Geomatics Engineering
Geomatics is fairly new, the term was apparently coined by B. Dubuisson in 1969. It includes the tools and techniques used in land surveying, remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, COMPASS), and related forms of earth mapping. Originally used in Canada, because it is similar in French and English, the term geomatics has been adopted by the International Organization for Standardization, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and many other international authorities, although some (especially in the United States) have shown a preference for the term geospatial technology.
Geomatics. (2008, August 26). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:07, September 17, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Geomatics&oldid=234344090
Thus Geomatics Engineering is an emerging information technology in the 21st Century. Geomatics deals with the acquisition, modeling, analysis and management of spatial data and includes applications such as positioning by satellites, remote sensing, land surveying, and geospatial information management. Geomatics is one of the fastest growing information sciences throughout the World.
The Department of Geomatics Engineering (formerly Surveying Engineering) at the University of Calgary, created in 1979, is the only geomatics engineering department in Western Canada and has become one of the leading departments of geomatics engineering in the world. The department has achieved worldwide excellence both at the undergraduate and graduate levels and in research. With 20 faculty members, 160 undergraduate students and 80 graduate students, it is the largest school of its kind in Canada.
Many of their faculty members are known nationally and internationally for their research programs, and their graduate students are winning international awards on a regular basis for the excellence of their work. There is a strong demand throughout North America for graduates of their programs, both at the Bachelors level and for those with graduate degrees.
