Introducing one of our latest sponsors Tri-Tech and their fabulous character! Here’s a bit more about them:

Company Name – Tri Tech

Location – Ripon, North Yorkshire

Why did you get involved in Get Kids into Survey?  We have been watching the Get Kids into Survey movement since they were established. We are passionate about promoting the industry and trying to inspire the next generation to pick up a total station as it is a very niche career choice.

What do you do? Tri Tech covers a lot within the industry. We undertake topographic surveys,site setting out, monitoring, drone flights, volumetrics, laser scanning and modelling.

How long have you been in the Survey Industry? 17+ Years

How did you get into the Industry? Whilst I was at 6th form college, I was not sure what I wanted to do as a career. I enjoyed studying maths and geography and I always tried to be outdoors as much as possible. I explained this to the careers department at college and they suggested I studied Geomatics at University. They explained to me how it was all about using various methods of measuring the Earthand how to create maps and the rest is history. I enjoy how I have to  solve different problems every day whilst being in the greatest office anyone can ask for.

Funny Fact about you – Ted (our MD) can do a handstand for 10 seconds

Favourite piece of kit and why? Trimble R12i GNSS Receiver because it increases both productivity and health and safety on site. This is due to the receiver being able to record points without being level so we now can access survey points that we wouldn’t be able to before and allows a quicker survey.

Favourite Survey technique and why? Laser scanning as when you see a full point cloud of your survey they never cease to amaze you!

Your website

How did you choose the character and what does he/she/it represent? Mean to you? What’s his/her name –  Matrice the DJI M300 drone is our latest investment in our drone fleet. We are able to use it for a variety of task such as photogrammetry and site videos as well as being used in a variety of different sites.

GKiS present’s “Monsen Engineering”

In today’s Character Spotlight, we discover a little more about one of GKiS’s awesome sponsors “Monsen Engineering”.

Company Name

Monsen Engineering

Location

Salt Lake City, Utah; Las Vegas, Nevada; Reno, Nevada

Why did you get involved in Get Kids into Survey?

We think it is important to educate the younger generations about the surveying profession, how diverse it is and why it is essential.

What do you do?

We are a retail supply company that provides measurement solutions to professionals in the Design/Build industry.

How long have you been in the Survey Industry?

We have been serving the survey industry since 1974 (46 years).

How did you get into the Industry?

When we opened our doors in 1974 our product line consisted of pencils, pens, templates and supplies geared to architects and engineers. In the mid-80’s we began selling Trimble’s earliest GPS products to the land surveyor.

Funny Fact about you

Our company name is Monsen Engineering. People who do not know what we do always assume we are Engineers. We have to explain that we are a reseller of measurement equipment.

Favourite piece of kit and why?

To be continued

Favourite Survey technique and why?

To be continued

Your website

Monsen Engineering

If you have a character; how did you choose and what does he/ she/ thing represent?  Mean to you?

We chose the fixed wing drone as our GKIS character. We chose this to represent our company because we feel like drones represent advanced technology. We are always striving to provide today’s newest technology to our customers.

Introducing our latest sponsor Desiree Hurst with her character Tobbie the Pug!

Company Name – Yazel Peebles and Associates, LLC

Location – Bedford, Texas

Why did you get involved in Get Kids into Survey? To help spread the word about Land Surveying and getting to work with others that share a similar passion about this amazing career.

What do you do? Registered Professional Land Surveyor in 4 States in the US with experience in long linear route projects, land title surveys, ALTA/NSPS surveys, topographic surveys, tree surveys,  easement preparation, residential and commercial platting and municipal/government related projects

How long have you been in the Survey Industry? 16+ years

How did you get into the Industry? After college I was working at a job I didn’t enjoy much when a land surveyor my sister worked with was looking to hire a survey technician with no experience but a strong math background and detailed oriented.  I was finally qualified for a job right out of college, I was hired and the rest is history.  I enjoyed what I was doing so much I progressed to getting an additional degree and my professional license.

Funny Fact about you – Buying my wedding dress to take special pictures with my pug Tobbie.

Favourite piece of kit and why? The historical equipment.  It is amazing the tools that were used prior to all of the technology we use currently and how accurate the surveys are still to this day.

Favourite Survey technique and why? Researching and the history of surveying.  I really enjoying digging through historical records in order to follow the surveyors before me on the property I am surveying.

