Profiles

Undergraduate

Adrian Corvino: "After my first year of Geomatics I developed a passion for Geology and decided to combine this with my Geomatics degree. The two courses went hand in hand; one teaching me about the earth itself and the other all about the way we measure, describe, define and model it. I found the opportunities for working on meaningful projects and in varied locations most rewarding, and this fuelled my enthusiasm towards the course. My current research concerns studying the dynamics of ice-masses in Antarctica. This has included two field seasons working on a remote polar glacier, incorporating skills in GPS surveying, establishing survey networks, remote sensing, data processing, geological mapping and team-work."

Master of Applied Science in GIS (coursework)

Fawad Saeed: "I was attracted to the University of Melbourne by the excellence of the academic and research staff in the Engineering Faculty. I am very excited by the prospect of getting a degree from a university with a very proud history of engineering contribution to Victorian and Australian people.

After spending just one semester, not only have I understood the subject of GIS, but I am also in a position to guide others. I am tutoring one of the core subjects of Masters of Applied Science (GIS). In this way I am not only enjoying a student's life but also getting valuable experience as a demonstrator as well which is making me more confident.

The most important qualities that the Department of Geomatics offers students is:

• commitment to high quality teaching
• opportunities for research in direct applications and applied fields
• keeping up with the latest trends and technologies in the Geomatics field
• vast educational resources, collection of latest books and research journals and subscription to most of the available electronic resources

Melbourne Uni is an immense learning experience. Meeting students with diverse cultural backgrounds and studying in a sociable and responsive atmosphere provided by the academic staff makes me feel part of a large scholarly family.

Go for it – you will not regret it!"

Master of Geomatic Information Technology

Sofia Alexiadou: "I am currently studying Masters of GeoIT in the Department of Geomatics. I completed a bachelor degree of Land Surveying in Athens, Greece. My dream was to come to Australia and study in one of the best universities and that was my motivation to choose the University of Melbourne.

I have gained various important skills and opportunities while studying here. The range of activities, incentives, and challenges that the University of Melbourne provides to international students, has helped me not only to enhance my knowledge in GIS but also in other relevant fields. At the same time the opportunity to communicate with people from various cultural backgrounds is something that I've enjoyed very much at the University of Melbourne."

Master of Applied Science in GIS (coursework)

Susika Murdhayanti, from Indonesia, is completing a Master of Applied Science in GIS (by coursework). She was attracted to the University of Melbourne by it's reputation, resources and by the range of support and activities for international students. She looks forward to taking the knowledge and experience gained in Geomatics back to her workplace in Indonesia.

PhD

Stephen Scott-Young is undertaking a PhD in the Department of Geomatics at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He completed a Bachelor of Geomatic Engineering (with Honours) and a Bachelor of Science in 2000. In 2001 he received 2 nd prize in the BMW Scientific Award and in 2004 was a finalist in the Young Inventors Awards. His research interests include integrated systems, global navigation satellite systems, inertial navigation, and three-dimensional visualisation. The Intelligent Augmented Reality Driver Assistance ( i ARDA) system was developed as part of his research and combines all of these research fields to enable automobile drivers to 'see' the road and surrounding vehicles despite poor visibility conditions (such as rain, snow, fog and darkness).

MAppSc (GIS)

After graduation from the MAppSc (GIS) program in 2000, Scott Selkirk begun consulting and contracting in GIS. His clients came from diverse industries such as natural resource management, archaeology, indigenous affairs, consultation, agriculture, telecommunications and utilities.

He has worked for both public and private interests within Australia and abroad using both the ESRI and Smallworld product suites. In 2003 he accepted a fulltime position at AGL as their Smallworld developer and has had the opportunity to take on Project Management and Business Analyst roles.

In 2004 he was instrumental in helping AGL win the GITA Excellence Award.

Graduate Diploma in Geographic Information Systems

Sabine Glissman-Gough is a recent graduate of Geomatics. Her original degree was in Landscape Planning.

Sabine became involved in the production of the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne's (RBGM) Masterplan when she graduated from the University of Melbourne. Her role in the Gardens was later focussed on developing and implementing an integrated GIS/ GPS to be able to deal with the complex data requirements of this 150 year old heritage landscape. In the course of the Masterplan implementation she visualised change in the landscape using digital technologies and has trained staff in the use of the systems she has set up.

In 2003 the University of Melbourne and the Royal Botanic Gardens (Melbourne) were successful in obtaining a research grant from the Australian Research Council titled: Virtual Environments & Autonomous Agents for Urban Parks and Garden Management, which will use the abundant data of the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne.

PhD

Although born and bred in Melbourne, a taste for challenges has set Kate Dalrymple up for a number of overseas experiences. During her undergraduate studies in combined Bachelor of Geomatics Engineering and Arts (Geography) degrees, Kate took part in a China field study trip and an exchange program to Canada. Upon graduation Kate continued with her studies, undertaking a PhD in Land Administration. Her most recent research adventures took her to Cambodia for 4 months investigating land and natural resource dependencies of rural Cambodian life.

Information Technology Officer

Richelle Pearson's interest in maps and her desire to work outdoors brought her into Geomatic Engineering. Richelle has a keen interest in travel and participated in the student exchange program to Denmark. She has also worked with a multi-disciplined team in England mapping and modelling the damage caused by hurricanes, floods and earthquakes for insurance purposes. Richelle has lived & worked in Paris for UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

Internet Software Developer

Sam Majid joined the Department of Geomatics in 1996, intrigued by the wide range of courses offered and the mixture of IT and geomatics skills offered. Sam graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Geomatic Engineering in 1998 and a Masters in Geomatic Engineering in 2000 and is currently employed in Geomatic Technologies. He specialises in designing and developing enterprise spatial applications for power utilities and telecommunication companies on the web and mobile platforms.

