No.1/ First Quarter 2006
Dear SWIGIS Members!
Every Quarter I would like to send out an email newsletter to update the member ship about SWIGIS happenings. If you would like to contribute email me at noemi@swigis.org to send in your article. You can write about what events you attended, what GIS projects you are working on or anything else that you think other SWIGIS members should know about.
Some things that I would like to see on this newsletter:
Job Postings
SWIGIS local meetings
Meet a Member
Updates about what the GIS community where you live/work
Other happenings
Thanks to everyone who has been with is the past few years and welcome to all the new members. We need you to contribute and pass the word on about SWIGIS to keep the momentum going. Lets make 2006 a big year for us!
Thanks!
Noemi
noemi at swigis.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Census Bureau Happenings
By N Mendez
Geographer Philadelphia Regional Office US Census Bureau
With 2010 less than four years away we here at the Philadelphia Regional Office are getting ready by working on projects that support the upcoming census. Two projects that are currently underway are our Demographic Area Address Listing (DAAL) and Master Address File Geocoding Office Resolution (MAFGOR). The DAAL is currently updating address and mapspots for 2010. Field representatives throughout out territory (which includes Southern New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia) are going out into the field and locating addresses that were not previously matched in TIGER (the Census Bureau's GIS). MAFGOR is an internal process where Bureau employees are geocoding addresses provided by the US Post Office that did not match the TIGER database. All of this work will support field operations for the 2010 census.
Some of the other work that the RO does includes map production for survey staff, assigning DAAL cases, updating TIGER, local outreach and supporting other Census programs. Currently we are working on the American Community Survey Group Quarters where field representatives are canvassing areas surverying Americans. The ACS will replace the long form for 2010. The RO also conducts other surveys some are which are on going and others which are only for a specified amount of time.
While we have not begun to hire for 2010 the RO is hiring field representatives for other survey work. If you or someone you know may be interested in these postions please go to Philadelphia Regional Office for current job listings. Other Field offices are hiring as well. Visit the Field Regional Office Map to see where your RO is located.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meet a Member
Every quarter we are going to highlight a SWIGIS member. This is basically an area where we can get to know one another and see what kinds of cool things we are up to. This issue we are profiling Hilary Perkins.
I have been in the GIS industry for about 20 years – in fact, my first experiences with GIS were on a Macintosh! Currently I work as a Transportation Planner and Project Manager with Jacobs Engineering Group in St. Louis, Missouri. In recent years, my GIS work has focused on environmental issues as they relate to transportation and transit.
In my current position at Jacobs, my projects involve working as the project manager or lead planner for a number of clients including State Departments of Transportation, local and regional governments, and transit agencies. GIS projects have included applications to assist in preferred alternatives for roadway projects ranging from new interstates, to regional transportation and growth management plans, to station area planning and route selection for light rail and bus rapid transit. I have also had the opportunity to work with various branches of the military, implementing GIS applications to ease utility privatization efforts and facility expansions within existing bases and facilities.
Previously I worked as a Senior Systems Engineer and GIS Coordinator for Intergraph. There my work focused on design and implementation of GIS applications and the development of methods for facilitating inter-departmental cooperation within project stakeholders during design and procurement of GIS and related technologies. At Intergraph, I helped with the development of local government, transportation, and utility GIS projects for prototyping applications; and software design specifications for planning, redistricting, dynamic segmentation, environmental, and address-matching applications.
I also have worked for the Maricopa County (AZ) Department of Transportation; Michael Baker Jr., Inc.; and the City of St. Louis Community Development Agency where I coordinated GIS projects including watershed-scale ecological inventory to support future growth, GIS systems development, database administration, programming, and management of systems and major reports.
I am a certified Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP), and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). My GISP certification is important to me because it validates my many years of work in the field of GIS. It proves – to myself and to others – that I have a broad understanding of the industry and can provide expertise to a variety of disciplines. I also enjoy being part of the larger community of GIS professionals. Other professional activities include serving as a co-chair of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA)-sponsored Federal address standard working group, the URISA Workshop Development Committee, and as the Vice-Chair of the American Planning Association’s Transportation Planning Division. I am also a past member if the URISA Board of Directors. I have a Master of Environmental Planning from Arizona State University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SWIGIS Happenings
Did you know that SWIGIS had a blog? Check it out at swigis.blogspot.com. We are looking for people to contribute so if you are interested send an email to info@swigis.org.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsuscribe from this newsletter send an email to unsuscribe at swigis.org