Your website

How did you choose the character and what does he/she/it represent? Mean to you? What’s his/her name? My character is my Pug, Tobbie.  He was an extremely special dog with a unique personality.  When he got sick with cancer, I was told he wouldn’t have long to live.  I made sure we took pictures together in my wedding dress and him in his tuxedo so I would have great memories of him.  He will always have a special place in my hear and this is why he is wearing a tuxedo.  

Introducing our latest Brand Ambassador Nick LaFond from Oregon, USA.

Where did you study? Oregon Institute of Technology Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA

What are the requirements to be a surveyor in your area?
The shortest path to licensure in Oregon is a 4-year degree + 4 additional years working under a PLS. I did the degree in 5 years because I began in another major.

How did you get into surveying?
I went to college after high school and studied computer hardware engineering for a year and realized it wasn’t for me. I got lucky finding the Geomatics major at my school at a career fair.

How long have you been in the industry? Although I began my first surveying classes in 2003, I did have a [forced] 2-year vacation smack in the middle of my education. Then in 2009 the housing market collapse left me without survey work. Let’s call it around 15 years 🙂

Are you part of any associations or organisations you would like us to mention?
I’m a member of my state professional society (PLSO) and NSPS. I also run a [private] Discord community called “Pro Surveyor”

Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? Volunteering as state coordinator for the NSPS Trig*Star program in my home state of Oregon has allowed me to see firsthand the challenge Surveyors face in inspiring high-school students to consider Surveying as a career. I recognize we must begin earlier to have the potent effect that we aim to have and what the market desperately needs right now.

Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? It’s important to society that we continue to rear these niche professionals to maintain the stability of boundaries, among many other things.

What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? My goal is to tap into my diverse network to show off what I’m doing and spread the word about this initiative.  Easy things like handing out shirts, comic books, stickers, etc. should be in all of our toolkits.

What are your hobbies? Surveying, of course! Followed by adventuring with my young family, chess, and FOREX & crypto trading.

If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? Since my company is veteran-owned and focused on mediation of boundary disputes, it would have to be a friendly patriot-type character who gets down to brass tacks and solves problems for landowners. My 5 year old daughter really seems to love Setsuko 🙂

What poster or resource would you like to see next from GKiS? Good question.. Have you ever tried an outbound marketing campaign where the call-to-action is for the community leader to organize an event where a Brand Ambassador could facilitate an introduction of the GKiS media/resources to either educators or other organizations directly to groups of kids?

Anything else you want to add that you think our audience (surveyors, teachers, parents) would be interested in? The greatest leverage I’ve found on life has been to get the 4-yr Geomatics degree (apply for scholarships!), then get the professional license, and finally start a business. I’m happy to share more if anyone has specific questions for me, feel free to reach out via social media.

Introducing our latest sponsor Sanchez and Associates! Let’s learn a bit more about them:

1.   Company Name – Sanchez and Associates

2.   Location – Chicago, Illinois, USA

3.   Why did you get involved in Get Kids into Survey? We got involved after seeing a lack of awareness in the geospatial industry. Children and adults would come up to our survey crews or myself and ask us what we were doing, assuming that we are taking pictures with our total station or 3D scanner. We would respond with a simple and hopefully understandable “We take measurements outside to create a map in our office!”. Surveying is an industry that is deeply rooted in everyday life yet doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. We at Sanchez and Associates came across GKiS and instantly jumped at the opportunity to participate in getting exposure and awareness for our industry.

4.   What do you do? I’m the Mapping Manager. My day-to-day tasks consist of planning projects, coordinating with clients, guiding field crews, and technology implementation within our firm.

5.   How long have you been in the Survey Industry? I’ve been in the survey industry for about 13 years.

6.   How did you get into the Industry? Survey is all I have known my entire life since my father first showed me a total station when I was 9.

7.   Funny Fact about you – When I was 6 or 7, my schoolteacher had an assignment where we needed to ask our parents what they did for a living and present on it. I asked my dad what he did, and he mentioned “Surveyor”, which I interpreted as “Senator” for some odd reason. Which I then presented to my class stating he was a “Senator”, shortly after I was told by my teacher that he was not. Now I know that my dad being a surveyor was so much cooler than him being a senator.

8.   Favourite piece of kit and why? UAV mounted Aerial LiDAR System, it’s incredibly fun to be in a profession where we can fly drones and gather useful data from it.

9.   Favourite Survey technique and why? Aerial LiDAR scanning. It gives us the capability to survey massive amounts of land in a short amount of time. Being LiDAR, it also allows us to get ground elevations through tree canopies on big project sites that would otherwise be a very tedious task to undertake.

