In the Rearview Mirror…


The July Chapter meeting was attended by 30 members and guests. The program speaker was TSPS Director Michael Evans who led a discussion on the recently completed legislative session, and his take on the current affairs of TSPS.


National Trig-Star Committee Selects Winners of the Richard E. Lomax National Trig-Star and Teaching Excellence Awards…5th Place Winner from Flower Mound High School
Submitted by John Pierce, Chapter 5 Education Committee Chairman

The National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2011 Richard E. Lomax National Trig-Star Awards. The Trig-Star committee met on July 8, 2011 to determine the three top high school students from the national examinations submitted by state winners. This year there were thirty-two state winners submitted. A past president of NSPS, Richard Lomax was the driving force behind the elevation of the local Trig-Star program to the national level. In October 1994, Board action named this high school trigonometry skill award in his honor.

The Richard E. Lomax National Trig-Star Awards are as follows:
First Place: Roberto J. Perez Santiago, Juan Quirindongo Morell High School, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico
Second Place: Yan Li, Rantoul Township High School, Rantoul, Illinois
Third Place: Sean Phenisee, Graham Kapowsin High School, Graham, Washington

The Richard E. Lomax National Teaching Excellence Awards are as follows:
First Place: Josiel Rosado Tirado, Juan Quirindongo Morell High School, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico
Second Place: Brad Heller, Rantoul Township High School, Rantoul, Illinois
Third Place: David Anderson, Graham Kapowsin High School, Graham, Washington.

The first place student receives $2,000, second place student receives $1,000, and third place student receives $500. The first place teacher receives $1,000, second place teacher receives $500, and third place teacher receives $250. The Trig-Star Policy states that “the National Student and Teacher Awards be given to the winning students at or before the next state professional land surveying organization conference of the student’s home state.”

The following is a list of the remaining State Winners in the order of finish: David Brann, Maine; Richard Wang, Texas; Laura Vonessen, Montana; Gregory Partridge, New Hampshire; Simon Ewing, Oregon; Samson Bauer, South Dakota; Forrest Csuy, Maryland; Travis Le, Hawaii; Bob Chen, Iowa; R.J. Clark, Kansas; Leon Wehrhan, Idaho; Whitney Shuman, Georgia; Victoria Bourgeois, Louisiana; William Gooding, Virginia; Joshua Peach, Ohio; Michael Drake, Michigan; Joseph Choi, Colorado; Adrian Devitt-Lee, California; Grant Yost, Tennessee; Charles R. Renner, Alaska; Sean David Moran, Pennsylvania; Christopher Zhang, New Jersey; Paul Otto, Wisconsin; Katelyn Gonterman, Wyoming; Jun Shinohara, Utah; Justin W. Thompson, Indiana; Paige dePolo, Nevada; Nick Erdman, Minnesota; Cara Dabney, Missouri.

The Richard E. Lomax National Trig-Star and Teaching Excellence Awards are a few of several annual NSPS awards. For more information about the NSPS awards and scholarship programs, please contact NSPS, 6 Montgomery Village Avenue, Suite #403, Gaithersburg, MD 20879, (240) 632-9716 ext. 105, e-mail: Trisha Milburn at trisha.milburn@acsm.net or visit the NSPS web site at www.nspsmo.org.

JAMIE GILLIS JOINS GEOMATIC RESOURCES Irving, Texas – February 9, 2011 – for immediate release Jamie Gillis, RPLS, PLS has joined Geomatic Resources LLC as a Technical Support Specialist based at Geomatic’s Solutions Center located adjacent to the DFW Airport in Irving. He will provide technical support for Leica Geosystems GPS, Robotics, Total Stations, and Data Collection to Land Surveying Professionals in North Texas and Oklahoma.

