Surveying team wins fourth national title
UA’s Student Surveying Team won the National Society of Professional Surveyors’ 2008 Surveying Student Competition, held earlier this month as part of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping’s annual meeting in Spokane, Wash. With the victory, the team from UA has won the national championship four times and placed second three times since the competition began in 2001.
Teams in this year’s competition had to write a research paper and produce a poster based on a famous surveyed line in their home state. In Spokane, they had to demonstrate mastery of the mapping tools from the period when the line was first surveyed. For the field exercise, the students were dressed in costumes appropriate to the period, and won the Best Costume award for the fifth consecutive year.
The UA team chose Ohio’s Greenville Treaty Line, surveyed in 1797. The Treaty of Greenville established a definite boundary between Indian lands and those lands open to white settlement. According to former Ohio State civil engineering professor C.E. Sherman, “The Indian boundary is the most striking survey-line in the state and has had much effect on its geography. It formed the north boundary of the U.S. Military Tract, and fragments of the line form portions of many country boundaries at this day.”
The UA team is coached by Thomas “Mike” Besch, professor of surveying and mapping technology; Gary Schuller, associate professor of surveying and mapping technology and Ann Besch, senior lecturer in surveying and mapping technology.
Mike Besch said learning the old surveying tools carries a practical benefit for today’s students.
“The courts have ruled consistently that in property line disputes, the original intent of the surveyor is what matters,” he said. “To truly understand that intent, you need to understand the accuracies and the errors inherent in the tools used by the original surveyor. Students who have that knowledge will be more successful in their research.”
Six students were on the UA team. They are:
Seniors
- Jeff Jalbrzikowski
- Charlie Kuchenbecker
Juniors
- Andy Kis
- Mike Guinto
- Katie Nock
Freshman
- Samantha Brown