A big welcome to the lovely Analisa Gonzales from California, USA

Where did you study?

California State University, Fresno

Degree in Civil Engineering and Geomatics Engineering 

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

Pass the NCEES Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) examination.

Six (6) years of equivalent full-time experience in land surveying, including other credits, with one (1) year each being responsible field and responsible office training. The six years can be made up of the following:

A maximum of four (4) years of experience will be granted for graduation from a Board-approved curriculum with an emphasis in land surveying. 

One-half year of experience will be granted for each year of study in a Board-approved curriculum without graduation. 

Actual broad based progressive experience in land surveying for at least six years, including one year of responsible field training and one year of responsible office training satisfactory to the state board. 

Licensure as a civil engineer with two years of actual broad based progressive experience in land surveying satisfactory to the state board

Pass the NCEES Principles and Practice of Surveying (PS), California state-specific Professional Land Surveyor and California Professional Land Surveyors State Laws and Board Rules Exam.

How did you get into surveying?

I grew up watching my father transition from a CAD drafter to a Project Manager at a Civil and Land Surveying firm in the Bay Area. I was always interested in the site plans he drafted and the topographic maps. During my senior year of high school, I was on the fence about what career path I wanted to pursue, so my Dad asked the surveyors at his work if they wouldn’t mind introducing me to Land Surveying. After talking with a co-worker that graduated from Fresno State with a degree in Geomatics Engineering, it sounded like a great fit. I loved the idea of history, math, science and law mixing into one hybrid career.

How long have you been in the industry? 

I graduated from Fresno State in 2014… so about 7 years. 

Are you part of any associations or organisations you would like us to mention?

Fresno State Geomatics Program, Advisory Council Member

Lyles College of Engineering Alumni Association, Past President 

In the past I have also held the role of Secretary for the San Joaquin Valley Chapter of CLSA and served as K-12 Outreach Chair for the Fresno ASCE-YMF Chapter.

Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador?

Because sharing the amazing opportunities that Land Surveying offers is priceless. Many students don’t know about Land Surveying, so any chance to bring excitement to the next generation of potential surveyors is well worth it!

Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry?

A lot of kids aren’t aware of Land Surveying and the unique career paths you can pursue. If more students were shown what they could do in the geospatial industry, I think it would help boost the interest in the profession as a whole. By bring awareness I think there is an opportunity to inspire a new diverse generation of Geospatial Professionals. 

 What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS?

I want to spread the word about how amazing Land Surveying is of course! Bringing awareness to K-12 students is a passion of mine and I hope to share that excitement by continuing to present to classrooms of students and attending career fairs. Any student that is persuaded to look into Land Surveying as a career path after a presentation is consider a win!

What are your hobbies?

Cooking, volunteering, softball and yoga. 

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

A Cheetah, because they are intelligent, stealthy and adaptable, and I forgot to mention speedy. As a surveyor, we brave the elements, adapt to changing work environments and problem solve in high pressure and fast pace project sites. 

What poster or resource would you like to see next from GKiS?

If I had to choose what the next poster or resource would be, I would pitch agriculture and irrigation, Yosemite, or the California High Speed Rail.

Meet Agnes Ho from Hong Kong!

• Where did you study?

I studied BSc Geomatics (Geo-Inform Tech) in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. 

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

Generally speaking, you have to complete a suitable academic training and obtain a recognized academic qualification. Then, you commence at least 24 months’ professional training in accordance with the requirements. Before being a surveyor, you have to pass the Assessment of Professional Competence.

• How did you get into surveying?

When I was a student, I had no idea what surveying is and I never thought that surveying even existed as a career. Initially, I studied Geography at high school and interested in the map production. It was a chance studying in Geomatics at university that prompted me to join the surveying industry. After my graduation, I undertook a 2 years professional training and then successfully passed the Assessment of Professional Competence. Afterward, I am taking up the role of land surveyor until now. 

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!

Meet our latest characters as seen on the Property Development poster- Duke and Teddy Survey Cats!

Company Name – On The Mark Land Surveying LLC

Location – Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA

Why did you get involved in Get Kids into Survey? We have been interested in GKiS since the inception! Owner Nolan Mark has always wanted to show support to those that are giving back and presenting new ideas to show kids and young people how surveying can be a rewarding career.

