Professional Surveyor News Center
| # | News Story |
|---|---|
| 1 | Topcon Provides Assistance for Earthquake
Disaster Relief and Reconstruction Topcon instruments will be used in disaster relief and reconstruction efforts in areas devastated by the Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan province. |
| 2 | SC Society of Professional Land Surveyors Selects Surveyor of the Year |
| 3 | Vexcel Announces Apex Commander Version 7 Enhanced remote-sensing satellite ground station control and monitoring software is released |
| 4 | Sewall Forms Geospatial Solutions (GS) Group to Provide Innovative GIS Products and Services David Levine to Lead New GS Team and Bill Sharp to Drive Product Development |
Topcon Provides Assistance for Earthquake Disaster Relief and Reconstruction
Topcon representatives recently met with officials at the China Earthquake Administration in Beijing to make a donation of instruments and training as well as a monetary donation separately given by Topcon Beijing, the Topcon (Beijing) Tech Co., Ltd and the Beijing Topcon Business and Trade Co., Ltd to the Red Cross Society of China to assist in the aftermath of the May 12 earthquake. Topcon's Steve Hirano, executive officer, said that the donation is also intended to help with earthquake prediction research. Topcon has donated Odyssey-RS GPS+ reference station receivers and CR-G3 (choke ring) triple-constellation antennas.
For more information visit www.topconpositioning.com/news-events/single/item/topcon-provides-assistance-for-earthquake-disaster-relief-and-reconstruction/
SC Society of Professional Land Surveyors Selects Surveyor of the Year
The South Carolina Society of Professional Land Surveyors recently honored Larry T. Beasley, of Myrtle Beach, SC, owner and president of Beasley Land Surveying, by selecting him South Carolina "Surveyor of the Year" for 2008. Mr. Beasley was presented with this honor at the Society's Annual Convention on May 31, 2008 at the Kingston Plantation Resort in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Mr. Beasley began surveying in Charlotte, N.C. in 1968 and has been a registered professional land surveyor in South Carolina since 1983 and is also registered in North Carolina. He has been surveying along the Grand Strand for the past three decades. Mr. Beasley has been a long-standing member of SCSPLS, serving in many positions and as president in 2005-2006 and currently serving as public relations chairman where he organized Career Day at local schools in the Grand Strand area. He has worked hard on the state level and in the local Grand Strand chapter. Larry is also a member of the National Society of Professional Surveyors. Larry and wife Barbara have been married 26 years and have 4 children and 5 grandchildren and are members of Socastee Baptist Church in Myrtle Beach, S.C.. He enjoys bowling, golf, Nascar racing and other sports and bluegrass music.
Vexcel Announces Apex Commander Version 7
Vexcel Corp., a Microsoft company, announced the release of version 7 of its Apex Commander remote-sensing data management system for satellite ground stations. Apex Commander offers fully automated operation and control of a Vexcel Apex ground system within an easy-to-use graphical user interface. More information is available at www.vexcel.com.Sewall Forms Geospatial Solutions (GS) Group to Provide Innovative GIS Products and Services
James W. Sewall Company is pleased to announce the formation of Geospatial Solutions (GS), a new GIS-oriented technology group that will develop and deliver innovative products and services to Sewall clients in government and industry. To lead the GS team and bring to market new offerings, Sewall has hired technology executive David Levine as Vice President, and GIS product development professional Bill Sharp as Product Manager.
As Vice President, Mr. Levine brings to the team over fifteen years’ experience in the technology industry, with the focus on high-performance and open-systems distributed computing. He founded Emergent Game Technologies, a leading provider of video game development tools, rendering engines and networking software for consoles, PC and online games. Mr. Levine served the geospatial sector as Executive Director of the National Technology Transfer Center, where he was responsible for commercializing public sector inventions from such institutions as NASA and the EPA, and is supporting an effort of the West Virginia University Research Corporation to spin out Datacaster, an invention that enables the Geospatial Web, into the private sector. Mr. Levine also has provided management and technology consulting services for organizations such as the World Bank, the Coca-Cola Company and the Times Mirror Corporation (now the Tribune). A graduate of Yale University, Mr. Levine has published and presented extensively. He wrote Live Java: Dataspace to Cyberspace (Harcourt Brace/AP Professional 1996), contributed a chapter to Grid 2: Blueprint for a New Computing Infrastructure (The Elsevier Series in Grid Computing, 2003), and presented a paper at the First International Conference of the World Wide Web at CERN Particle Physics Lab in 1994.
As Product Manager, Bill Sharp has over 20 years’ industry experience with a broad range of geospatial marketing and business development, software project and product management, applications engineering, and technical consulting. At ERDAS, Inc., he managed software development and testing, product marketing, and staff training, supervising the development and release of ERDAS Virtual GIS software. At Research Systems, Inc. (now ITT), he managed full life-cycle software product development and release, advancing the market position of ENVI software by adapting interface and functionality to meet client needs. As an international technical consultant and advisor in Brazil, he directed several geospatial projects, including a satellite mapping project for the World Bank, and the development of a web-based automatic vehicle location (AVL) service. Most recently, Mr. Sharp has been Global Business Development Manager, GeoSAR Services, at Fugro EarthData, Inc., establishing a business partner network for Latin America. He has a BS in Geology and Geophysics from the University of Connecticut.
The new Geospatial Solutions group combines the capabilities of Sewall’s software engineering, natural resource land mapping, GIS analysis and cadastral conversion and maintenance teams. To best serve our clients, Sewall has organized GS into a Systems Team, managed by Gary Mullaney; Project Team, managed by Mary McDonald; Production Team, managed by Aaron Weston; and Product Team, managed by Bill Sharp.
As Director of Systems, Mr. Mullaney will supervise software engineering, web services, database administration and systems integration. With 26 years’ experience at MeadWestvaco, he was the key developer and project leader for the company’s first web-based GIS and related online applications. At Sewall, he has developed information systems for a variety of natural resources, municipal and engineering clients.
Mary McDonald, LPF, will lead the teams of GS technical consultants that manage the direct engagements with Sewall clients. With 22 years’ GIS experience at Sewall, Ms McDonald has managed most of the company’s natural resource GIS and mapping projects, supervising GIS compilation and database development and training and supervising project staff.
As Production Manager, Aaron Weston will manage the development, conversion, and maintenance of geospatial data for the GS team. A certified mapping specialist, Mr. Weston supervises Sewall technical staff on a wide range of GIS projects for municipal and private-sector clients, overseeing digital map compilation, database cross-referencing, parcel updates, and quality control.
Founded in 1880, Sewall is an integrated team of geospatial, engineering and natural resource consultants that partners with clients to create practical, sustainable solutions. The company’s diverse portfolio is based on 100 years\' experience in surveying and engineering; 60 years\' in aerial mapping; and 20 years\' in GIS and software application development. In the last 10 years, Sewall’s offerings have expanded to include web services, software as a service, and a secure geoportal for the collection, distribution, and resale of data.
To obtain more information on Sewall’s Geospatial Solutions, contact: Bill Sharp, Product Manager, at (301) 471-9161; Email: bsharp@sewall
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