Juliana P. Blackwell has been named the new director of NOAA’s Office of National Geodetic Survey where she will oversee NOAA's responsibilities for the nation's spatial reference system. She is the first woman to head the nation's oldest federal science agency which was established by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807 as the Survey of the Coast. For more information, www.noaa.gov.

Envisors, a civil engineering, planning and surveying firm, announces the expansion of their survey team with the addition of two new professionals: Henry A. Kilburn, P.S.M., Director of Surveying and Sara Decker, Surveying Administrative Assistant. For more information, www.envisors.com.

The Spectra Precision® EPOCH 35 system uses highly accurate Global Positioning System (GPS) and GLONASS technology for cadastral, topographic, control, stakeout and other precision survey applications. for more information, www.spectraprecision.com.

GKS Inspection Services announced it is now offering daily, weekly and monthly rentals of FARO portable measurement equipment for industrial, construction, and forensic applications. For more information, www.laserdesign.com/services/measuring_device_rentals/.

Bentley Systems, Incorporated announces that “The Year in Infrastructure 2008” is available in digital and print versions. This 192-page yearbook highlights the extraordinary work of Bentley users improving the world’s infrastructure and the quality of life for us all. It features descriptions and color illustrations of the more than 250 project nominations recognized and 23 winners honored in the professional and academic portions of the 2008 Be Awards of Excellence competition. New this year are two categories – “Sustaining Our Society” and “Sustaining Our Environment” – that emphasize the world’s ever-increasing sustainability challenges. To view “The Year in Infrastructure 2008” in a digital format, visit www.bentley.com/YearInInfrastructure.

The College of Technology at Ferris State University has changed its name to College of Engineering Technology. The name change reflects the college’s need to remain competitive and more accurately represents the  extensive and applied aspects of the college’s programs and curricula, said Ken Kuk, Welding Engineering Technology professor at Ferris. For more information on the College of Engineering Technology, www.ferris.edu/technology.

Trimble announced it has acquired the FastMap and GeoSite software assets from KOREC, a privately-held Trimble distributor serving the United Kingdom and Ireland. The acquisition, which includes software development, professional services and business development teams, will allow Trimble to expand its Mapping and Geographic Information System (GIS) solutions to provide optimized software and professional services in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Financial terms were not disclosed. For more information, www.korecgroup.com.

Chaos systems AB released its eleventh version of Topocad, CAD software for surveying, mapping and design. For more information, www.chaos.se/eng/products.

Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS) announces the GMS-2 Pro, the new handheld GIS mapping solution with integrated auto-focus digital camera and laser distance meter. The GMS-2 Pro offers an integrated laser distance meter that can be used in conjunction with the internal compass for offset measurements.

The integrated compass offers +/-4 degree accuracy and the laser distance meter offers an accuracy of +/-5 mm m.s.e at a range of 50 meters. The digital camera offers 2 megapixels for sharp images and there is 256MB of Flash memory, and an SD card slot for additional memory options. Digital photos are automatically linked to features simplifying the field to office workflow. For more information, click here.

GeoSpatial Training Services is pleased to announce the availability of a new instructor guided, Internet based Virtual GIS Classroom course entitled "Building Web 2.0 Mapping Applications with ArcGIS Server and Google Maps". For more information, click here.

Kongsberg Maritime and CARIS announced the renewal of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate in delivering ping-to-chart solutions.

Kongsberg Maritime is a leading supplier of acoustic instrumentation for precision seabed mapping and inspection. Correspondingly, CARIS develops software covering the complete workflow from the processing of the acoustic “ping” through to the production and distribution of the “chart”.

The combined offering presents the hydrographic survey market with a complete technological solution with a harmonious, non-disparate workflow.

The scope of the renewed MOU has been broadened. In addition to the Neptune upgrade path Kongsberg Maritime will now be promoting additional CARIS solutions for subsequent bathymetric data management and electronic chart production.
This expanded commitment will enable both parties to appeal to a greater diversity of end-user needs, thus strengthening their market position.

Contact Information:

CARIS
http://www.caris.com/
Sheri Flanagan
506-458-8533
sheri.flanagan@caris.com

Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS) has released a new version of Field Tools for ArcPad®.The new version will support the new GMS-2 Pro receiver and the latest version of ArcPad v7.1.1.

Field Tools for ArcPad allows customers with ESRI’s ArcPad software and ArcPad customizations to take full advantage of their Topcon GPS receiver. With this extension, customers can use the GMS-2 and GMS-2 Pro internal camera, internal compass and internal laser distance meter (GMS-2 Pro only) and have all the convenient GPS configurations in addition to their existing ArcPad functions. For more information, see their website.

Trimble announced today the keynote speakers for its International User Conference—Trimble Dimensions 2009. The conference, which will be held February 23-25, 2009 at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, focuses on applying technology to meet the daily needs faced by surveying, engineering, construction, mapping, Geographic Information System (GIS), geospatial and mobile resource management professionals. For more information, www.trimbleevents.com.

Freeance Mobile™ quickly brings location to enterprise data and maps on BlackBerry® smartphones. Enterprises can now use up-to-date data from their enterprise GIS and back office databases in mobile applications on BlackBerry smartphones that are useful, cost-effective and easy-to-use. For more information, www.freeance.com/mobile.

The Carlson Business Suite (CBS) is a complete business management software solution that will enable its users to act with authority and confidence to win new business, keep the business they have, and to grow their profits, therefore increasing their prosperity. For more information, www.carlsonsw.com/cbs.

Rowe Incorporated acquired the tri-city-area surveying firm owned by Donald R. Burgin, PS, on December 11, 2008. Project Surveyor Burgin will manage the office. This new ROWE location will allow the firm to provide enhanced services to the Saginaw, Bay City, and Midland areas.

Thomas M. Lillesand will be the next Honorary Member of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS). His nomination was approved by the ASPRS Board of Directors at their recent meeting in Denver, Colorado. The highest award an ASPRS member can receive, there are only 25 living Honorary Members of the Society at any given time. Candidates are chosen by a Nominating Committee made up of the past five recipients of the award and chaired by the most recent recipient. Roger Hoffer served as chair of the current committee. For more information, www.asprs.org.

Woolpert announced today that the company has recently purchased the Trimble® FX™ Scanner, a high-performance, 3-D laser-scanning system. This represents the firm’s third terrestrial scanner system acquisition in six years and reflects the growing demand for this service. Designed to accommodate 3-D laser scanning in industrial, shipbuilding and offshore environments where complex infrastructure exists and requires as-builts, the Trimble FX Scanner captures high-fidelity data at 175,000 points per second with scan time performance of five minutes or less. For more information, www.woolpert.com.

The recent terrorist attack in India inspired this article in SparView's newsletter, to read the article, click here.

ERDAS announces new releases of Image Analysis™ for ArcGIS and Stereo Analyst® for ArcGIS, now available for ArcGIS 9.3. In early 2009, ERDAS will add to its offering and launch a suite of extensions that will operate with Stereo Analyst for ArcGIS. These extensions will form a production set of tools aimed at assisted feature collection and terrain editing. For more information, www.erdas.com.

For more information, click here for the GISCafe Article.