What do you do? On The Mark (OTM) Land Surveying, LLC is a land surveying firm built from the ideology to bring professionalism back to the forefront of the land surveying field. OTM provides our primary services to Northeast Indiana and Southcentral Michigan.

Our current clientele spans from engineering and architecture firms, utility companies, construction firms, attorneys for real estate and estate planning, and private homeowners. These clients are interested in our specialization in topographic surveys, easement and vacation exhibits, construction layout, as-built surveys, ALTA/NSPS land title surveys and boundary surveys.

How long have you been in the Survey Industry? 10 Years – Starting Surveying while in university but introduced to it 14 years ago.

How did you get into the Industry? Nolan was very interested in Engineering and specifically the Civil Engineering area. After spending two years studying Civil Engineering, Nolan quickly learned he wanted to do more hands-on work and less design work. Nolan switched into a Civil Engineering Technology degree and found surveying again as a career path.

Funny Fact about you – Nolan is terrified of heights, so the only way you’ll find him surveying up high is with a drone!

Favorite piece of kit and why? Scanners, drones, or digital levels. While the fundamentals are not changing, these pieces of kit show how important it is for surveyors to stay on top of changing technology.

Favorite Survey technique and why? Point cloud processing! While we got into surveying to get outdoors and play, it is amazing that you can go out to a job site, scan it, and then process the whole job in the office. Along with pieces of kit, surveying techniques to get the result are always changing and adapting, but the fundamentals behind the process remain!

Your website 

How did you choose the character and what does he/she/it represent? Mean to you? What’s his/her name? Our characters are Duke and Teddy the Survey Cats! These two cats were recently adopted by Nolan and Shannon to bring into their house. They are 2 of 4 cats and 2 dogs that they own. It’s safe to say they love animals! Duke and Teddy also represent teamwork. While surveying can be done as a one-man shop, it is important to show that somewhere along the way someone needed to mentor or work together to learn and sharpen their skills. Mentoring will always be an important part of surveying and helping the next generation of surveyors learn!

As quick as a flash Geo Business returned once again for 2022! We were honoured to have our stall in prime location next to the main stage, supporting our bright colours and stacks of posters to give away…

Elly and Erin were seen mostly at the stall chatting with people new and old, telling them all about our initiative to get kids into survey.

Elaine was a busy bee on the first day, taking part in 3 talks at the Future of the Profession Theatre. 

First came ‘Walk the talk when it comes to diversity in organisations – Moving from intention to impact’. This was a panel discussion with the fabulous: Helen Gilmartin (Marketing and Strategy at Hexagon Geosystems), Nicola Bird (MD/founder of AccXel), and Peter Haddock (Owner at Content with Media).

Next was a special collaboration with Alex McKee (Geospatial UK) and Alison Watson MBE (Class of Your Own) ‘‘Inspiring the next generation of geospatial experts’. The great thing about this trio is with their combined efforts they target a wide range of ages starting at primary school age right through to university level!

Lastly Elaine hosted her own talk on the topic: ‘Increase sales quickly by enhancing enquiry quality – content that works for geospatialers’. 2 lucky attendees received a special golden ticket from Elaine which can be redeemed at any time… exciting! PS. if you haven’t heard of Elaine’s Geospatial Marketing Academy yet then head over to the website to learn more HERE.

Whilst on our stall we met a few of our current Brand Ambassadors which was helpful to receive updates on what they are getting up to doing their outreach events. Evcen gathering some feedback about how we can support this programme more to help encourage more activity amongst our Brand Ambassadors. Some updates will be taking place over the next few weeks/months to get this more advanced.

Towards the end of the event our team managed to mingle around some of the other exhibitors. We recognised some amazing people that have helped sponsor our materials. Without their help we wouldnt be able to create all of the free resources that we have available worldwide. So a BIG THANK YOU from all of the team! Here are a collection of pics with our supporters 🙂

If this seems like something you’d love to get your company involved with then please check out the various pages on our website, or email erin@getkidsintosurvey.com with any questions.

Introducing our latest sponsor Dioptra!

1. Company Name – Dioptra LLC

2.   Location – Idaho USA

3.   Why did you get involved in Get Kids into Survey? Since the first poster was released, we have been following the campaign.  STEM careers are often thought of as “non-glamorous”.  We want to change that perception with the younger generation.

