Introducing our latest Brand Ambassador Joel van Cranenbroeck from Namur, Belgium!

Where did you study? I studied in Brussels at the State Technical Institute for Land Surveyor over 3 years. Before I studied Math Sup.

What are the requirements to be a surveyor in your area? Several possibilities : High Schools for a MSc degree in Construction Engineering with Surveyor’s option (last year), University as MSc in Geomatics, Surveying option and still Graduation Schools. To become a Surveyor, you need to complete that study, then take an oath before the Court of First Instance and to be registered at the Conseil Fédéral des Géomètres-Experts. That concerns mostly the traditional land surveyors involved in boundary delimitations and cadastral surveys. We don’t have any cursus for becoming survey engineer or geodesist here in Belgium. Professor PL Baetslé at that time answered that question (how to become a geodesist in Belgium) with a laconic “by accident”.

How did you get into surveying? At the end of my secondary school studies I followed for several days as a helper, a land surveyor. It has been the trigger ! And I decided to become a surveyor for working outdoors, handling instruments and to report surveys on maps.  I also joined as a guest the celebration of a land surveyor’s union (something like 150th anniversary) in Brussels and people there were looking like adventurers, speaking loudly about great projects, Africa etc … Looks like “become a surveyor and see the world” or “surveying is not a job, it’s an adventure”

How long have you been in the industry? 40 years

Are you part of any associations or organisations you would like us to mention? I have been past vice chairman for the FIG Commission 6 Surveying Engineering, WG 6.2 and I am actually member of the French speaking Association of Surveyors (AFT) and member of the regional land surveyors union (UGEC).

Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? To share my passion for surveying and geodesy with kids … something I thought since a while knowing the lack of interest nowadays for our profession … worldwide. 

Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? They are our future, they are the next generation ! Knowing that many surveyors I know have decided for that profession because they met at that age other surveyors. I think examples are speaking for themselves and actually there is no promotion at school so how young people/students would like to be interested in surveying ?

What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? I will start by meeting kids at school and showing them what is surveying at first simply by mapping their spaces with traditional instruments and then raise their interest and curiosity with advanced techniques.

What are your hobbies? Pottery (throwing clay on the wheel), watercolor painting and sketching, baking breads and cooking, playing 12 strings guitar, discovering new areas and new friends, astronomy and driving my LD Defender and my Vespa GTS125 in the countryside between many other things ! 

If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? Our company is CGEOS standing for Creative Geosensing … Geosensing is the contraction of Geodesy and (remote) sensing  and we do oru business with creativity. That’s also what our customers appreciate working with us as we are always bringing to them quite unique solutions. So the GKiS character would be for us a “creator” an “artist” handling pencils of all colors 🙂

What resources would you like to see next from GKiS? Anything will be welcomed and at first docs for explaining at schools who we are and what we do ! 

Anything else you want to add that you think our audience (surveyors, teachers, parents) would be interested in? I started in 1981 as Land surveyor in Belgium working at the Belgian Cadastre, then at the National Geographical Institute (Geodeti Department), then for Star Informatic (software company), then at the Leica representative in Belgium (Product Specialist and then Sales & Marketing Manager), then at Leica Geosystems AG Heerbrugg as Program Director for GNSS reference station and monitoring program (where we developed SpiderNET and GeoMos) and in 2014 I founded our company looking after 3 market segments (high rise buildings vertical alignments, GNSS navigation and positioning, positioning infrastrures & UWB indoor location and Monitoring). Joëlle Dupont (a retired Chief Nurse) has been married since 1980 and we have 3 children and 9 grandchildren. Now our “kid” Nicolas is working with me …

Introducing Brand Ambassador Brent Fico from Allentown, Pennsylvania:

Where did you study? I did not formally study to become a surveyor but instead, learned on site through experience.

What are the requirements to be a surveyor in your area? To become a licensed surveyor in Pennsylvania, one must either study surveying in college and sit for a state and national test or have years of experience combined with the state then national test.

How did you get into surveying? My mother was a draftsperson at a surveying firm, and they were looking to hire a handful of inexperienced help to further the profession. Almost like a paid internship!

If you are not a surveyor, what do you do? As I no longer survey, I am now employed as Customer Integration Engineer at a survey equipment dealer. Essentially, I help surveying customers decide what equipment may be best for their companies, help train their employees, and support their teams on the back end with any issues or questions they may have.

How long have you been in the industry? I spent 13 years surveying in the field as well as 4 years in my current role.

Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? I would like to be a GKiS Ambassador because surveying seems to get overlooked as an integral part of everyday life. Without surveyors the roads, the buildings, the land, would all fail to exist or would fall into disrepair. GKiS shows the importance of surveying in all of its capacities, which is so important to keep the trade thriving!

Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? As I stated before, without surveying in all of its forms, the world around us would fall into disrepair or cease to exist. It is important to show that surveying is not just angles and distances but scanning, planning and layout etc.

What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? As a GKiS ambassador, I will be using my time to inform the younger generations that surveying is, was, and will continue to be a vital part of helping society work through career days, surveyors conferences and any other necessary avenue to spread the message!

What are your hobbies? Some of my hobbies include baseball, snowboarding, atv riding, and furthering my knowledge base. It is never too late to continue to learn new things!

If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? If I or my company had a character, I believe it would be an adventurer or a mountain goat. Someone that is always willing to show up and help any and everywhere they are needed. Much like a surveyor showing up to each site ready to perform their necessary tasks.

What resource would you like to see next from GKiS? I believe the worksheets, posters and comic are great already. If I were to suggest anything further, perhaps a calendar next. Smaller posters, combined with surveying facts and the calendar below it.

Anything else you want to add that you think our audience (surveyors, teachers, parents) would be interested in? The only thing I can think to add is how important surveying is to everyday life. With how it tends to be overlooked as a profession for younger generations, it is going to become increasingly difficult to find the right people to teach those that are starting out and thus more difficult to necessary work done.

Introducing Pat the River Cat!

Company Name: We are L.I. Smith & Associates (LIS)! Our company dates back to 1975 when our co-founder o-fish-ally earned his professional surveying license in our state. When LIS was first named, it stood for his initials: Larry Isham Smith.

As our company has grown over the years, our name has adjusted to better encompass the services we provide. LIS now stands for Land Development, Infrastructure Design, and Surveying Services!

Location: We are located in the state of Tennessee. While we do have multiple locations in the state, our main river (office) is in Paris!

If you’re ever in the area in the spring, you cannot miss the World’s Largest Fish Fry! Don’t worry, I am the official company mascot and walk in the grand parade, so I’m safe!

Why is it important for your company to help Get Kids into Survey? Our team believes it is important to help Get Kids into Survey because we see value in educating the younger generations about the survey industry. We want to raise awareness about the importance of surveyors and what they do. Seeing kids learn about an industry that others may have forgotten is something that is very important and valued by our team. With a well-educated youth, we think any-fin is possible!

What do you do? We are a surveying and civil engineering company that provides services for public and private businesses. Our fin-tastic team of civil engineers and fellow surveyors work together to bring exceptional results to our clients in land development, infrastructure design, and surveying projects. 

How long have you been in the survey industry? LIS has been in the survey industry for almost 50 years, so we’re pro-fish-ionals! We are a family-owned company that dates back to 1975. Our business started as a team of only two staff members, our co-founders Larry and Lucile Smith. Almost five decades later, we are happy to see how much our business has grown throughout the region!

How did you end up getting into the geospatial industry? Our fish-tory in the geospatial industry dates all the way back to the 1970s! Shortly after graduating from Tennessee Technological University (TTU) with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, our co-founder Larry Smith became a Registered Land Surveyor (RLS) in the state of Tennessee in 1975. This professional licensure marked the birth of LIS, as it provided Larry with the necessary certification to do survey work at the pro-fish-ional level. At the time, Larry was working within the construction industry and pursuing survey work part-time. In 1980, Larry began to pursue his surveying career full-time. 

State a funny fact about you… My species can be found in freshwater habitats all over the world, and some can even walk on land or breathe air when the water is low! This makes surveying on land a whole lot easier!

Favourite piece of kit and why? My absolute favorite piece of equipment to use when surveying is the Lidar Drone! The reason I like the drone is because of its capability to pick up so much data. You can fly it for 15 minutes and collect millions of data points. Through this data, we are able to provide our clients with more than just a 2-D drawing. Now, we can send post processed data clouds that makes it seem as if you are standing on site. It’s so cool. I’m totally hooked!

Favourite Survey technique and why? My favourite survey technique is boundary surveys, especially in rural areas. 

Since catfish date all the way back to the days of the ancient Egyptians, I’m so-fish-ticated when it comes to history! My interest in learning about history definitely ties into my love for boundary surveys, as they give us the opportunity to retrace the steps of land surveyors from years ago! 

Boundary surveys allow us to follow the evidence left behind or called for by the previous surveyor(s). From the research, fieldwork, and drafting it’s somewhere between a treasure hunt, and a real-life jigsaw puzzle, and we are the ones that get to figure out how everything fits together, or how it was supposed to fit according to evidence.

 Your website: Our website is www.lismith.com. You should check us out! We have lots of information about our river (office) locations and blogs highlighting my co-fish (co-workers) and their many accomplishments. 

How did you choose the character and what does he/she/it represent? Mean to you? What’s his/her name? Since our main river (office) is located right on the Tennessee River in Paris, home of the World’s Biggest Fish Fry, a catfish was chosen as my character.

