Episode 1
Tim Burch PLS & Deward Karl Bowles RLS Discuss the Future of Land Surveying and Continuing Education
PlumbCast Episode 1: Tim Burch PLS & Deward Karl Bowles RLS Discuss the Future of Land Surveying and Continuing Education
In the debut episode of PlumbCast, we’re honored to host two legends in the land surveying world: Tim Burch, PLS, Executive Director of the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS), and Deward Karl Bowles, RLS, a surveying icon and owner of B and B Surveying in Houston, Texas.
This episode dives deep into the future of land surveying, focusing on the innovative L.E.A.R.N Program—a groundbreaking collaborative continuing education initiative developed in partnership with Land Surveyors United Community and the NSPS Educational Committee. We also discuss the exciting rebirth of Land Surveyors United and introduce the Futurists of Land Surveying, a movement dedicated to shaping the next generation of professionals.
Join us for an insightful conversation about the evolving landscape of land surveying, professional growth, and community collaboration.
Every episode we will drop several new land surveyor tools which we will continually make better based on your feedback.
Quad Map
The Advanced Quad View Map for Land Surveyors is a powerful tool designed for land surveyors to perform various geospatial tasks, such as property measurement, mapping, and route planning, using a combination of Google Maps and Mapbox views. Here’s how it works from the perspective of a land surveyor:
Quad View Maps: The interface displays four maps in a "quad view" configuration, with two maps powered by Mapbox and two by Google Maps. This allows the surveyor to simultaneously view different map styles and data layers, such as satellite imagery, streets, and topography, providing a comprehensive geographical understanding of the area.
Synchronization of Maps: The maps are synced together, meaning any movement or zooming on one map is reflected across all four. This feature is particularly helpful when comparing different map views and cross-referencing data.
Geolocation and Navigation: The Geolocate button allows surveyors to quickly locate their current position on all four maps. This is useful for fieldwork, as it ensures the surveyor can always orient themselves to the correct location.
Layer Toggles: Surveyors can toggle additional layers on the Google Maps views, such as traffic, bicycling, and transit layers, to see real-time transportation data. This helps in planning routes or assessing traffic conditions when surveying urban areas.
Measurement Tools: A dedicated Measurement Panel is available for surveyors to measure property boundaries. Surveyors can draw polygons on the Google Maps views, which automatically calculate the area and perimeter of the property. These measurements are updated in real-time and can be displayed across all maps, making property assessments more accurate and streamlined.
Map Themes: Surveyors can switch between different Mapbox themes using the Theme Switcher. Themes such as "Satellite," "Outdoors," and "3D Terrain" provide flexibility depending on the surveyor’s needs, whether it’s viewing natural landscapes or urban infrastructure.
Route Planning: The Directions Panel allows surveyors to input a start and end location to calculate driving directions. This feature is useful for planning routes to job sites or navigating through complex terrain.
Address Search: The Search functionality enables surveyors to locate specific addresses. After searching, the system centers all four maps on the searched location, making it easy to explore a specific point of interest in different map views.
Polygon Drawing and Syncing: With the polygon drawing feature, surveyors can outline specific areas on Google Maps and have these polygons synced across all maps, including Mapbox. This allows for consistent data representation, whether working on terrain analysis, property boundary identification, or field mapping.
Overall, the Advanced Quad View Map for Land Surveyors offers a versatile, multi-view mapping solution tailored to the needs of land surveyors, providing tools for precise measurements, route calculations, and geographical analysis.
Surveyor Job Post Generator
The Land Surveyor Job Post Generator is a tool designed to help land surveyors and employers efficiently create job postings. Here’s how the tool works from a land surveyor’s perspective:
Job Type Selection: The tool allows surveyors to choose from predefined job roles, such as "Surveying Technician," "Land Surveyor," "Party Chief," or "Geodetic Surveyor." Each job type includes a set of pre-defined expectations and requirements, ensuring that the job post is accurate and specific to the role being advertised.
Customizable Input Fields: Users can fill out key details such as:
Company Name
Location (Address, City, State, Zip)
Website
Company Logo URL
Phone and Email
Contact Person These fields ensure that the generated job post includes all relevant company and contact information.
Recruiter Option: The tool asks if the poster is a recruiter, allowing surveyors or hiring managers to specify whether they are directly recruiting for the company or working through a third party.
