October 2009

Ninth Annual TAMU-CC Undergraduate Research Symposium

Congratulations to Travis Wachtstetter and Derek Snoga who took 5th place out of eighteen posters that were presented at the undergraduate research symposium. Their poster covered the research of determining the highest peaks in Texas.

• Determination of Texas' Highest Peaks Poster

TSPS Annual Conference

The Texas Society of Professional Surveyors (TSPS) held their annual Conference in Austin, Texas late October. Many GISc students attended as volunteers. They manned the booth supporting and promoting Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi's GISc program and helped the TSPS booth(s). TSPS helps provides scholarships to several students in the GISc program each year and is a professional organization for surveyors in Texas. Visit TSPS.org

Geo-Intelligence Conference (GeoINT)

Two GISc students, Joe Califa (UG) and Heather McColgan (UG), alongside Dr. Stacey Lyle (faculty) attended the annual GEOINT Symposium in San Antonio, Texas. The annual GEOINT Symposium is the nation’s premier intelligence event. It offers a wealth of quality information, cutting-edge technologies, and top-notch activities. They were able to network with top Geo-Intelligence officials and workers, see the newest programs & technologies, and learn about possible internships in the geospatial field.

Student's Article Published

• Travis Wachtstetter's article -Published in the September 2009 issue of Texas Surveyor

FOSS4G Conference in Sydney, Austrailia

Dr. Stacey D. Lyle (faculty) and Dr. Gary A. Jeffress (faculty) have a established a paper to be presented at the Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) international conference in Syndey, Australia. The conference is from Tuesday 20 - Friday 23 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Center. The conference will hold "insightful and honest presentations from the worlds best in the Geospatial field...[and] interactive and hands-on walk throughs of Geospatial Open Source Software.." See: FOSS4G.Org for more information.

August 2009

August Commencement

Congratulations to the recent graduates! The GIS & GSEN programs had one Bachelors of Science and three Masters of Science graduates walk across the stage on Saturday, August 8th. Our own Dr. Gary Jeffress delivered the commencement speech. Visit the GISc Alumni page to see the newest alumni!

To view the speech Dr. Gary Jeffress delivered:

• Adobe Acrobat PDF format, click here (.pdf).
• If you would rather hear it in the text-to-speech version, click here (.mp3).
• (c) [2009] [Dr. Gary Jeffress], All rights reserved.

Mini-Courses Website

The new Mini-Courses Website was finalized and presented to NGA on August 5th. This website will introduce high school students to the geospatial industry by covering subjects such as: Remote Sensing, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Real-Time Mapping and GIS, and Geospatial Systems Engineering. Students will be tested after each section and have the chance to earn a GeoIntix certificate by passing the certificate quiz that covers all sections of the course. The Mini-Courses website is now available to the public and a link can be found in the side bar menu on the GISc homepage.

• Students who worked on the website: Lindsay McDonald (G), Lauren Weatherly (G), Zavier Williams (UG), Dionne Bryant (UG), and Heather McColgan (UG).

July 2009

Student's Article Published

• Jeremy Mecom's article -Published in the Island Moon Newspaper on Friday July 24, 2009.

ESRI Conference in San Diego, CA

Thomas Davis (UG), Lauren Weatherly (G), Seneca Holland (staff), and Rick Smith (faculty) attended the ESRI International Users Conference. They attended technical workshops and networked with fellow GIS software users. The attendees from Texas A&M-CC spent nearly a week exploring GIS software applications and paper workshops in sunny San Diego. It was not all work, and no play; however, a party was given on the final day of the conference.

GATE Camp

Thomas Davis (UG), Lauren Weatherly (G), Rick Smith (faculty), and Dr. Stacey Lyle (faculty) taught a day of the Governor's Academy for Excellence in Teaching (GATE) camp. GATE camp kids are high school juniors and seniors from all over the state who excel in the science and math fields and are considering becoming teachers. The students were on campus for a total of three weeks, taking various science and math subjects. At the end of their three weeks, they help teach classes for younger kids. The students of GATE camp got a whole day of GIS and Computer Science knowledge and experience. Thomas led "Geocaching," which is a GPS treasure hunt. Lauren and Dr. Lyle led "Building a Website," which the students put together their own pmWiki webpages. And, Rick led "Computer Hardware" in which the kids learned how to disassemble and reassemble a computer, as well as basic computer-related math.

June 2009

Summer Camp

CBI research assistants, Thomas Davis (UG) and Lauren Weatherly (G), introduced two days of GIS subject matter to a summer camp for high school students. The summer camp exposes the attendees to many different career fields. The camp was hosted at both TAMUCC and Del Mar College. The geochaching course was taught by Thomas, who is an incoming freshman and former summer camp attendee.

NASA Stennis Space Center Emergency Operation Center opens with CBI Software

NASA Stennis Space Center opened a new Emergency Operation Center that featured MapAdapt WMS software with the Mississippi Governor Haley Barour on June 2, 2009. Dr. Stacey D. Lyle, Associate Professor and Rick Smith, Research Scientist at CBI were invited to the opening, which demonstrated their real-time GIS software.

May 2009

NASA New Technology Developed at CBI

Dr. Stacey D. Lyle's research was featured as new technology released by NASA.

Texas Highest Peaks Survey

For Memorial Day weekend a group of 14 undergraduate students, one graduate, and Dr. Lyle(faculty) set out to survey the highest peaks of Texas. GISSO, CBI, and TSPS provided funding for the trip. The project was coordinated with the National Park Service and the National Geodetic Survey, to start the process of establishing these heights using new Altus GPS equipment. The location of the primary survey would be the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, located in west Texas on the border of Texas and New Mexico. This National Park is home to eight of the ten suspected peaks; Guadalupe Peak, (the highest point in Texas), Bush Mountain, Shumard Peak, Bartlett Peak, Hunter Peak, Mount Pratt, Blue Ridge, and El Capitan. There were four groups, with three members per group. Each group was assigned two mountains to hike up and collect data. More Pictures from the trip.

UPDATE-- Articles published from the undergraduate students:

• Jeremy Mecom's article -Published in the Island Moon Newspaper on Friday July 24, 2009.
• Travis Wachtstetter's article -Published in the September 2009 issue ofTexas Surveyor

May Commencement

Congratulations! The GIS program had five Bachelors of Science graduates. Visit the GISc Alumni page to see the updates. We expect more graduates after the summer term(s) are completed.

UG = Undergraduate Student
G = Graduate Student