The theme of the competition this year was “Surveying Service.” The competition consisted of a field exercise and presentation. The field exercise was done on 80 acres of BLM land that was marked off into individual sites upon which the only reference marker was the center point of what was to be a one-acre square parcel. Each team was instructed to lay out a one-acre square parcel and conduct a topographic survey of the parcel. A plat was to be drawn showing the boundary lines/monuments and the contours of the parcel. On Monday the teams moved inside to do their computations and create a boundary/topographic plat. Teams were required to simulate a surveying project in a developing country. The students were limited to very basic and fundamental equipment that would be used in Third World situations including magnetic compasses, steel tapes and automatic levels. No modern technology tools such as GPS or Total Stations were allowed.
Faculty adviser and Geomatics professor, Mason Marker, attended the conference with the students. “The students really excelled in their professionalism, their technical skills and their enthusiasm for getting the job done and done well,” he said.
Along with Katie, the team consisted of Mosier Locke of Dallas, Oregon; Saul Preciado of Klamath Falls, Oregon; Riley Edwards of Chehalis, Washington; Jon Hennon of La Cañada Flintridge, California; and Marcus Helm of Galt, California.
The NSPS Student Competition is an annual event open to all two- and four-year Geomatics and Surveying degree programs across the country. 11 teams from four-year baccalaureate programs competed this year.
For more information about Oregon Tech’s Geomatics program, visit www.oit.edu/academics/degrees/geomatics.
