The Oregon Tech Geomatics Club, led by senior student Aquila Reed of Bend, OR and sophomore Mosier Locke of Dallas, OR, took second place in the annual National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) Surveying Competition, Baccalaureate Division that concluded March 13 in Washington, D.C.

NSPS2017
The NSPS Student Competition is an annual event open to all two- and four-year Geomatics and Surveying degree programs across the country. In the fall, the student teams are given a theme, and then must design and complete a surveying project. The competition this year had three components: a technical paper that discusses the project; a poster session of that project that is displayed during the competition; and a 25-minute oral presentation of the project. A team of four independent judges from various parts of the country review the projects to determine the final rankings of the teams.

The theme for the 2017 was “High-Precision Vertical Control Applications.” Working with the Oregon Tech Facilities Department, the Geomatics team prepared a High Precision Vertical Control Network in Boivin Hall. Located at the Southwest corner of Oregon Tech’s Klamath Falls campus, Boivin Hall was built in 1974 and the construction required that a portion of the building was installed on fill soil, and the design of the building has a basement that is not as large as the ground level floor. These factors combined to create a “less than stable” ground surface for the building. On September 20, 1993, two earthquakes, measuring 5.9 and 6.0, were experienced in the Klamath Falls area. While the impact to the campus was minimal, there was observed damage to Boivin Hall. The damage was limited to minor cracking in the first floor slabs and surrounding sidewalks, along with misalignment of some interior doorways and walls.

The purpose of the project was to design a control survey to determine any future movement of Boivin Hall. The project resulted in 41 precise control points that can monitor any vertical movement of less than 1 millimeter. This project can also be used by campus Facilities to be a prototype for other buildings on campus.

In addition to Aquila and Moiser, many other students participated in the project including Katie Singleton (Portland, OR), Bryan Mayberry (Lotus, CA), Cindy Irvin (Richland, WA), Josh Peach (Medford, OR), Daniel Undell (Bandon, OR), Riley Edwards (Chehalis, WA), Cole Davis (McKinleyville, CA) and Michael Ness (Klamath Falls, OR). Many faculty provided technical support and consultation including Dr. CJ Riley, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering; Jack Walker, PLS, Professor of Geomatics; and Mason Marker, Associate Professor of Geomatics. Mitch Duryea, PLS, Online Education Adjunct, served as faculty advisor for the team and attended the competition with them.

For more information about Oregon Tech’s Geomatics program, visit www.oit.edu/academics/degrees/geomatics.

Geomatics
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