Introducing our latest Brand Ambassador from Germany, it is Olaf Wysocki!
If you are not a surveyor, what do you do? I am Research Assistant and PhD Candidate at the Chair of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. Also I used to work as GIS Specialist in SHH, Wroclaw, Poland.
How long have you been in the industry? roughly 3 years
Are you part of any associations or organisations you would like us to mention? Runder Tisch GIS e.V. (https://rundertischgis.de/)
Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? I think that this is an excellent idea to spread the word about the industry. I enjoy spending time with kids and I know that we are building the current world but they will build the future. The future will be as good as kids raised now.
Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? The interest in the geospatial industry is gradually decreasing year by year. This can be observed by number of students enrolled each year at universities in Germany. I believe that this can be changed. One needs to show the wonderful geospatial world to young people even before they start their professional career.
What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? I would like to organise some events both in Germany and in Poland for kids to show the geospatial industry and science.
What are your hobbies? Manchester United, football, hiking, travelling, cinematography, and recently wood carving
If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? Smiling Lion
What poster or resource would you like to see next from GKiS? I think that quizzes and comic books are great for kids
Anything else you want to add that you think our audience (surveyors, teachers, parents) would be interested in? I used to be a scout mentor for kids. I really enjoyed showing young people how to use a compass, map and find the right azimuth. Also, I have been a mentor for teenagers abroad. These experiences show me that you can give something to younger people and they always pay you back with a priceless smile.
Meet the Squad: Miles
Name:
Miles Darwood
Age:
Ten… almost eleven!
Specialist Areas:
Coding, gaming, driving anything with a motor
Likes:
Racing drones and go-karts, being Player One, and his favourite games controller, which he has named ‘Lucy’.
Dislikes:
Game lag, campers, and noobs. Going anywhere slowly, especially in his mum’s car. According to Miles, his mum drives so slow she could get a parking ticket in the fast lane.
Bio:
Miles has been into gaming since his thumbs were developed enough to wiggle a joystick, and his love of go-karting is almost as long lived. At the age of three, he set the trike lap record in his nursery, and he’s never looked back. If he’s not in the middle of a real or virtual race, you can usually find Miles rebuilding his gaming PC or his custom go kart for the umpteenth time. He prefers to talk via text. He is currently exploring the possibility of communicating solely in emojis.
Likely to say things like:
“*insert an extreme amount of emojis here*”
Ambassador Spotlight ‘Garrett Smelker’
Pleased to introduce our Brand Ambassador Garrett Smelker from Texas, USA
Where did you study? I studied at New Mexico State from 2013 to 2017 when I obtained my Bachelor of Science degree in Surveying Engineering while also graduating with over 20 credit hours in the Civil Engineering Technology program.
What are the requirements to be a surveyor in your area? As I am currently licensed in 9 states the requirements vary per state with the strictest being the surveyor must have obtained a degree from an ABET accredited 4 year Surveying or Geomatics program with 4 years of experience in the field of Land Surveying. The states that I am currently licensed in are Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arizona, Wyoming, Nevada, Idaho and Utah.
How did you get into surveying? Growing up my father was a civil engineer so I always wanted to follow in his footsteps. In high school my Ag teacher brought in a transit and level for the class to see that he had used when he was younger working for the highway department. That got me interested because the math and concepts were similar to civil engineering but it gave me the opportunity to work outdoors.
How long have you been in the industry? I began surveying in 2011 working for a small local company, LandCraft LLC, in Las Cruces, NM. I worked for that company all the way through college while also doing a summer internship with Wilson & Co. in Albuquerque (2015).
Are you part of any associations or organisations you would like us to mention? I am a member of TSPS (Texas Society of Professional Surveyors)
Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? I would like to be a brand ambassador for GKiS because I am passionate about teaching and helping others grow. I see surveying as an amazing career field that has endless opportunities but is often forgotten or disregarded in schools.
Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? Surveying is important to introduce back into schools because there are students that want to be able to pursue a great career that allows one to be outdoors but just don’t know its an option. In land surveying there are so many options available all the way from being a survey technician to party chief to a licensed surveyor. There is also endless job opportunities in this industry whereas the engineering fields have hundreds of graduates each semester from colleges competing for the same jobs.
What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? As an ambassador I would like to attend local career fairs for high schools students while trying to set up outreach programs such as a boy scout merit badge activity or working with some of the local vocational teachers at high schools to do surveying lab like my Ag teacher did. By having the help of GKiS I will have a better support system and possibly materials to use in those efforts.
What are your hobbies? When I’m not working I enjoy going shooting, hunting, or even golfing. I like to spend as much time as I can outdoors.
