Job Ideas

At my new job I have time on my side, so I get to do a lot of thinking and have a chance to apply my philosophy at work. While I’m excited to have the chance to put all my ideas to the test, I’m also glad to have two engineers above me to keep me inside of what is realistically and fiscally possible. I’ve listed my current short-term (3-month) goals below, tell me what you think:

1. For the field:
   1. Develop a field-to-finish filing system, Thanks to RADU for his suggestions
   2. Practice building 3D models of our jobsites using terrestrial photogrammetry
      1. I’m using Photosynth for the point clouds and Blender/Meshlab for the models
      2. The photogrammetry is cheap and the cloud solutions are free, plus it introduces the same concepts of scanning so when we get to that point we already have our work flows in place.
   3. Working with the office to acquire a RTN GNSS sometime in the future
2. For the office:
   1. Begin using GIS with open-source programs to store and analyze our field data.
      1. I intend for the GIS to be part of the storage system and a new deliverable for the company to provide, we don’t have a budget so using open-source programs means I can afford to implement the concept and if it works we can move to ESRI later.
   2. Try to implement processing in the field, let the office do more analytical and clean up work.
   3. Build the company profile using facebook and Google sites, in the same thought as the GIS setup.
3. For the Client:
   1. Overlay their survey data onto GIS maps and 3D models, along with the viewers to interact with the data.
      1. The biggest hurdle, I find, isn’t the survey company adapting to new technology. It’s the clients understanding about what they are dealing with. I believe the newer data formats (ie: digital 3D models over 2D paper plats) are better solutions but we need to prove that to every single client until it becomes accepted as the standard.
         1. The state bidding process already adapted to PDF-only submissions, so I have my proof right there.
   2. Find out who wants to buy spatial data, and who needs to buy spatial data.

So, there is my plan. I could really use some advice on what I’m doing and I’ll be glad to provide any information you feel you need to understand where I’m coming from. Thanks for reading!