8 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 46, No. 5 required to do research, find education tools, learn and understand calculations and field procedures (e.g. for the building stakeout), and transmit these to the team while applying them in real time. As much technical information as I gleaned from this competition, my main takeaway was learning how to (and how not to) be an effective teacher while unifying a team toward a common goal. Likewise, the entire team further developed their skills as effective (and patient) learners; the competition was designed such that each team required a diverse knowledge base to succeed. For example, creating the topographic map required that we become very comfortable using Civil3D in a very short period of time, which turned out to be an enormous challenge. By the beginning of last winter I hadn’t used AutoCAD in years (and never used Civil3D), but with the competition behind us the team is left with an advanced understanding of Civil3D’s surveying related functions. However, the team gleaned more than just technical knowledge from this experience; that would have been very boring. One of the main functions of the PLSO student chapter is to give prospective surveyors an opportunity to engage with the field of surveying, to enjoy simply being outside practicing field procedures. To this end, this competition was a wild success; between the many hours spent practicing on our own campus and those spent traveling to compete in another state, we all had ample opportunity to get our hands dirty. Some will be returning to participate in next year’s competition and some won’t, but in either case we all learned whether we like actually using the surveying equipment—which I find to be just as important as becoming a Civil3D wiz. Attending the Competition The competition was hosted in early April at Montana State University, and four teams participated in the event: Montana State University (Bozeman), Montana State University Northern, Montana Technological University, and Oregon State University. Our hours of practice seemed to pay off, and the Oregon State team was awarded first place at the competition. This qualified us for the society-wide competition finals in Platteville, Wisconsin, that June, bringing Oregon State University to an ASCE national competition for the first time in more than a decade. After another month of even more rigorous field practice and topographic mapping, we traveled to Wisconsin and joined the 17 other teams who had traveled from across the country to participate in the competition. The Oregon State team proudly took third place in the field tasks and third place overall, taking home a cash prize of $500 for the Oregon State ASCE student chapter. Overall, the UESI surveying competition provides an excellent opportunity for students to travel, network, practice surveying field procedures, and most importantly, have fun with surveying. The Oregon State University surveying team is extremely grateful for financial contributions by the PLSO and other organizations which made the trip to the society-wide finals possible. Thanks to your help, the team was able to participate in an incredible opportunity that we would not have been able to otherwise. We look forward to participating in the competition in years to come, and seeing how both the competition and competing teams evolve. Isaac Anderson and Kyle Winney at the regionals. Kyle Winney and Toby Richardson-Byrd at the nationals. Toby Richardson-Byrd, Jacob O’Brien, Quentin Beers, and Isaac Anderson at the nationals. Featured Article continued
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