GIS Day 2009

Carleton University

Shawn Melamed – Application Specialist/QA at PCI Geomatics

On November 18th I represented PCI Geomatics at Carleton University’s 2009 GIS Day event. I was joined by a diverse group of vendors, representing many different facets of the geospatial industry. The focal point of the day, however, belonged to Atlas Canada when they announced the release of their newly updated 1:4,000,000 scale reference map of Canada. The very first commercial copy of this map was presented to Carleton University in a brief ceremony covered by CBC.

Other peripheral activities included: A geo-caching treasure hunt, a student mapping contest and a job fair. Students and exhibitors learned about each other’s GIS endeavors through the Exhibitor Trade Show, which provided an open and casual forum for students to speak with GIS professionals and learn about real-world applications and career opportunities.

The PCI Geomatics booth was frequently surrounded by interested students from Carleton University and a local high school. The curiosity of the high school groups centered on learning the basic uses of remote sensing and how it impacts the real-world. Students from Carleton were interested in better understanding about how PCI and companies alike leverage the skills and knowledge of trained geospatial professionals.

Carleton did an exceptional job hosting GIS Day and we look forward to attending it next year!

University of Ottawa

Doug Stiff - Application Specialist at PCI Geomatics

This year PCI Geomatics attended GIS day at the University of Ottawa. We were pleased to be invited and got the feeling that the day is not just for GIS anymore, but is beginning to encompass the entire field of Geomatics. The vendor and professionals booths were split about 50/50 with GIS and Remote Sensing each having a strong showing.

The day was a lot of fun as we got to meet both faculty and students that have been using Geomatica and discuss with them some of the new features that we have implemented. The Introductory and Advanced Geomatics classes at the university had the opportunity to present some of their posters and it was nice to see the variety of work that was being done with the use of Geomatica 10.

Of particular interest to both university and high school students was the Career Panel Discussion with GIS representatives including Kevin Jones, Director of Marketing and Product Management from PCI Geomatics.

We look forward to taking part in GIS day next year to interact with students and get them excited about Remote Sensing!

To view photos and videos from the University of Ottawa, please visit www.gisday.uottawa.ca/photos.html