Rich Text Job Description Editor: Using TinyMCE, a powerful WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, users can input a detailed job description. The editor allows for formatting, inserting images, and links, making it easy to craft a professional and appealing job post.
Live Preview: As users fill in the form, the job post is dynamically displayed in the Preview section on the right side of the screen. This gives an immediate visual representation of what the final job post will look like, ensuring everything is correct before publishing.
Generated HTML Code: For those who want to copy and paste the code into other platforms or websites, the tool generates clean, responsive HTML code that is displayed below the preview. This code can be easily copied and reused.
Predefined Job Descriptions: Each job type comes with predefined expectations and requirements. For example:
Surveying Technician: Assists surveyors with fieldwork and equipment.
Land Surveyor: Determines property boundaries and prepares maps and plats.
Party Chief: Leads a field crew and ensures accurate data collection.
Geodetic Surveyor: Uses GPS and satellite technology to survey large areas.
Interactive Logo: At the bottom, there is an embedded Land Surveyors United logo, linking users directly to relevant job boards, ensuring the post can be shared within relevant communities.
This job post generator simplifies the process of creating professional job posts tailored specifically for the land surveying industry, making it easy to produce polished listings that are ready for publication.
Advanced Surveyor Calculator
Land Surveyor's Perspective on the Advanced TI-85 Style Graphing Calculator:
This Advanced TI-85 Style Graphing Calculator is a versatile and powerful tool designed to handle a variety of mathematical and graphing functions. Here's how it works from the perspective of a land surveyor:
Graphing Calculator Modes: The calculator offers multiple modes that allow for advanced graphing and calculations. These modes include:
Standard: For basic calculations.
Graphing: For plotting 2D, 3D, polar, and parametric graphs.
Table: To display function tables.
Statistics: For statistical data analysis.
Graphing Capabilities: The graphing mode allows surveyors to visualize different types of mathematical functions.
2D Graphing: Plots standard functions like linear, quadratic, or trigonometric graphs.
3D Graphing: Plots 3D surfaces, helping surveyors analyze spatial data and surfaces.
Polar Graphing: Useful for plotting circular or radial functions in polar coordinates.
Parametric Graphing: Allows plotting based on parameterized functions, often used in curve calculations.
Interactive Graph Display: The graph display area includes a resize handle for adjusting the size of the graphing window, making it easier to zoom in and out of complex data visualizations. This feature is helpful when working with detailed or large-scale data.
Cursor for Equation Input: A blinking cursor allows surveyors to easily input and edit mathematical expressions, with a smooth typing experience similar to traditional graphing calculators. This feature is particularly helpful when inputting complex equations for land measurement or boundary analysis.
Pre-Defined Function List: The calculator has multiple functions, like Y1=, Y2=, and so on, allowing surveyors to store and switch between different equations easily. This is useful when comparing multiple datasets or measurements in the field.
Graph Interaction: The trace function allows surveyors to trace along a graph to view exact values at specific points, which is useful when pinpointing key locations, boundaries, or intersections in a plotted graph.
Buttons for Specialized Functions: The calculator includes buttons for specific mathematical operations used frequently in land surveying:
Trigonometric functions (SIN, COS, TAN), logarithmic (LOG, LN), and power functions (^, x²).
Operators like +, -, *, /, and additional options for clearing (CLEAR) or entering (ENTER) inputs.
Graph controls like GRAPH, ZOOM, and TRACE make it easy to plot and analyze data on the fly.
Math.js Integration: The calculator uses Math.js for evaluating mathematical expressions. This library provides high accuracy and supports a wide range of functions, making it ideal for advanced calculations in land surveying.
Chart.js for Graphing: The tool integrates Chart.js to generate smooth and responsive 2D graphs. It supports plotting multiple datasets, making it ideal for comparing land survey data points.
3D Visualization with Three.js: The integration with Three.js enables the creation of interactive 3D graphs. This is highly beneficial for surveyors working with terrain models or 3D surface analyses.
Customizable Layout: The buttons and graph types can be easily switched, and the display is large enough to accommodate complex graphing tasks without clutter. This makes it a practical, all-in-one tool for surveyors handling mathematical models, graphs, and field data visualizations.
Resize and Adjust: You can resize the graph display window to better visualize detailed graphs, which is especially useful when analyzing large datasets in the field or during office review.
This calculator offers a robust solution for land surveyors who need advanced graphing, computational, and data visualization capabilities in their daily work, helping them efficiently handle everything from basic calculations to complex 3D models.