Introducing our latest brand sponsor as seen in the Surveying in Space poster, it’s Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. (CEC). Let’s learn some more about them:
1. Company Name – Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. (CEC)
2. Location – Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA with 34 offices across the U.S.
3. Why is it important for your company to help Get Kids into Survey? – The Surveying and Geospatial Profession is an exciting career for kids to consider, because it combines what so many of them love to do. If a kid finds himself not being able to decide between playing video games and playing outside, Surveying gives them the opportunity for “hands-on” technology and exploring the physical world around them! We want to inspire Kids to consider a life as a Professional Land Surveyor or a Geospatial Professional.
4. What do you do? I am the Corporate Survey / Geospatial Practice Lead, which means I am the company “cheerleader” for about 40 Professional Land Surveyors and 195+ Survey Staff members located in 22 of our offices. What CEC “does” ranges from topographic surveys where we map the surface of property on-the-ground and using UAV “drones” for design and development, to ALTA Surveys used for the sale of commercial or industrial properties, to Solar development where we survey for design and layout the solar panels and other improvements, we measure for roadways, pipelines, buildings, utilities. We use mobile LiDAR, terrestrial LiDAR, we have 40+ UAV pilots and craft, we also use hydrographic equipment to measure the bottoms of rivers, creeks, and lakes and geophysical / utility locating equipment to measure underground utilities and structures. You name it, we measure it!
5. How long have you been in the survey industry? – I have been surveying since the Chicago Bears won the Superbowl … about 39 years (I’m originally from the Chicagoland area and move to Pittsburgh to join CEC almost 10 years ago). CEC has been providing surveying services for about 25 years.
6. How did you end up getting into the geospatial industry? I took a sabbatical from college, wanted to get a job and saw an advertisement in a newspaper that said, “Land Surveying crew member, no experience necessary”. I didn’t know what “Land Surveying” was, I thought I would go door-to-door asking people questions about their land! My first day on the job I spent walking through the woods measuring trees on a beautiful fall day … I thought “I can’t believe they are actually going to pay me to do this”! I have been surveying ever since. CEC originally got into surveying to provide existing conditions surveys for civil engineering design and landfills. It has since grown to be an independent practice, the second largest in the company!
7. State a funny fact about you… I have 12 kids, a very patient and loving wife, and 3 of my kids are in the surveying profession (so far)! I am also in two bands that are made up of instrument-playing land surveyors that only exist to play at two survey conferences. The Illinois (IPLSA) conference band is “Monuments Men”, the Pennsylvania (PSLS) conference band is “Plumb Bob and the Chaining Pins”.
8. Favourite piece of kit and why? I still miss my old orange Geodimeter 600 series robotic total station I used back in my field days! Not the easiest equipment to use, but rock solid, accurate, and very reliable! Also, I still have my original plumb-bob that my first boss gave to me … most people in surveying don’t even know what a plumb-bob is!
9. Favourite Survey technique and why? I am most excited by our LiDAR equipped UAV systems, because they are a “game changer” in mapping, but you still need the basics of good ground control to make sure the map matches “reality”. I don’t personally fly UAV’s … my kids have seen me playing video games and can attest I am not an expert with a joystick!
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? I thought an image of a “robotic surveyor” would capture the technology with the physical realism of surveying. I named the character “CybErC”, after CEC’s intranet program, which is the “hub” for standards, and both company and project information for CEC staff. Just like in many ways “Survey / Geospatial” is the “hub” for so many of the other services we offer.