GEOMATICS IS THE HEARTBEAT OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION
This is the study of the sciences and technologies related to gathering information about an object at a distance.
This may range from cell phone cameras that create imagery of a scene by capturing visible light, to complicated sensors mounted on satellites which can detect unhealthy vegetation and the formation of weather systems.
Remote sensing systems interpret the energy that reaches their sensors, after it has been reflected by objects. This energy can come from external sources such as the Sun, or from the system itself such as in a RADAR (remote sensing by radio waves), LIDAR (remote sensing by beams of light), or SONAR (remote sensing by sound waves).
Remote sensing is found in nature in animals such as bats and dolphins, which both use SONAR to detect objects by the interpretation of their sound echoes.
Overlapping with the field of remote sensing, photogrammetry is the science of making measurements from photographs.
Basic applications may see object size and distance from a camera being determined by a single image, while advanced methods use many overlapping photographs and reference points to digitally recreate scenes in a matter of seconds.
Photogrammetry is commonly used in aerial surveying, to create three-dimensional models of the Earth from airplanes and drones. Further applications can be found in virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence algorithms, and more.
Although not widely known, this field of study brings benefit to many important industries including entertainment and video games, construction, city planning, and the military.
In the context of Geomatics, this is the field of study that allows for machines to be programmed with the ability to make decisions on their own.
Multiple layers of decision criteria combined with a large source of input data provide the basis for machine learning.
One such example of machine learning would be a program that can learn to identify the emotions an individual is experiencing based on their posture and expressions. This has the potential to be many times more accurate than having a human decide, as with a large enough "training" dataset the computer can learn to identify and make connections between otherwise undetectable patterns.
Artificial intelligence can be applied alongside other core Geomatics principles to produce the software necessary for technologies like automated drones, self-driving vehicles, and advanced military technology such as self-guided missiles.
This refers to a field which brings together diverse disciplines such as software development, artificial intelligence, remote sensing, and photogrammetry, in order to derive information from raw data.
The effect is to give technology the ability to conduct and improve on tasks humans typically do with their eyes, with as little interaction as possible.
One application is to supplement and replace menial and repetitive jobs, improving accuracy and freeing up people to spend their time on more productive tasks.
As technological development advances in other areas, new applications continue to arise such as automated robots which can detect cracks and defects in roads and other structures, those that can act as driverless vehicles, and those that can efficiently clean the floors of a house.
With applications in the civilian, industrial, governmental, and military spheres, there is endless potential for growth here.
At the core of interacting with computers, programming consists of creating, debugging, and compiling software in a particular coding "language", for any desired purpose.
MATLAB and Python provide built-in and relatively simple tools for data analysis, visualization, and machine learning while other object-oriented languages such as C++ and Javascript have their benefits in their interoperability, efficiency, and standardized use across industries.
Programs created can be compiled in a variety of ways, ranging from one-click executable file geneation to integrated HTML-Javascript-CSS webservers.
From complicated scripts providing unmanned ships and submarines with intelligence, to basic scripts designed to remove duplicate photos from a computer, any tangible problem can be solved with some code and the correct hardware.
The recent focus of Geomatics engineers on the integration and innovation of modern technologies to conduct positioning and navigation around the Earth started with manual land surveying.
A large branch of Geomatics still focuses on the methods and technologies involved in gathering spatial information from the Earth via traditional surveying methods. This is needed as modern methods such as aerial surveying cannot reach the accuracy needed for legal surveys such as those for residential areas and construction sites.
EDM devices use a form of laser to measure distance between points, and GPS systems are able to find precise location on the Earth under the right conditions.
By making use of "robotic" surveying stations with integrated GPS, entire surveys can quickly be done by a single individual, and laser scanning systems can be used to form dense three-dimensional models of the surrounding terrain.
Least squares, which is a form of advanced calculus, is a very powerful tool which can be used in any context in which more measurements are present than are needed to solve for a number of unknown values.
A mathematical model is first created to represent a known problem. After the appropriate processing steps are taken, the least squares algorithm finds the solution that minimizes the sum of the squares of the errors, effectively discovering the optimum solution to said system.
Systems can be solved where the unknown values are not known or where approximate estimates are available, and their mathematical representations can range from linear up to polynomials of any degree.
The types of systems that can be solved using least squares range from finding the true length of a wall by measuring it five times, to deriving the exact location of an airplane in the sky without GPS by using overlapping photographs.
Balancing out the technical aspects of engineering, a healthy focus on project management and business practices was taught and practiced through a variety of engineering projects.
An integral part of most working environments consists of acquiring, planning, and executing various projects of different size and format. Regardless of specifics, it is crucial that every business have individuals capable of managing ongoing projects and facilitating their success.
Agile and linear project management were not only learned but put into practice in semester-long and year-long projects incorporating product design cycle and marketing mix.
Presentation and communication skills were obtained, providing soft skills crucial towards becoming and succeeding in the role as a professional engineer (P.Eng) and in a managerial role at a company.