4.   What do you do? We provide all aspects of land surveying; boundary surveys, construction staking, 3D scanning, drones, land planning.

5.   How long have you been in the Survey Industry? Dioptra was founded in 2000.

6.   How did you get into the Industry? The history, science and detective work are so interesting and necessary to put to pieces together and complete a survey, it’s what draws us to the industry and makes surveying fun!

7.   Funny Fact about you? Our name is based on ancient surveying instruments!

8.   Favourite piece of kit and why? Whichever piece is the latest technology! We love learning the new technology and learning to incorporate it into our processes!

9.   Favourite Survey technique and why? Combining the modern surveying techniques with the past surveying practices and procedures

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? The character represents our business logo. 

Can you spot them in our Property Development poster?

Introducing our latest Brand Ambassador Andra Catias from Romania!

Where did you study? Technical University of Constructions Bucharest – (utcb.ro)

What are the requirements to be a surveyor in your area? You need to have a degree in this domain, that means 4 years degree. You can apply for a master degree if you want but that extra one is not essential to survey. 

How did you get into surveying? I had friends in this domain, and it sounded very interesting when they discussed this world (the surveyors world). I was very passionate about Geography as a child, and the world in general, and the concept of measuring it – it blew my mind.

1. If you are not a surveyor, what do you do? I started as a surveyor, but now I process point clouds (it’s easier at the office 

How long have you been in the industry? I graduated in 2014.. so 8 years already. I did some practical work during college but I don’t count those.

Are you part of any associations or organizations you would like us to mention? I’ve been the executive director at 90 DEGREE since 2021. 

Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? I struggled myself as a kid (and my parents are simple fellows, they did not know how to guide me to find a work field for me) because I did not know what I want to be as a grownup; (242) NF – When I Grow Up – YouTube I want to pass some of the aspects of our world to the young ones, maybe some of them need guidance and they don’t know that this option exists.

Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? They need to understand some basic concepts, that we are very important in this entire world, they learn about maps etc, but nobody mentions us, nowhere. And in this way, we, the ambassadors, can also be an example for them, and guide them to a future job, why not?

What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? First I will reach out to some English teachers, because it’s the only place where those materials can be used (since we don’t speak English as the first language, and it’s going to be impossible for me to translate them) and try to include some lessons during the English classes. I think this is going to be the first step. I also have a niece that lives near us and she’s 5, and I will try to discuss with her, and his teachers if there will be a possibility to join some classes with them to explain what we do.

What are your hobbies? Reading (also, I’m obsessed with the Auschwitz fenomen – I have lots and lots of books about this subject), hiking, puzzles (I just love them).

If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? My husband associates me with Taz, the Tasmanian devil from Looney Tunes, so I think this will be the one 😊 or a Flamingo 😊

What poster or resource would you like to see next from GKiS? Some puzzles 😊 since I mentioned that I love those. And it will be great to have a poster with some tourist attractions from Romania, but first you should come visit it. Also, some merch – cups, t-shirts, stickers, etc (maybe you can create something like a geospatial first aid kit – don’t ask me what should be inside – but definitely I will buy it).

Anything else you want to add that you think our audience (surveyors, teachers, parents) would be interested in? Not for now, no; but you can always reach me out via social media 😊

On May 7, the Association of Ontario Land Surveyors (AOLS) took part in Science Rendezvous Kingston. The day was a huge success, with gorgeous spring weather, dozens of exhibitors, and 2,200 visitors celebrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

The ever-popular AOLS table featured Get Kids Into Survey posters, historical maps of Kingston, and copies of Ontario’s first road map from 1923. We also had a drone on hand, with footage to watch on-screen, as well as 3D photo pairs, survey plans and bars, and a reflectorless total station for the kids to measure a distance. A visitor favourite was a survey plan of Kingston Township from 1783 overlaid onto a contemporary aerial map.

This event is an important tool for AOLS to promote land surveying to a large audience. Ontario needs more licensed professionals, technicians, and office staff, and what better way to get the word out than Science Rendezvous?

Check out the “STEM on Demand” site running until the 22nd of May!

If you have taken part in an outreach event and would like to shout about it, please email Erin at erin@getkidsintosurvey.com