National Museum of Surveying Holds Grand Opening Event

The National Museum of Surveying in Springfield, Ill., held its grand opening on March 19. Following a ribbon cutting by the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, visitors toured the museum and participated in special shows involving the dynamic Science on a Sphere globe as well as family crafts and children’s activities. The museum was also a site location for the NSPS Surveying USA event, and numerous surveyors were present at noon to simultaneously collect data using their GPS equipment.

As part of its grand opening, the museum also kicked off a fundraising drive to support the museum and its educational endeavors. The museum seeks to raise one million dollars by its first birthday on March 19, 2012. A “support us” page on the museum’s website facilitates online donations in $10 increments.

The National Museum of Surveying is the only museum of its kind in the nation. For more information, visit www.surveyingmuseum.org. To make an online donation to support the museum, visit www.surveyingmuseum.org/support-us.html.

SaGES Issues Call for Papers

The Surveying and Geomatics Educators Society (SaGES) is seeking papers for its biannual conference in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, July 19-22, 2011. With the theme “Advances in Geospatial Science and Engineering Education,” the conference will focus on topics related to curricula, students, faculty and other general subjects (geoid models, natural hazards, BIM, GPS/GIS/LIS, quality assurance, etc). Abstracts are due by April 15, and final papers are due by May 30. For more information about the conference, contact the organizers at sages2011.pr@gmail.com or visit www.sageducators.org.

Troy University Wins NSPS Student Competition

The NSPS held its 10th Annual Student Competition in conjunction with the California Land Surveyor’s Association (CLSA)/Nevada Association of Land Surveyors’ (NALS) joint conference in Las Vegas on March 7, 2011. Seven schools with baccalaureate degree programs in surveying, surveying engineering technology and/or surveying engineering participated. Each competing team had four months to develop a project in the area of hydrographic surveying, write a 30-page paper, prepare a wall poster and give a 20 minute presentation at the conference.

First place went to Troy University in Troy, Ala., which came as no surprise to Dr. David Griffin, PhD, PE, PLS, assistant professor in the university's geomatics surveying and geomatics sciences program. "These students work really hard," he said. "They are very deserving of this award."

Second and third place went to University of Maine, Orono, Maine, and Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath Fall, Ore., respectively. Honorable mentions were given to California State University, Fresno, Calif.; Michigan Technological Institute, Houghton, Mich.; New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.; and University of Puerto Rico – Mayaguez.

Judges for the competition were A. Wayne Harrison, president of NSPS; William Coleman, president-elect of NSPS; Robert Dahn, vice-president of NSPS, Carl R. CdeBaca, NSPS Area Nine director; and Robert J. Reese, a past president of CLSA. The competition was coordinated by A. Richard Vannozzi, assistant professor of Civil Technology/Surveying and Mapping, Thompson School of Applied Science at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.H.

To get more information about this year’s competition or to obtain details on how to enter the 2012 competition, e-mail Vannozzi at a.r.vannozzi@unh.edu. The NSPS website is www.nspsmo.org.