Every year the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) celebrates National Surveyors Week, which gives attention to those working in the surveying industry, highlighting their expertise in aiding with development of maps, urban planning, site/civil engineering projects, drone and geospatial analysis, and more.

The week also serves as a learning opportunity for those interested in the surveying profession through the support of STEM education programs across the country. In honor of this year’s National Surveyors Week, our surveyors take a look back on the most rewarding projects of their careers, how the surveying profession has evolved, and offer advice for students interested in the industry.

What has been your most rewarding project as a surveyor?

The most rewarding part of being a surveyor is educating others on the difference of the professional land surveyor (PLS) profession to professional engineers (PE). In New Jersey, there is a clear distinction between the work that a surveyor may perform versus that of an engineer. The understanding of the legal and property hierarchy remains the same, but all too often, non-surveyors will attempt to use GIS or TaxMap information as if it is an acceptable source for determining boundary. Continuing to educate non-surveyors is imperative to successful project delivery, including staff and clients. All projects that I have had the opportunity to work on constituted some level of needed professional knowledge sharing.

My most rewarding project was the Mcmillan Reservoir Clearwater Tank, which is part of the Washington, D.C., aqueduct system. The client needed a volume for the structure. This was achieved by laser scanning the underground space and building a 3D model of it to simulate several fill conditions.

There has been too many to count! Every project we complete as surveyors has its own merits and exciting aspects.

In 17 years, I have been involved in many survey projects. For me, the most rewarding projects are those tied to public needs. For example, after Hurricane Michael in 2018, we were involved in a number of infrastructure repair and rebuild projects to help facilitate the rebuilding of the heavily impacted communities in the Northern Florida Panhandle.

My favorite part of any project is seeing the site evolve with each visit—first, we are there to show existing conditions, next we are there for construction staking, and finally, we do an as-built on completed construction. It is very rewarding and gives me a sense of pride to have a part in the development of each site.

I have so many, but I think the most breathtaking one is the Silver Line for the D.C. Metrorail. It was a very complex project which covered many types of surveying, but it was very fulfilling once it was completed.

I'm not sure that I have a particular project that stands out. I have mostly enjoyed the wide range of projects from houses, subdivisions, roads, cell towers, to supporting mapping underwater aquatic vegetation, lidar collection, water and sewer lines, commercial real estate and buildings, and more. Now that I've surveyed for a while and moved into a management position, I enjoy spending time teaching younger staff, watching them grow and accomplish their goals and develop into awesome surveyors.

How has the surveying profession evolved over the course of your career?

There are a few key thoughts—there have been numerous evolutions of the GEOID models such as hybrid, gravimetric, deflection, etc., that are important to understand and stay current with that impact our GPS values. Advancements in technology for data collection has also evolved, but much of our deliverables to the clients remain the same or are just evolving.

When I started out in the industry, we were moving from computing with calculators and hand drafting to CAD and large format printers. Automated field to finish workflows had become common in the late 1990s.

Technology, including drafting in CAD now instead of by hand, having legal documents available on the internet instead of having to go in person to each county courthouse, and having field instruments with data storage.

The surveying profession has been evolving very rapidly over the past 20 years. The most progression has been in the remote sensing area of surveying. Aerial, mobile, and terrestrial lidar survey methods have become more available and easier to employ.

While I have only been in the profession for a short amount of time (just two years), I can safely say that the industry and market are making a drastic move toward artificial intelligence and remote sensing. I can only guess how much the profession will continue to change in the next few years.

The profession itself has evolved mostly in technology. There are many instruments and software that didn't exist at the time I was in college. Also, there has been more inclusivity over the years.

Some of the biggest changes I've seen have been the implementation of robotic total stations, digital levels, GPS, and drones in surveying. Robotic total stations connect through Bluetooth and track the person with the data collector. This means nobody has to stand behind the instrument and turn it for every shot like they used to. Digital levels now read a survey rod themselves and store all the information internally. GPS now uses more satellites in orbit and can allow us to perform some of our surveying without a total station. We've started to employ drones to perform cut/fill surveys, topographic surveys in the open, and inspection of various items such as hazardous area, roof tops, bridges, etc.

What advice can you provide for students interested in the surveying industry?

I highly recommend connecting with people in the industry at local professional society chapter meetings, the local State Board of Professionals, National Society of Professional Surveyors, International Federation of Surveyors, and the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying. Lastly, I strongly recommend researching the variety of job assignments that people with survey and geomatics degrees are pursuing.

Get good at CAD. This is an often-neglected subject in college. Being able to turn around plans in a time effective manner has served me well in my 25-year career.

Learn cursive. There are so many valuable old handwritten documents that need people to be able to read them.

I would suggest students focus on advancements in technology while also focusing on the traditional survey procedures and practices to gain a better understanding of how to couple the two together.

Surveying is the best of many worlds—we get to work outdoors, work in CAD, and see a project from the very beginning to the end. Working while going to school is not easy, but it is certainly rewarding.

Keep pursuing it and if possible, go to college to get the full degree because it is worth it. The path of this profession is not easy, but it's amazing to see the things you get to do as a surveyor and things you would get involved in.

If you enjoy math, history, and working outside, the profession is for you. Spend the time to pursue licensure since the average age of a surveyor is close to 55-60 years old.