Jamie brings a strong background in the surveying industry, and his high level of professionalism and survey knowledge to the Geomatic Resources team. His experience covers a wide range of surveying duties. His background includes serving as Instrument Man, Survey Assistant, Party Chief, Offshore Survey Technician, Project manager, and Professional Land Surveyor. His early surveying experience includes performing numerous field assignments in Nova Scotia, Canada. Recently, he has served as RPLS/ Project Manager for a number of natural gas gathering pipeline projects, oil & gas lease and location surveys, boundary, topographic, and hydrographic surveys and has been involved with offshore positioning and metrology, monitoring & logging surface & sub-surface positioning data in the Gulf of Mexico. Jamie is a Registered Professional Land Surveyor in Texas and Louisiana, and is very active in the Texas Society of Professional Surveyors and the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping. He holds a PBC in Geographic Information Sciences from Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi. He also received a BA in History and Political Science from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. “Jamie will be taking on the key role of supporting our existing customer base on all survey products and will be helping with our ongoing sales efforts. We hope you share our excitement in adding such a well respected and knowledgeable person to our staff. Please join us in welcoming Jamie Gillis to Geomatic Resources” says Rodney Walsh, President of Geomatic Resources LLC. Jamie can be reached via email at jg@geotx.com About Geomatic Resources Geomatic Resources LLC is one of the largest independent distributors of Leica Geosystems products in the United States, serving North Texas and Oklahoma from a sales, rental, service, support and training center adjacent to the DFW airport in Irving, Texas. Geomatic provides Surveying Professionals with state of the art GPS, Robotic, Total Station, Digital Level, Machine Control and HDS Laser Scanning solutions as well as a full range of Supplies and Accessories. For more information about Geomatic Resources visit www.geotx.com, email rw@geotx.com, or call 1-817-691-5328.

  On the Horizon ...



August Chapter Meeting*** NEW DATE TO ACCOMMODATE SPECIAL GUESTS– Chapter 5 members are in for a treat for the Thursday August 11 meeting at Cantina Laredo Restaurant on Lovers Lane in Dallas. Walt Robillard and Garey Gilley are scheduled to be our program speakers, as Mr. Robillard will present an autobiographical look back on his 65 years in the surveying profession. Come early to get a seat, enjoy some great food and comraderie, and hear one of the old masters take a walk down memory lane. NOTE THE MEETING IS ON A THURSDAY EVENING, NOT THE USUAL TUESDAY. Dinner 6-7pm (off menu), Program 7-8pm.

The next TBPLS Board Meeting is scheduled for Friday September 16 in Austin, and 4 CEUs are awarded to attendees. See their website for meeting location and agenda information. (www.txls.state.tx.us).

TSPS Strategic Planning & 3rdQuarter Board Meeting August 26 & 27 – This year Strategic Planning will take place on Friday August 26 at the Waco Hilton Hotel. This is where incoming state President Davey Edwards will layout his plan for the coming year, as well as gather input from members and Committees. Committee activity will occur on Saturday morning before the Quarterly Board Meeting, which should commence following lunch. Please make an attempt to attend and participate, as the strength of any organization is only as strong as its members.

Fall Semester North Lake College Survey Courses – Registration Now Open
Five college credit survey courses will be offered during the Fall semester at North Lake College, and registration is now open. The classes are held at either the West campus (Irving, near the north end of DFW Airport) or the South campus (south Irving, MacArthur Blvd. @ Shady Grove Road). Chapter 5 provides scholarship opportunities for any student who works for a TSPS member of either Chapter 5 or Chapter 2. Additional scholarship monies may be available through other sources such as the Texas Surveyors Foundation, Inc. (TSFI). Click here for a list and description of the courses, and the Scholarship applications. It is important that the local survey community support this program, and encourage their employees to enroll. With recent educational budget cuts from the legislature, this program will face increased scrutiny if the program does not sustain itself. Over the past 5 years there have been several recently certified SIT’s and RPLS’s that have used these courses to satisfy college credit requirements of the TBPLS.

2011 TSPS Annual Convention & Exhibits October 5-8
Don’t forget, this year Chapter 5 is co-hosting the Convention with Chapter 2. The site will be the Frisco Stonebriar Embassy Suites, next to the Dr. Pepper stadium. Mike Bearden is the Convention Committee Chairman, and has been busy with securing seminar presenters, sponsors, and all the other details that come with this event. There will be a need to get volunteers to assist with all the little details, so please help Mike and his Committee by offering to assist. It makes the event a great success. Contact Mike Bearden at (972) 400-1689.