Every year in April, Paris will host a fish fry celebration and parade. Businesses build extravagant floats and get to walk in the parade. This is a big celebration for our community, and it is so fun to see everyone come together and participate. It’s even on TV!

My name is Pat the River Cat, but my friends sometimes call me Survey Fillet. Ideas for my name were suggested by my co-fish (co-workers). Members of our community then voted and chose my name! I think I was named after our President, Patrick Smith, but I’m not sure. It’s a very fishy coincidence if you ask me.

Introducing our Brand Ambassador Marco Andrade from Texas, USA

Where did you study? I studied Architecture at Cornell University and graduated with a professional degree in Architecture (B.Arch). I also studied Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Tyler and graduated with a (B.Science). 

What are the requirements to be a surveyor in your area?

There are five different ways to qualify to take the exam and upon passing, become an SIT:

1. hold a Bachelor of Science in surveying;
2. hold a Bachelor’s degree with 32 hours in civil engineering, land surveying, math, photogrammetry, forestry, land law or the physical sciences and one year of experience working under a RPLS;
3. hold an Associate’s degree in surveying and have two years of experience working under a RPLS
4. have 32 hours in land surveying courses and two years of experience working under a RPLS; or
5. graduated from high school, have four years of experience working under an RPLS, and can prove you are self-educated in land surveying.

Once you become an SIT you will practice under an PLS or RPLS for a year and are eligible for take the exam. 

How did you get into surveying? Purely by chance while working on a Heavy Civil Job. They offered me a chance to lead a survey team and I took it and ran with it. I have never looked back. 

If you are not a surveyor, what do you do? I would probably still be involved in the design/engineering field but in a different capacity. 

How long have you been in the industry? Roughly 9 years. 

Are you part of any associations or organisations you would like us to mention? Texas Society of Professional Surveyors, American Society of Civil Engineers 

Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? I had a rough time finding mentors while I was growing in the field and I wanted to take away obstacles for future generations. 

Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? Its a growing field that will take you to unexpected and exciting locations and professional opportunities. 

What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? I want to show kids there are fun opportunities in the survey field like going camping, exploring rarely visited areas of the world, using new technologies and serving as a go between for many professions. 

What are your hobbies? The major hobby would be teaching others. Most of my time is dedicated to learning land surveying, engineering, and architecture. My family takes up the all my other time when I’m not teaching currently. 

If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? Probably an armadillo. It’s always digging in the earth and it’s pretty Texan 🙂

What resource would you like to see next from GKiS? Showcasing next gen tech by using it in fun and weird way kids can relate to in real life. 

Anything else you want to add that you think our audience (surveyors, teachers, parents) would be interested in? It’s a field that is in desperate need of new members, it will alway be in need, and it is growing in new and exciting ways. 

Introducing Andrews Survey, here’s a little bit about them:

Company Name – Andrews Survey

Location – Our office is in Aberdeen, Scotland but our work takes place at sea anywhere in the world.

Why is it important for your company to help Get Kids into Survey? A job surveying the underwater world is not something kids are made aware of at school, college or university. To ensure the future of our work and to encourage our younger generations to join us we need to raise awareness and that’s exactly what Get Kids into Survey are doing.

What do you do? I’m a survey engineer and my job is to make sure all the cool survey gear that we use to map the ocean floor is installed correctly on the boat or underwater vehicle (ROV). My colleagues, who work offshore, work onboard boats in every corner of the world using high tech equipment, some of which is used in space travel! We use this equipment to help install those wind farms you see out at sea. Other uses are for mapping the seabed so vessels can navigate the seas safely by avoiding shallow water or hazards like wrecks on the sea floor. More recently we have been out searching for treasure on old sunken ships, the location of which I’m not allowed to tell you!

How long have you been in the survey industry? Myself, 25 years and still enjoying every second. Seen most parts of the world and met some weird and wacky people along the way, I should write a book…

How did you end up getting into the geospatial industry? I’ve always loved the sea and the secrets that is hides with more than 80% of the ocean still unexplored. I studied Electrical Engineering at University and this has certainly helped me get to grips with the technology we use. There are many difference ways you can get into our line of work and the STEM subjects you’ll learn at school or beyond are an ideal platform.

State a funny fact about you…Although we navigate the seas, I’m forever getting lost on land!

Favourite piece of kit and why? It has to be the Multibeam echosounder (MBES), look it up online, which we use to map and visualise the sea floor with. In the darkest depths where there is no light we can use the MBES to create some amazing 3D images of the seabed and discover it’s hidden secrets like shipwrecks.

Your website: www.andrewssurvey.com

How did you choose the character and what does he/she/it represent? Mean to you? What’s his/her name? Our character is called Ted named after our founding father Ted Andrews. Ted is a survey engineer who is responsible for the installation, maintenance and repair of all the survey equipment we use, onshore and offshore. So he has a very important role to play in the success of our business.