If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? This is a hard question just because I’m not the artistic type. The company that I recently founded is focused on Real estate and land development projects utilizing drones for aerial imagery. We also use 3D scanners on various projects. If I had to describe the character it would be on that embraces technology as part of surveying.
What poster or resource would you like to see next from GKiS? Again this is not a very easy question for me just because I’m not usually the artistic type but more of a critical thinker. I have gone through most of the content on the website and am blown away by the materials.
Anything else you want to add that you think our audience (surveyors, teachers, parents) would be interested in? In the past I had hosted weekly lunch n’ learn classes to help people who are trying to get licensed or are pursing certification through the Certified Survey Technician program. I would like to continue to grow the CST program within our industry because I see it as a way to help individuals further their careers and improve the surveying industry.
Character Spotlight ‘WSLS’
Say hello to our newest sponsors the Wisconsin Society of Land Surveyors (WSLS). We love working with them, having recently spoken at their online event (view our keynote here):
Company Name – Wisconsin Society of Land Surveyors (WSLS), we have approximately 900 Members.
Location – Wisconsin, USA
Why did you get involved in Get Kids into Survey ?We want to interest Youth and Youngsters in Surveying. A number of things we do are Trigstar with High School aged Students, help Scouts with Merit Badges, Future City, doing “A Day in the Life of a Surveyor” with Elementary Schoolers, etc.
What do you do?(From the seven and three year olds) We look through the transit to see better, hold the range pole and elevation rod, use a hammer to pound, put flag ribbon on things we find.
How long have you been in the Survey Industry?WSLS has been in existence for more than 70 years.
How did you get into the Industry?(From the seven and three year old) When Grandpa took pictures of us Surveying and showed us his “Get Kids into Survey” Posters. We like the posters. They have lots of bright colors and so much on them. We liked the Hide & Seek questions on the posters! Lots of people like the pictures he took of us doing Surveying Work.
Funny Fact about the you:(From the seven year old) I love to play search and find and hide & seek, especially outside in the ground, snow, and leaves! (From the three year old) I love to be silly and stand on the transit case so I am tall enough to see through the transit ! We get dirty doing this, but Grandpa says that’s okay.
Favourite piece of kit and why?(From the seven and three year old) I like the heavy hammer to pound things into the ground! I like the orange cones and to stack them up!
Favourite Survey technique and why?(Directly from “Duey North”) I am a Badger and love to dig in the hard clay, sand, and mud. My feet and claws are built for that and I’m very good at it!
Tell us about your character? Our WSLS Institute Planning Committee came up with the Character and his name “Duey North”. His cap shows our WSLS logo and he’s wearing the colors of our beloved Green Bay Packers. The Badger is one of our most famous animals.
(From the seven and three year old) He is a cute little Surveyor Guy. He looks happy and smart! It looks like he’s using a Survey transit like we look through.
Surveyors Tales
With the average age of a surveyor rising, with more retiring than being recruited each year… there is definitely call for change! We began our campaign last month to collect everyone’s stories and create some snippets of information to share with the community. This is so they can see how awesome a career in geospatial really is!
Our aim: to showcase how diverse the industry is, what adventures it can take you on and the opportunities it could bring.
Please visit our Facebook and Instagram pages for more fun content. Plus longer videos are being added to our YouTube channel.
Enjoy some short tales of some surveyors favourite experiences at work!
Alex Carling– Engineering Geologist at Cardno
“Currently I work as an Engineering Geologist | GIS Analyst, but also use drones for 3D photogrammetry (Survey grade and mapping grade models) and also spent 3 months working with our survey team around the greater Sydney area.
One of my favourite memories as a surveyor was working in the Sydney Harbour Tunnel. I did two overnight shifts where we undertook the annual monitoring of the tunnel. This works is used to check for any movement within the tunnel due to it sitting on the harbour floor. I got to walk through the tunnel attaching prisms to the walls, and even got to walk in the tunnels joining the north and south tunnels! I also got to sit down within the control room, where there was a wall full of tv screens watching the traffic. I thought those things only existed within the movies!”
Sam Hough – Principal Survey Delivery Manager
“My favourite experience of surveying will most likely be when I was in the North Yorkshire Moors surveying the Land of Iron Kilns, with nobody around me apart from hikers and sheep! The history contained within these small sites was nothing short of amazing, and to be a part of capturing the history of these structures before they dilapidated any further was truly an honour. It was also my first job where I didn’t have a GNSS fix and had to traverse from the local town up the hills!”
