their own hands and sweat.  
10. Your website
11. How did you choose the character and what does he/she/it represent? Mean to you? What’s his/her name? Our character is based on a Buzz Lightyear-ish Surveyor and his trusty sidekick “Norma” the surveying rescue cow 😊 We found her one night while finishing up a boundary survey in the deserts of AZ.  She was lost, freezing, and covered in cactus needles.  As I started the truck to leave the site, she came running up out of the ditch and directly under my truck.  My son thought she was a dog so he jumped out to help.  His eyes were as wide as a cucumber slice when he said “Dad, I think it’s a baby cow!”   I jumped out of the truck and pulled her out from under the truck where she was trying to get warm, and got all the cactus needles out of her.  We weren’t sure what to do, but it was snowing and the coyotes were already howling as it was getting dark. I knew she’d be a goner if we left her, so we put her in the camper shell and took her home.  Now fast forward 2 years and she has here own corral, shade, lights, toys, and all the alfalfa she can eat 😊

Introducing our latest Brand Ambassador, Alexandru-Dorin Paun from Tulcea, Romania:

Where did you study? I studied at the Technical University of Construction Bucharest, The Faculty of Geodesy.

What are the requirements to be a surveyor in your area? Well, that depends. To be authorized as a surveyor you have to obtain from The National Agency for Cadaster and Land Registration an authorization certificate, a document that proves your technical competence and your knowledge about the law in this domain. These authorizations are split in 5 different categories, A, B, C, D or E, each one allowing you to do different kind of specialized works. For example, I obtained the D category in 2017, (which includes all the others) and I am authorized to do all that a surveyor knows how to do, but in addition to the others categories I am allowed to do the execution and verification, within the internal quality control process, of category A works; design, execution and completion of reference geodetic networks; designing and execution of photogrammetry works. The requirement for the D category is to have finished a university where you have studied geodesy, cadaster, topography, cartography and to prove that you have worked as a surveyor for 7 years

How did you get into surveying? Lucky me! My parents are surveyors, too. I married also a surveyor, but her family is older in this profession than mine is. She is the third generation of surveyor in her family.

How long have you been in the industry? I have been in this industry since I was in high school, when I took my driving license. My parents didn’t have one, and I drove them where they needed to go, after that when I was at the University all my holidays, I was helping them with their work. In 2005 I started my own company, which is called TopoDeltaPAD, Topo from Topography, Delta because I was born In Tulcea, which is the town from where the Danube Delta starts, and PAD is an acronym of my name, www.topograful.ro .

Are you part of any associations or organisations you would like us to mention? From 2018-2020 I was secretary for Romanian Surveyors Union, now I am just a member.

Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? I always thought that involving the young ones when they are still in school is a great way to make our profession known so they can understand from the start its value and importance.

Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? It is just my belief that the awareness of surveyor’s importance in everyday life can only come if we educate the next generation, if they grow up knowing that surveyors exist and if they have a clue of what we do.

What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? I already got involved in sharing my experience as a surveyor in my children’s school, during the “Different Week” program, when, together with my wife, we went with the 3^rd and 5^th graders, to The National Center of Cartography in Bucharest, to initiate them into our profession. We also made some presentations in their school about what does surveying means. The kids were very excited, they asked us to come again.

What are your hobbies? I really love nature and being in it. I am a lake and forest’s person, so when I get the chance, I am out there. That’s why I love my job, you are not stuck at a desk.

If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? My family name is Păun, which is the Romanian word for peacock. I would like to have a GKiS peacock character.

What resource would you like to see next from GKiS? It is hard for me to tell you right now, because I just discovered you and I am fascinated with what you already have. I promise I will think about it and I will let you know.