GIS/Archaeology

Melissa Johnson recently completed a Masters in GIS, combining her two loves of rock art and GIS by investigating ways to spatially analyse rock art sites with GIS applications. Her study site was concentrated at Euriowie, north of Broken Hill, in western New South Wales. Melissa has worked previously on recording rock art sites including those at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (Ayers Rock). She now works as a GIS consultant in both natural and cultural heritage.

"I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent at the Department of Geomatics where I obtained a number of important skills that I continue to use today, as both a GIS operator and an archaeologist. As part of the experience I also formed some lasting relationships with some of my fellow students and staff members, many who I am still close to."

IT/Management Consultant

Karen Urquhart chose to study Geomatics to combine her interests in Geography and technology. Karen found the IT, computer programming and professional development courses essential for success in her current job at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. With 11 weeks of training in Florida, USA, soon after graduating, and further opportunities for interstate and overseas travel, Karen found that there are many perks to doing a Geomatics degree.

Project Manager

John Cazanis graduated from the Department of Geomatics in 1992. He then moved to Singapore to work as a Hydrographic Surveyor, working on a range of offshore exploration, construction and reclamation projects. These projects took him to remote regions of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. John now works as a project manager with Sinclair Knight Merz on a range of data capture and data integration projects. These projects are primarily based on the customisation of Geographic Information Systems and database technologies.

Master of Applied Science in GIS

Rodrigo Onederra, originally from Santiago de Chile, is undertaking a Masters by Research. He completed a Bachelor in Geomatics at the University of Melbourne in 1996. He worked for Schlumberger Oilfield Services from 1997 to 2002 as Positioning Engineer in West Africa, Northern Europe, South East Asia and Australia. His research interests are Geodesy and GPS, precise offshore positioning, with special interest in Real-time Integrity Monitoring for GPS-RTK positioning and navigation.

PhD

Andreia Siqueira is originally from Arroio Grande, a small town located in the South of Brazil. Currently she is working with land use change and bushfire in a key study situated in the Brazilian Amazon Forest. Her research involves geographic information systems, remote sensing and modelling techniques. She has an undergraduate degree in meteorology and a masters in micrometeorology.

Licensed Surveyor

Gabrielle McCarthy is a Licensed Surveyor with over eight years experience in private practice. She graduated from the Department in 1994.

Her current role within the multidisciplined company Coomes Consulting Group is that of a Project Manager/Senior Surveyor.

She is involved in business planning, liasing with clients, consultants and government bodies on a daily basis, as well as coordinating project requirements. Gabrielle actively partakes in fieldwork and enjoys training other staff, particularly in cadastral surveying.

PhD

Roger Fraser, a Licensed Surveyor with Natural Resources and Mines, Queensland, is a PhD student looking at the issues of uncertainty in the delimitation and positioning of maritime boundaries. His research involves maritime law, error computation and analysis, algorithm development, global navigation satellite systems (gnss), location based services and web services implementation.

Roger graduated from USQ with a Bachelor of Surveying and Bachelor of Technology in GIS, and has particular interests in geodesy, gnss and software development.

Postgraduate Research Scholar

By her second year in Geomatics, Jessica Smith was involved in projects to reconstruct a model of the ancient Thai city of Ayuthaya, map rural Thai villages and working with UNESCO to map an ancient Khmer site in Laos. Jess's opportunities for further travel continued into her third year where she participated in the student exchange program to Denmark. "I won't even pretend to know where I will end up or what will happen along the way. What I do know is that the encouragement, support, challenges and opportunities which result from being a member of the Department of Geomatics are great and extremely rewarding."

Land Use Technical Advisor, Cambodia

Clare Brazenor: "I have a two year placement, through Australian Volunteers International, working in the Land Use Planning Unite (LUPU) of the Battambang Provincial Department for Rural Development, Cambodia. LUPU facilitates mine clearance, assists with the planning of departmental projects and identifies targeted beneficiaries for land allocation.

My role is focused on mapping, GIS and data requirements for land use planning. GIS provides the opportunity for flexible land use planning and the mapping of land allocation, which reduces land disputes and land grabbing. Most of my time is spent training the LUPU staff members in GPS data collection, GIS and database management and cartography. The wide range of skills and broad knowledge base obtained during my fours years as an undergraduate in the Bachelor of Geomatics has served me well here in Cambodia."

GIS Project Officer

"Whilst holidaying in Crete I visited the ancient Minoan Palace at Knosos, where I discovered many surveying points on the site ... it was then I first realised the connection between surveying and archeology." During her undergraduate studies Lefki Pavlidis participated in an archeological excavation in Syria. She has recently finished a unique Masters research project which combined Archeology and Geomatics. It involved regular field visits to Greece and the use of high resolution satellite imagery to detect ancient roads on the island of Crete. She now works for the Office of the Valuer Generals, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, as a GIS Project Officer. One of her main tasks is to map property valuations for each municipality in Victoria using GIS.

Software Developer

Charles Lee is a Civil Engineer working with the Highways Department in Hong Kong. "Geomatics was a great experience as I have been incredibly well equipped for my new job providing computer services for geographic information systems projects. It's a really new and challenging job for me. It was great learning in Melbourne, meeting students with diverse cultural backgrounds and learning in a friendly atmosphere provided by the academic staff in Geomatics."

IT/Spatial Analyst

"Just do it. Geomatics lends itself to great job opportunities and diversification."

Phil Burton is currently responsible for the management of corporate spatial data and the investigation of new IT technologies to add value to SAWater business processes. Having originally enrolled in Geomatics with an interest in Surveying, Phil discovered that Geomatics offered a number of career choices which enabled him to diversify in later years and upon graduation.