FIELD NOTES
US of AZ Monthly eNewsletter
April 2018 Issue Highlights
USofAZ News
Mark Your Calender: 2018 Geomatics Golf Outing
Guest Articles from Greg Jeffries*
Paul Greenhagen & John Rankin
Classified / Job Opportunity Board
Lost Monuments
*correction in credit from last published version of Field Notes
|
|
|
|
Membership & Sponsorship Opportunities
Active (voting) Membership: $120/yr
Student (non-voting) Membership: $100y/yr
Supporting (non-voting) Membership: $100/yr
*Corporate Sponsorships: $600/yr
*Includes 3 Active Memberships and more promotional opportunities than ever.
|
|
REDUCED MEMBERSHIP PRICING!
$90 FOR THE REMAINDER OF 2018
SIGN UP NOW!
We’ve got some great things planned for the rest of the year that you will want to be a part of including:
- Trig-Star exams at local high schools
- Boy Scout Survey Merit Badge courses
- 2018 Geomatics Golf Outing
- Get Kids Into Surveying outreach
- Philanthropic projects
- Member/sponsor appreciation events
|
|
For those of you who missed it, last month we celebrated National Surveyors week. We hosted a variety of activities including Axe Throwing, did our annual hike to the initial point, had lively discussions during our Geomatics Retreat and helped 15 Boy Scouts earn their Surveyor Merit Badge. Watch for next years events in the coming months. Thanks to all who participated and provided generous sponsorship's for each of the events
|
|
|
JCComancheros Pony Express
USof AZ's own Phil Fedor is participating in the Pony Express ride again this this year that benefits Horses Help,an organization that uses Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies for those with special needs. Phil was sworn in last week to fulfill his duty of delivering the mail from Phoenix to Prescott and was awarded the Top Three donation Champion. Contributing from our profession was Bowman Consulting, Surveyors Source, Cooper Aerial and USofAZ.
|
|
|
USofAZ Online Public Forum
A Place to Discuss all our your Geomatics Questions or Concerns
The USofAZ Forum is a space for peer-to-peer professional exchange of ideas, thoughts, problems, and solutions related to the theory and practice of land surveying and mapping
|
|
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
September 23, 2018 Geomatics Golf Outing
at
The Legend at Arrowhead
$75 per player
Includes: range balls, 18-Holes, lunch, drink ticket,
prizes & FUN!
Hole Sponsorships: $200
Hole Sponsorships with Foursome: $400
If you are interested in sponsoring a hole, contest or would like to add to Swag-bags, please contact admin@usofaz.org
|
|
GUEST ARTICLE:
Surveyors – The Latest Generation of “Button Pushers”
by Greg Jeffries, BSM*
*correction in credit from last publication of Field Notes
|
|
Surveying has gradually slipped from being a Professional Service to little more than a commodity and, the industry is to blame. We have allowed our profession to be relegated to the back of the pack, an afterthought, nothing more than a line item on a bid form. When did survey become a bid form commodity? Well, it is hard to pinpoint exactly, but it seems to have started swinging in that direction when the majority of surveying became semi-automated, when robotic total stations and RTK GPS systems became mainstream. We took the surveyor out of the field and replaced him or her with someone who could be taught to push the correct button or series of buttons on this state-of-the-art equipment.
|
|
The Minnesota Society of Professional Surveyors (MSPS) launched
a letter campaign
recently on behalf of Minnesota-based College, St. Cloud State University (SCSU), and its
Land Surveying/Mapping Sciences (LSMS) program
which is under intense scrutiny. Due to the college’s budget cuts and lower-than-normal enrollment over the past few years, the program now faces significant restructuring, or worse, termination. Those of us in AEC industry nationwide are in a position to help influence the outcome of this decision and to encourage more work to generate awareness of the profession in high schools.
Minnesota is one of many states that require a four-year survey degree in order to obtain professional licensing. The LSMS program in St. Cloud is the only four-year program in the Midwest’s six-state region and has just landed on the endangered list. If we don’t support this and similar programs across the U.S., our profession and the clients we serve will feel the impact.
|
|
GUEST ARTICLE:
Endangered
Species: The Land Surveyor
Paul Greenhagen, PS
|
|
GUEST ARTICLE:
Owning a drone does not make you a surveyor or photogrammetrist.
A rant by the president of J.R. Canadian Mapping Ltd.
|
|
When UAV\drone data is collected and post processed properly it can generate highly accurate elevation data that can often rival LiDAR. The problem is that many providers of drone data actually do not have the knowledge or skill in either data collection or post processing to create a survey grade digital elevation model or other photogrammetric products.
Over the last five years J.R. Canadian Mapping has been confronted with what some perceive as our competition. It seems that every other month someone purchases a DJI Phantom and is starting up a UAV company within our service region offering surveying or mapping services. These pop-ups are offering their services at a meager cost and claim to be offering the same products as my company. I am constantly defending my company's services and costs against pop-ups which potential customers perceive as our competition. I perceive these pop-ups as nothing more than a nuisance muddying the industry and confusing potential customers of quality photogrammetric data. Owning a drone does not make anyone a surveyor or photogrammetrist and it does not give one the ability to produce survey grade products.
|
|
Register Now for These
FREE Monthly Events!
every 1
st
Monday of the month
every 1
st
Tuesday of the month
every 2
nd
Wednesday of the month
|
|
CLASSIFIED & JOB OPPORTUNITY BOARD
(Anyone wishing to post here, please send an email to admin@usofaz.org)
|
|
Survey Technician (Office)
Date: Apr 16, 2018
Location: Phoenix, AZ, US
Company: SRP
.
SRP is the third-largest public power and water utility in the U.S. SRP provides electricity to approximately one million customers in the greater metropolitan Phoenix area. SRP was established in 1903 and has a strong history of stewardship and customer service within Arizona. SRP consistently ranks as an industry leader in customer service according to J.D. Power. We are currently recruiting for a Surveyor Technician.
Job Brief
Under minimal supervision, coordinates and completes technical survey office work assignments for the Land‐Survey Division. Works on a variety of survey related assignments involving analysis of field collected topography and land boundary surveys. Reviews, evaluates and analyzes survey boundary related documents such as deeds, plats, surveys and easements. Drafts base maps of existing land rights to assist in the drafting of final deliverables (Results of surveys and exhibit drawings) through the utilization of COGO and CAD software programs. Prepares information for the use of field survey crews in performing construction layout work. Understands the basic principles of state plane coordinate systems, grid to ground conversions and vertical datums. Understands the public land survey system, including sectional break downs, GLO lotting, closing corners and witness corners.
|
|
LOST MONUMENTS
Dedicated to preserving the memories of those who served our community
|
|
August 2017 - Greg Dolphin
November 2017 - Scott Koehler,AZ RLS 45275
November 2017 - Paul Sowers, AZ RLS 19854
November 2017 - William George Kerkering, Rodman
December 2017 - Eugene O'Brien, AZ RLS 33865
April 2018 - Earl Watts AZ RLS #27253
This section will be reserved for the names of members of our
Survey & Geomatics community who have passed away.
|
|
USofAZ would like thank all of our sponsors
and recognize the following organizations for being our Strategic Partners!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
