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

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!