19 Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org 2023 Surveyor of the Year Do you have a bucket list? What’s on it? Spending time at our cabin in Idaho and flying into the backcountry airstrips is high on my list. I would like to make a few more mountaineering climbs before my knees get too creaky. If you could have your dream dinner party with any five people in history, who would they be? Meeting mathematicians and scientists such as Karl Gauss, Werner Von Braun, and others who pioneered the positioning and mapping sciences. What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received? I would have to say receiving the PLSO Surveyor of the Year award. Do you have any hidden talents? My wife would say none, however I purchased a plasma cutter and MIG welder and enjoy fabricating and designing trailers and custom accessories. It is another positioning application! You’ve taught a lot of surveyors who are currently PLSO members. Does anyone stick out in your mind that is particularly active in the community? Many of our graduates stand out for different reasons. Jim Elithorp and Rhonda Dodge have an aptitude for mathematics and science and completed graduate degrees in geodesy and remote sensing. Chris Sherby and Matt Faulkner founded S & F Land Services and continue to grow and expand. There really are too many to list. This is a big year for Oregon Tech. Not only are you PLSO’s Surveyor of the Year, but the geomatics program was recently awarded the NCEES Surveying Education Award. Can you talk a little bit about this? For an introverted old geodesist to receive the Surveyor of the Year award was truly surprising and humbling. NCEES recognition of the Oregon Tech Surveying program as one of the best in the nation is extremely gratifying. What are you seeing as trends in the profession right now? Surveying has experienced not just an evolution, but a revolution in technology, which resulted in the umbrella term “geomatics” best describing the scope of the profession. The implementation of new technology appears to be moving at a faster pace. Are these trends affecting geomatics programs in particular or do you think it’s the other way around? The goal of the geomatics program is to offer contemporary surveying education in the areas of legal aspects and land development, and to prepare students with the skills necessary to understand and use new technologies, and the life-long learning skills to adapt with technology changes. How do you see PLSO serving as a bridge for students from volunteering at the conference to becoming an active leader in the organization? At the PLSO conference, students meet industry leaders and mentors who lead by example. From your experience as an educator, how should internships be organized to compliment the education they are receiving so they are fully equipped to enter the workforce at the level the profession needs right now? Faculty have always considered internships an essential part of student learning. Formal education in the classroom, industry experience, and examinations are all required professional components. Currently, there are many internship opportunities for students, and virtually all students complete one or more internships. Where did your original interest in Geomatics come from? I was unaware of geomatics and started in civil engineering. All the students take surveying courses, which is where I became aware of the profession. Surveyors get to leave the cubicle and work outdoors using high-tech instruments, process data using advanced software, and get paid to make maps. I changed majors to surveying, and it started a great career path. Are you an alum of Oregon Tech’s Geomatics program, and did you start working as a faculty member right after graduation? I completed my BS Surveying degree at Oregon Tech. I was particularly interested in geodesy, which includes applications of non-Euclidean geometry to model the earth over larger distances, and project the curved surface of the earth onto a flat plane. Analytical photogrammetry and data adjustments were also fascinating subjects. I completed a MS in Geodesy at Purdue University, and contemplated continuing for a PhD, however concluded that would lead to a cubicle career, so I decided to seek employment where some field work was an option. I worked about three years with BLM and private firms before accepting a faculty position. What do you find most interesting about your field? The mathematics and science in geomatics are fascinating. Applications such as Gaussian surface curvature used in map projections, coordinate systems and transformations, GNSS positioning, and continues Surveying encompasses the positioning sciences, so it is appropriate to become licensed and a PLSO member.
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