Introducing Stacey Pollock from Michigan, USA:

Where did you study? LoneStar College in Montgomery, Texas

What are the requirements to be a surveyor in your area? A Bachelor of Science in Surveying Engineering or Bachelor of Science in a related field. Plus 4 years of field/office experience under the supervision of a Professional Surveyor.

How did you get into surveying? One day I was scrolling through a college catalogue trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. As I was scrolling, I knew two things, I wanted to have a career where I could participate in land management, and that I didn’t want to be tied to a desk. Then I saw it, the image that change my life! I still remember like it was yesterday, it was a guy standing in rugged terrain looking through a theodolite.  After reading, what Land Surveying was about I had thought to myself, I have always been fond of maps and geography. So, I took a leap into Land Surveying.  After completing my degree, it has given me many countless opportunities and has allowed me to be versatile with my skills. I am very happy I took the leap and am passionate about what I do.

 How long have you been in the industry? I have been in the industry since 2018.

Are you part of any associations or organisations you would like us to mention? Yes, I am apart of the Michigan Society of Professional Surveyors, Southeast Chapter. The Young Surveyor Network of the Michigan Society of Professional Surveyors and the National Society of   Professional Surveyors.

Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? I would like to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador because I believe Land Surveying is great career. It offers plenty opportunities in the public and private sectors. In addition, the industry doesn’t get the recognition it    deserves. Its an old profession that has been given the opportunity to expand with technological advancement.

Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? It is important because the aspects of the industry are all around us and is often overlooked. Many children interested in similar industries are aware of civil engineering, the planning of cities and roads. But few are aware of the mapping  and extensive work surveyors do that goes into development.

What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? My goal is to promote the profession at local school districts by using my experiences and the resources provided by GKiS .

What are your hobbies? I enjoy reading and horseback riding.

If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? Lieutenant Plum Bob – He is reliable and strives on precision.

What resource would you like to see next from GKiS? I’d like to see GKiS create a scholarship for Land Surveying programs. Or fund a surveying course for college credit at our local high schools.

Introducing our latest Brand Ambassador Austin Corcoran from Nova Scotia, Canada!

Where did you study? I studied Civil Engineering Technology at Northern College in Timmins, (Northern) Ontario, Canada

What are the requirements to be a surveyor in your area? To be designated a Professional Land Surveyor you must take a Geomatic or Survey related University program. Spend 2-3 years under a licensed surveyor and complete a non-for-profit project and exam to earn your license.

If you do not plan to do land surveying there are shockingly no mandatory requirements to be a surveyor in other fields like construction or mining, although post secondary education is helpful. Many survey programs have been dropped from Colleges and Universities, it is becoming a lost art.

How did you get into surveying? After working the summer after graduating in road construction and at an engineering firm I was hired on as a surveyor at a local underground gold mine. My survey professor in school provided me the foundation to build on, but I really learned how to survey from the team at Blackfox who subsequently did not go to school for surveying.

If you are not a surveyor, what do you do? If I wasn’t a Surveyor I would be a Wildland/Firefighter, that was the only other career I considered when applying for programs. Being a surveyor on a mine site I am able to be a part of the Mine Rescue Team. It’s the best of both worlds for me really.

How long have you been in the industry? I have been in the Survey industry for 6 years now.

Are you part of any associations or organisations you would like us to mention? Outside of the Professional Land Surveyors Association and Ontario Land Surveyors, there are no other associations to be a part of that are survey orientated in Canada. (That I am aware of)

Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? For many of the reasons mentioned above. It’s hard to want to be or do something when you grow up if you’ve never seen or heard about it.

Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? Surveying has such a wide variety of directions you can go with it. Everyday brings a new challenge and it’s the perfect mix of field and office work. Everything in moderation.

What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? First thing is solidify the resurgence of the Survey Program at Northern College (this is already in the works) and the second thing is help my survey professor continue to spread the word about the program to do what all our goal is, get more kids into surveying.

What are your hobbies? Outside of work I enjoy sports, travel, and reading. I play and coach Ice Hockey. I also practice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Golf among other sports. My most recent trip I hiked Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. The book I’m currently reading is The Man Watching: Anson Dorrance and the University of North Carolina’s Women’s Soccer Dynasty. (highly recommend as a book on leadership)

If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? I think you need an old pot bellied man with a pickaxe and a beard who teaches the kids the history and importance of (Mining) survey related things.

What resource would you like to see next from GKiS? I think informational videos that are fun and catching would be a real way to draw attention to the program.

Anything else you want to add that you think our audience (surveyors, teachers, parents) would be interested in? I still have an article from August 2021 from Consulting Surveyors National out of Australia about the Survey Academy program they started to target geographical industrial needs for proper survey training by bringing the education to the people where proper training was not available. I think they are on to something great that we can all learn from and implement with the right support.