Ryan Swingley- Geospatial Manager
“In 2014, I was asked to fly to Australia to acquire mobile LiDAR data to as-built the dirt work on a very large site on the western coast. We used a Trimble MX2 to capture the data on a very active construction site. The project was riddled with problems that had to be solved and we were working 16 hours a day to get it all done and get back stateside in time for a family gathering. It was very challenging but we adopted an adapt and overcome attitude that got us through it”.
Desiree Hurst– Licensed Professional Surveyor in 4 states and Certified Federally.
“This is a recent memory but it will stick with me. In the over 15 years in the industry I have been primarily in the office, however, recently I went out to the jobsite with another co-worker to find our last few boundary monuments and look for county line monuments. What makes this experience unique is that I went with another female surveyor that runs her crew. It is extremely rare to have one woman on a crew let alone two. It was the first for me and inspiring. This is at my current employer – Yazel Pebbles & Associates where I work as a Project Manager/Professional Surveyor. I was with Christi Yazel who is a SIT (Surveying-in-Training – which is your first exam in the US).
Another memory I have is getting to share my profession with my children and speaking to the next generation. A few years ago, I took my kids to the Capital in Texas where I spoke about Land Surveying during a Legislative Session and showed them around the original General Land Office of Texas. I also like to show them that surveying is all around us when we are out and about, like new developments and how they relate to surveying in our everyday life. We even found surveying equipment on display at Disney world”.
Phil Fedor- Project Manager at Bowman Consulting
“A memorable survey just came up in my FB memories from 4 years ago, where we did a sectional retracement of the entire square mile so a home owner could build a road across federal land to access their parcel. They needed the road to build their dream home. It was back in the hills & hollows northwest of Lake Pleasant in Arizona. Lots of hiking and very rugged terrain”.
A Surveyors Short Story
With the average age of a surveyor rising, with more retiring than being recruited each year… there is definitely call for change! We began our campaign last month to collect everyone’s stories and create some snippets of information to share with the community. This is so they can see how awesome a career in geospatial really is!
Our aim: to showcase how diverse the industry is, what adventures it can take you on and the opportunities it could bring.
Please visit our Facebook and Instagram pages for more fun content. Plus longer videos are being added to our YouTube channel throughout the week.
A Short Story by Gary Hinkley, Australia.
During my early career in remote Solomon Islands, I lived an exciting life. “A Cadets Dream!” in remote Environments, in which I witnessed many exciting events, foreign compared to my past! This story is of my adventure in Islands North of Australia, unfolded & sporadic at first, but rapidly my expertise increased!
“It’s the real deal!” all events will graphically illustrate how my expertise germinated while venturing in these Islands. Originally, I had gained this role through default! I.e. “Not many people applied for the position”! Why? A 2-year contract in isolation… I didn’t hesitate and grabbed the opportunity to immerse myself in this learning curve; with a further bonus of living in a pristine Environmental Paradise.
After the initial training, I was given Sole responsibility for field data collection in Hydrology/Geology (mainly charting Core Drilling , obtaining data results of depths & angles). Surveying was a much larger learning curve. I had left Australia in a world of relative safety and personal comfort, now choosing adventure instead.
I boarded the latest American Boeing aircraft in Australia, then departed for New Guinea with a hotel stop over at Rabaul. I had acted as a tourist to visit the major Rabaul (Tavurvur) Volcano of New Guinea (which prior to the 1994 eruption, was a visually fabulous place to view the bubbling red cauldron of lava). Stationed in the luxury Colonial Hotel, our group of 6 young professionals edged their way to “arrogance and self-importance”. *Alarm Bells* should have rung!!! The next day we were all in for a shock and reality soon set in. Our egos were rapidly deflated plus about to be addressed and penalized. Upon boarding the aeroplane our eyes opened in shock. It was an ancient D C 3 Aircraft, which now in more recent times are used as a Cargo Transport Aircraft. Immediately we were directed to position ourselves in the Cargo Hold – a freezing area where Butchered Animals were hanging from the rafters (yes, our egos were instantly trimmed back and deflated!). I chose a whole Lamb carcass to stand next to and gritted my teeth. It lasted for a whole 2 hours, that seemed like a full day!
Upon arrival and slowly thawing out, I spent the night in a Sak-Sak Hut in the Compound. As I was about to sleep I witnessed a Cat, who had paused at my open doorway – it then looked me up & down!? “Here Pussy Cat” I naively said. As I looked closer, shock, I discovered it was a giant rat!! The rat did not take a backward step and it simply continued to look me up and down; like a potential meal I thought to myself! No sleep that night- Welcome to the tropics Gary!