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 is a representation of my father, Gerardo Sanchez, founder and president of our company, Sanchez and Associates, along with his favourite piece of equipment, the Leica ScanStation P50. He means the world to me and continues to push all of us at Sanchez and Associates to become better surveyors and engineers every day!

Introducing one of our latest Brand Ambassadors Martin Graner! Let’s learn some more about him:

Where did you study? I’ve studied Geodesy at the University of Stuttgart and completed my master’s degree in 2017. I stumbled into University thinking the main focus will be on Geology and Geography but I soon found out that (luckily) I was wrong. 

In Stuttgart, the Geodesy program is split into four main faculties. At the Institute of Engineering Geodesy, you learn about land surveying, handling the usual devices like Theodolites, Total stations, GPS, geodetic leveling, and so on. At the Navigation Institute, you learn more about GPS, positioning, and electronics. In the Geodetic Institute, you learn about Gravitation and its influence on distance measurements, map projections, and a little bit of hydrology. Lastly, there is the Institute of Photogrammetry where you learn image processing and computer vision. Of course, you also have courses in Math, Physics, Electronics, and Informatics.

What are the requirements to be a surveyor in your area? It really depends on which part of the job you like to do. For example, for those who are interested in doing fieldwork, no particular degree is required. Many surveying companies will take you on as an apprentice and teach you how to operate the equipment and collect the data. However, to also evaluate and analyse the data, you would at least need a bachelor’s degree.

To become a state-certifed surveyor who’s allowed to take on sovereign tasks, a master’s degree + 2 years of state examination + leading your own company for 5 years is required. Then you need to get appointed to be allowed to do these tasks.

How did you get into surveying? By accident actually! I thought I will be studying geology, geography, or a mix of those, and didn’t realize geodesy is neither of those.

If you are not a surveyor, what do you do? After finishing my master’s I had the option to become a surveyor by joining a surveying company. Furthermore, I had the chance to become a state-certified surveyor, which would have taken two more years of state examination and 5 years of leading my own company. 

However, at that time I was already working at PointCab as a student and they immediately offered me a full-time position as a software engineer once I graduated. By then, I had gained enough experience to know that I was more comfortable with data analysis and improvement than data collection. I have always enjoyed thinking about how to improve and simplify workflows and that is exactly what I am doing now as a developer. I can now apply my surveying skills to write point cloud processing software that facilitates the job of those who collect and analyze the data.

How long have you been in the industry? 5 years

Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? I feel like the surveying industry with its many applications is incredibly important to improve modern society and the way we live. Surveyors worldwide are mapping the world right now, with unprecedented precision. This enables us to save, preserve and examine historic landmarks and build better and safer housing. It allows us to better understand the world we live in and provides crucial data to scientists worldwide from all kinds of disciplines. I could go on and on but the point is that the importance and the exciting aspects of this work are not nearly highlighted enough to children and young adults. That’s why I decided to join GKIS’s effort in getting the next generation onboard.

Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? As I explained, the industry is incredibly important to society as a whole and unfortunately, at least in Germany, we’re facing a shortage of skilled workers in the industry.

What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? As soon as the pandemic allows it, I plan to visit schools in the region, hold talks and answer questions about my profession and the surveying industry as a whole

What are your hobbies? Climbing, electric guitar, programming

If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? PointCab does actually already have a character that will hopefully make his debut soon and it’s our founder and CEO Dr. Richard Steffen.

What poster or resource would you like to see next from GKiS? Since many kids in non-english speaking countries have a hard time understanding and reading the GKiS comics and posters, it would be great to have at least some translated. Also, in addition to information materials for children, I would be happy if there would be more materials designed for teens who are about to finish school and are about to choose which degree they want to pursue.

Anything else you want to add that you think our audience (surveyors, teachers, parents) would be interested in? If you are a parent or teacher reading this, please feel free to reach out. I’m always happy to come into schools and talk about the industry

Happy Global Surveyors Week 2022!

The aim of this week is to highlight the world of surveying, especially to the next generation.

Watch our Surveyors Week Video HERE... and meet some of our lovely Brand Ambassadors!!

There are so many avenues to go down in the geospatial industry! Here’s what a few of our Brand Ambassadors and supporters say about why they love surveying, why they chose this geospatial career, and reasons why the person reading/watching this should go into the profession:

Desiree Hurst- “I love the profession because…there are too many reason to count but I enjoy the variety of projects I have worked on throughout my career.”