Chapter Elections....time to VOTE
The Chapter Nominating Committee has prepared a ballot and has distributed it to the members. Do your part and take a couple of minutes to vote and submit your ballot. We have some great nominees that all will offer fresh ideas. Results will be tabulated and certified prior to Officer Installation at the September 13 Meeting. Also, if you are interested in working on one or more of the Chapter committees, currently or down the road, there is always a place for volunteers. Remember, any volunteer organization will only be as strong as its members. Help keep Chapter 5 as a leader in our state organization.

Chapter 5 Membership…Recruit a Member!
There are currently 140 members of Chapter 5. TSPS encourages all Chapters to work at increasing the membership. Encourage your co-workers, staff, and colleagues to consider joining TSPS. With the current possible legislative action related to the TBPLS, strength in numbers will be critical when we want a strong and united voice heard. If all members would recruit one other member, Chapter 5 would double in size. Paul Mannel is the Chapter 5 Membership Chairman, contact him or any other Chapter Officer for information or guidance.

Newsletter Contributions
If you would like to offer an article or share some news or information, you are more than welcome to do so. The Newsletter is a service to Chapter 5 members, and your contributions are encouraged. Whether it is a technical offering, a historical article, or just a neat photo or link that might be of interest to our members, please forward it for inclusion so that all may enjoy.

Chapter Officers for 2010-2011
The Executive Committee for Chapter 5 for 2010-2011 is as follows:

Jerry Lehew, RPLS	President
Jason Jernigan, RPLS	1st Vice President
Paul Mannel, RPLS	2nd Vice President
John Pierce, RPLS	Secretary/Treasurer
Fred Bemenderfer, RPLS	1 year Director
Colin Henry, RPLS	1 year Director
John Melton, RPLS	2 year Director
Richard Ortiz	2 year Director
Raul Wong, Jr., PE, RPLS	Past President
Chris Freeman, RPLS	Chapter Representative

Chapter 5 Committee Chairs 2010-11

Education	John Pierce
--SkillsUSA	Richard Ortiz
Convention Planning	Mike Bearden
Membership	Paul Mannel
Programs	Jason Jernigan
Golf Tournament	Sean Flaherty
Day at Lone Star Park	Robert Schneeberg
Nominating	Raul Wong, Jr.
Public Relations	Chris Freeman

 

Safety First…..Make it a Priority

Click here for links to various Safety websites that might be helpful to your firm and staff.
 

UPCOMING 2011 MEETINGS & SPECIAL EVENTS SCHEDULE

2011 Monthly Meeting Dates (speakers/programs)

August 11 – Walt Robillard and Garey Gilley are our Speakers
September 13 – Installation of New Officers by Davey Edwards
October 5-8 – Annual Convention in Frisco @ Stonebriar Embassy Suites
November 8 – Scott Holt, RPLS, and John Cantrell, RPLS from the City of Dallas will discuss survey related information
December – No Meeting due to Holidays


2011 Special Events

Annual Convention & Exhibits –co-hosted by Ch. 5 & 2 Oct. 5-8 in Frisco

Monthly Chapter 5 Meetings are held at:

Cantina LAREDO Restaurant
165 Inwood Village, Dallas, TX 75209
(Southeast Corner of Inwood & Lover’s Lane, next to Inwood Theater)
Phone: 214/350-5227     www.cantinalaredo.com
Social/Dinner Time: 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm (order from the menu)
Chapter Meeting: Business @ 7:00 pm, Program @ 7:30 on 2nd Tuesday

Thanks to the following Full-Page Ad subscribers:
Midwest A&E, Geomatic Resources, Courthouse Research Specialists, WDS, and GeoShack.
Be sure to support our friends at these firms, they support us!!

And thanks to the following firms for their contributions to the Chapter by placing a Business card in the Newsletter:

The Wallace Group, Dunaway & Associates, R Delta Engineers, Winkelmann & Associates, Di Sciullo & Terry, Lamb-Star Engineering, Gonzalez-Schneeberg, and Halff Associates.