The following morning we were all transferred by helicopter to our Exploration Camp Site; while in flight I viewed the Island. I was gifted with views of barren seas, laden with coral reefs and marine life. Rivers skirted the shores and flowed unpolluted into their Ocean wonderland. Poetically creepy scenes emerged with volcanoes standing like giant Grenadier Guards; reaching for the skies, protecting the wilderness and demanding respect. Never-ending rainforests, viewing many rivers that were darkened by surrounding dense jungles with giant trees.
After settling into my responsibilities, I made a number of field trips. During one exploration trip (most via helicopters), my hydrology recording surveys were being witnessed by “unannounced 1st Nation warriors”, all choosing to stay spectators and remaining camouflaged. I only noticed them when prompted by my Island assistant, James Buta. These practical learning curves were in spurts; eventually it generated my dormant brain and some mature intelligence started to evolve! Wow! I had certainly jumped in the deep end.
Imminent disasters at times I was becoming “Bush Wise”, with foreign bursts of energy. I had collected a multitude of data – Hydrology /Geological /Land Surveys /Weather, eventually I clicked as a valuable company employee.
These seemingly improbable events expose another story. Soon I was to meeting an aged Cannibal, with barely a lap-lap to cover himself, but room for a warriors knife and axe! Merely a prelude to the event that followed, I was fortunate to have my Island Assistant with me, to assist in communication. Very soon another event overshadowed that unsettling meeting… As I ventured deeper into the next remote location area; situated by the Sea (located on the Western side of the extreme Solomon Islands). I witnessed an unusual episode, this time a young native man in an extreme isolated village where my Helicopter had transferred me to further collect wind and hydraulic data. The young powerful man appeared from the opposite side of the village, then slowly began crawling across the open central compound, dragging himself and edging closer towards me! This was a meeting I did not expect- Was it some sacrificial ceremony? My throat was dry. Earlier I had been directed to visit this central village location by a warrior who had approached us earlier in the day (in fact, he was the village Chief! He had confronted me in such an authoritative manner that I could not refuse).
Now in his village, I refocused more clearly as this powerful looking native man dragged himself nearer “What was he dragging?” Fear remained bottled in my brain, “but was I going to be killed?” A prelude to a sacrificial ceremony? As he neared my position, I viewed him more closely. No Knife! So, what was he dragging? His foot was affected with elephantiasis and was about the size of a football. He lifted his hand to shake mine and he was smiling. Although mute, I had a rush of common sense (usually void in youth). I knew I did not deserve this honour! Without hesitation or fear I quickly shook his hand and half smiled. The area was hugely remote, but that event was life changing to my character. I stood next to the Chief of the village during this resulting episode; now cordial greeting yet I felt fortunate to leave intact!
Later that day I returned to the shelter and comfort of my company employer and medical support (all previously taken for granted). Now, years later, I know that I only passed half the humanity test. You may guess what I neglected? Amazing how a singular event changes your perception of life! Keep smiling, as we all need this elixir of life.By G
This story explains how events/experiences can also germinate maturity and growth. It certainly refocused my life; a learning curve of basic human behaviour resulted. To now, the city civilisation that I find myself in, cushions such raw human emotions.
Meet the Squad: Setsuko
Name:
Setsuko Tanaka
Age:
Twelve solar cycles
Specialist Areas:
Ecology and environmental expert
Likes:
Plants – sometimes more than humans (apart from the Squad, of course). Reducing, reusing, recycling, and taking part in the occasional environmental protest.
Dislikes:
Being indoors, getting stuck in her sleeping bag, running out of memory in her camera, which happens all the time because – in her own words – NATURE IS FREAKIN’ AWESOME!
Bio:
Setsuko loves the outdoors so much that she abandoned her bedroom aged seven, preferring to sleep in a tent in her back yard. Since then, she has filled an entire greenhouse with over one hundred varieties of plant, including her own hybrid strain of vegan Venus flytrap. She is currently in the process of fengshuing the top floor of the treehouse she built from reclaimed wood. Through her activism and online fundraising, she has managed to save nearly a million acres of forest, seven endangered species, and one local park – the home of her favourite climbing tree.
Likely to say things like:
“Fancy a green tea in the treepartment?”
Surveyors Most Memorable Days at Work
With the average age of a surveyor rising, with more retiring than being recruited each year… there is definitely call for change! We began our campaign last month to collect everyone’s stories and create some snippets of information to share with the community. This is so they can see how awesome a career in geospatial really is!
Our aim: to showcase how diverse the industry is, what adventures it can take you on and the opportunities it could bring.
Please visit our Facebook and Instagram pages for more fun content. Plus longer videos are being added to our YouTube channel.