Dan Curry-  “I love the profession because… I enjoy being outside and meeting people from all walks of life. When I am outside doing survey work, I don’t feel like it’s a job. There is nothing more satisfying to me than researching the history of a property, going out collecting field data and then putting that job on paper and seeing the results. I would compare the process to putting together a puzzle and when you have that drawing completed you have your puzzle put together and as we know some puzzles are harder than others!”

Greg Dunn- “I love the profession because… The geospatial industry is such a unique one. There are so many facets to become completely absorbed into.  I love the constant intersection of technology and people – always evolving, but somehow still familiar to those involved. This profession is unique, dependable, and challenging. Above all – it’s fulfilling. The work we do in the geospatial industry truly impacts everyone.”

Melissa Cintron- “I love surveying because… I fell in love with how broad the industry is being a Land Surveyor and contributing to society, for example, by helping build the first home, being part of a rehabilitation of a bridge or road, using new technologies, and positively impacting communities.

Surveying is for you if you like technology, positively impacting communities and learning.”

Junelle Wilson- “I love the profession because…there is always something new every day.  Whether it is an office day or a day in the field each situation presents new challenges!  You get to have the best of both worlds, a desk job and a physical job. Everyone should try out land surveying as a career, as it is such a great industry to work in.  The work provides variety and land surveyors are always in high demand so you will never be short of a job!”

Narelle Underwood- “I love the profession because… it offers a wide variety of career opportunities, not only do we get paid to play with some of the best and coolest technology but we also have an opportunity to influence, design and create new communities.”

Christopher Clay- “I love the profession because I get to help surveyors see through the vegetation using drone-based LiDAR scanning.”

Jay Sidhu-  “I love the profession because there’s never a day the same and challenging puzzles to be solved with amazing stories uncovered every day.”

Angela Bailey- “I love the profession because…it allows me to enjoy multiple aspects of my job. Sometimes my office is the great outdoors, and sometimes it’s at, what I call, my command center, a multi-monitor display surrounded by maps, data, and calculations. Every project is its own puzzle to solve. Some of those pieces are found in the field, some come from historical data/maps, and the rest are self-derived. That’s pretty powerful, knowing you are one of the pieces in the puzzle and it takes you and your team to complete the puzzle. Another reason I love this profession and why I would highly recommend it is for its emerging technologies. Ranging from the latest robotic field equipment, drones, laser scanners, and the newest 3D goggle/monitor hardware to software that will have you thinking you’re in a video game. If you are interested in new tech, a geospatial career will definitely quench your thirst.”

John Brady- “I love the profession because… I am able to get outside and use my hands and my head. It allows me to easily involve my kids in my work. I am providing a public service to society. Ultimately, it is FUN!”

Peta Cox- “I love the profession because it is so diverse & can take you anywhere around the world.”

Jamie Stephens- “I’d recommend land surveying for its ever changing technology, great work balance of outdoor site and indoor office time, project varieties, great peer group and a generally enjoyable career.”

Christine Wanja- “I love the profession because… Its adventurous you get to visit and meet people from different backgrounds, cultures and beliefs it is also fulfilling and challenging at the same time.”

John Perrott- “I love the different aspects of the job and the variety of locations I get to visit. I get to utilise some of the latest technology in the outdoors! What could be better than that?”

If this doesn’t give you the push to try surveying then I don’t know what will! Have a look at all of our free geospatial themed resources here… 

Introducing the Department of Environment Land Water and Planning, who are found on the Australia custom poster:

Company name – Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning

Location – Victoria, Australia

Why did you get involved in Get Kids into Survey? Victoria has a shortage of licensed surveyors and this is a great opportunity to promote surveying to younger generations.

What do you do? While the Department is very broad in its scope, Land Use Victoria is focused on Land Administration, including maintaining the land title register and surveying and spatial information.

How long have you been in the Survey Industry? The Department includes Surveyor-General Victoria, a branch that has existed since 1851.

How did you get into the Industry? As a government agency our role is legislated.

Favourite piece of kit and why? Our laser scanners as they have great potential in cadastral/boundary surveying

Favourite Survey technique and why? The re-establishment of cadastral boundaries – it is of fundamental importance to the state of Victoria

Your website: www.land.vic.gov.au

How did you choose the character and what does he/she/it represent? Mean to you? What’s his/her name? Leeroy was chosen to highlight how surveying helps protect culturally significant heritage sites in Victoria. Leeroy is a heritage officer working in south-west Victoria at Budj Bim, a World Heritage listed site with eel traps and other relics dating back over 6500 years in the traditional Country of the Gunditjmara Aboriginal people.