Enjoy some snippets of what some lovely surveyors get up to at work… there are some pretty cool experiences!
First up is Jamie Stevens from Nuplan Surveys Ltd…doing some Laser Scanning from St Saviour’s Point, Polruan, Cornwall.
“This was taken on a glorious day 17th Dec 2020, I have been a land surveyor for over 30 years and have had many such wonderful days (and numerous horrible ones too!)”.
‘oh how we all love to be beside the seaside’ as the saying goes! As a surveyor you could be spending days doing just that!
A bit more information about what Jamie was doing this day is attached- a “screenshot taken from our registered point cloud. It is proposed to demolish the small cottage on the cliff top and replace it with a modern multi-million pound residential house. We were set on St Saviours point (the cliff top in the video) for one of the many scans used to create this cloud as it offered a great view of the existing property and its surroundings. This completed scan data will be used by the architects to help inform their design and also to show any proposed redevelopment in context with its surroundings to the local planning authorities”.
Alex McKee, Graduate Surveyor, Academy Geomatics
“I was once tasked with creating a 3D model of an old bridge which was about 100m above the valley floor. The main part of the bridge was easy, however the client wanted the sides of the bridge too… so we turned our laser scanner sideways, pushed it as far over the edge as possible and weighed it down with a couple of weights! The scanner was about 2 meters away from the bridge, held up by a thin tripod. I was too nervous to let go for the first couple of scans, but the weighted system worked and thankfully it never fell over the edge. We managed to create a full 3D model of the bridge without dropping any of our equipment – a successful day in surveying!”
Carlos Betancourt- El Savador
“I had been doing surveying on very diverse and odd places. One worth to mention was one time I was traveling in the middle of nowhere Mexico, willing to show a laser scanner to a coal mine company. That day basically what ever could go wrong was going wrong. All of a sudden I was just in the middle of a huge coal stockpiles field, and with that bad luck streak as you might expected, there was a power failure with the power source of the scanner, that setback seemed sealed the doomed destiny of the visit, when a guy of the coal company said, no problem I’ll bring a power cord, being half a mile from the closet power outlet, it was surreal to watch the guy pull the longest power cord extension I had ever seen, the scanner worked perfectly plug to the power supply, we even moved farther from where we were and that definitely saved the day!”
Benjamin Brewster- United Kingdom
“Years ago working on a job for the London 2012 Olympics at Eton Dorney, some colleagues and I were stopped walking up a fairly nondescript towpath on the Thames by a security guard and told we couldn’t carry on. We explained what we were doing and he agreed to let us walk through whatever was going on, as long as we didn’t stop and definitely didn’t take any pictures. Turns out we were walking through a shoot for a Take That music video. Not the most exciting story but Robbie Williams on a break was definitely a novel excuse for a gap in the data…”
Beau Winfrey- City Surveyor.
“I almost always enjoy working in the field, but my most memorable project was a volunteer project working with Rotary International, University of Oklahoma Centre for the Restoration of Ecosystems and Watersheds, and Engineers In Action. I was able to travel to Bolivia to perform the topographic survey for an environmental engineering project’s planning and design. The project is a passive treatment system to remove heavy metals from mine waste water outside of Potosi, Bolivia. I ended up working with local surveyors and using equipment that was set up in Spanish, not my first language. I mistakenly got all my backsights reversed / mirrored which was fun to correct in the office once back in the states. Good field notes and procedures for the win! Our goal was to map out two seasonal drainage channels from the high end of the valley where waste water pooled collecting toxic runoff from the surrounding abandoned mines and then drained into the lake and river below polluting the drinking and irrigation source for everyone in the area. The project started at approximately 4500 meters elevation and dropped 1000 meters along the 2 km route. Our survey was used to design the project and to communicate the plan. It was great to experience the culture and different work processes and meet some of the true characters involved in the project”.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Read More.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Monopoly Sponsor Info Sheet Download
Please fill out the form below to download our Monopoly Sponsor Info Sheet Download:
Autumn Poster Hotsheet Download
Please fill out the form below to access our Poster Hotsheet:
Summer Poster Hotsheet Download
Please fill out the form below to access our Poster Hotsheet:
Spring Poster Hotsheet Download
Please fill out the form below to access our Poster Hotsheet:
Poster Hotsheet Download
Please fill out the form below to access our Poster Hotsheet:
Re-Print Hotsheet Download
Please fill out the form below to access our Re-print Hotsheet:
Winter Poster Hotsheet Download
Please fill out the form below to access our Poster Hotsheet:
Homework Project Info Pack
Please fill out the form below to access our Homework Project Information Pack: