CC BY
51
УДК 528:378
Гетин Вин Робертс
Ноттингемский университет в г. Нингбо Китай
Email: [email protected]
ПЕРСПЕКТИВНЫЕ СОВРЕМЕННЫЕ ГЕОДЕЗИЧЕСКИЕ ТЕХНОЛОГИИ; РОЛЬ ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНЫХ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЙ И ВЫСШЕГО ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ
Gethin Wyn Roberts
The University of Nottingham Ningbo
China
Email: [email protected]
EVER ADVANCING MODERN SURVEYING TECHNOLOGIES; THE ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Key words: Professional development, engineering surveying.
SUMMARY
With the ever changing and advancing technologies available to the engineering surveyor, he can no longer rely on knowledge gained a few years ago, and is constantly having to retrain and gain new knowledge about this changing technology. Continuing Professional Development is a phrase used to gain this knowledge, and keep up to date. In the UK, the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (ICES) and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), in addition to other professional institutions, require members to keep their CPD up to date by attending courses and events in order to maintain their membership showing their competence.
The FIG provides a framework for CPD through conferences and workshops focused on specific areas. Commission 6 of the FIG organizes meetings focused on Engineering Surveys, and a centralized repository of papers from these meetings is available through the FIG’s web page.
Further to this, with the globalization of education and people’s working environments, it is required to create an internationally recognized method of assessing people’s abilities and CPD.
The following paper discusses the increasing need for the engineering surveyor to maintain and update his knowledge, as well as how the engineering surveyor can become ever more globalized.
Introduction
Leonard Digges invented the name “Theodolite”, which is described in a manuscript called The Construction of an Instrument Topographicall Serving Most Commoously for all Manner of Mensurations that was published by his son Thomas in the sixteenth century. English surveyors then concentrated on developing this instrument. In 1785 Ramsden produced the telescopic theodolite, and this was used by Roy to tie up the French and English triangulation system for the first time in 1787. The circle measured 3 feet (0.9m) in diameter, and readings could be made to single seconds through means of a micrometer. [Bannister et al 1998].
Accurate distance measurements were still difficult to make over long distances, until in 1926 Michelson determined the velocity of light to be 299,796 km/s by measuring the time taken for light to travel between two concave mirror systems. Following this, in 1929 it was suggested that related techniques could be used to measure distances, and later around 1948 Dr E Bergstrand used this principle for the measurement of distance by the Geodimeter, manufactured by AGA of Stockholm, and initially completed in 1953. This instrument is seen as being one of the first electronic instruments used in the ever increasing arsenal of equipment used by the surveyor.
Since then, a multitude of electronic instruments have evolved, resulting in the surveyor being able to use a plethora of difference devices for the same task. These include total stations, reflector less total stations, digital photogrammetry, LIDAR, GPS and GNSS, laser scanners, and more recently the use of Ground Based Synthetic Aperture Radar (GBSAR). The software and the hardware are continuously being upgraded and advanced. Therefore, continuing professional development (CPD) is required in order to allow the engineer to maintain their knowledgebase.
The UK system typically comprises of a student attending university on an accredited course. The accreditation would be carried out by the relevant professional institution. This could be at bachelor level, and master level. Once the student has attended sufficient accredited courses at the correct level eg BEng and MSc, then he can work towards his initial professional development (IPD). This usually consists of carrying out specific engineering tasks under supervision, and having these signed off showing the graduate’s competence. This would typically be carried out over a 4 year period. Once this is complete, interviews and reports are written, and once successful the graduate can become a full member of the institution and if relevant become a chartered engineer or surveyor. However, this is only the start of the journey, as professional institutions require the engineer to carry out continuing professional development (CPD) to maintain their knowledge.
The FIG - Commission 6
Commission 6 of the FIG is called Engineering Surveys. A commission plan was recently put together in order to advance the field of Engineering Surveys on an
international scale, as well as to share good practices during conferences and workshops. The terms of reference of commission 6 are:
- Acquisition, processing and management of topometric data and all related information throughout the life cycle of a project (at construction site)
- Quality control and validation for civil engineering constructions and manufacturing of large objects (method statements)
- Modem concepts for setting-out and machine guidance
- Deformation monitoring, analysis and interpretation, measurement of dynamic loaded structures (general)
- Prediction of deformation and movements in engineering projects, mines and areas of geological hazard such as land slides, subsidence etc
- Automatic measuring systems, construction and industry and multi-sensor measuring systems
- Terrestrial laser systems, their usage in architecture, civil engineering and industry including automated periodic measurements in order to measure track movements
- Industry measuring system metrology, testing and quality control
- Standards related to the construction, deformation measurement and measuring system metrology.
And the Mission Statement is:
- Promote the knowledge, skills and abilities of surveyors in civil and industrial works within the various professional fields of engineering
- Support all development and multidisciplinary expertise leading to integrated survey methods, using various instruments (geodetic, geotechnic, fast motion) and sensors and combining geometry with all other data relevant to each engineering problem
- Provide a forum for exchange of knowledge related to engineering analysis of survey data for the study of structures
- In addition to the links with related wgs of iag, ism and isprs, look for possible co-operation within these organisations and support the co-operation of civil, structural and mechanical engineers with our profession
- Participation with icold (international committee on large dams) national committees
- Participation on the fig standards network on standardisation policy, support the standardisation activities at the international, local and national level, and development of standards and method statements
- Participation on regional fig events, and events organised in co-operation with sister organizations.
This Working Plan covers a wide scale of survey disciplines related to plants, installations and constructions of any kind. Commission 6 wants to promote:
- Development of international standards and qualifications,
- Development of best practice guides in engineering surveys.
Commission 6 will consist of three Working Groups and one joint working group with Commission 5. Commission 6 has study groups on specific issues and these could also be used for the FIG contribution to respond to global warming and disaster management.
The four working groups are:
- Working Group 6.1- Deformation Measurements and Analysis
- Working Group 6.2 - Engineering Surveys for Construction Works and Structural Engineering
- Working Group 6.3 - Machine Control and Guidance (MCG)
- Working Group 5.5 - Ubiquitous Positioning Systems (Commission 5 has lead and work plan is described in Commission 5 work plan).
The details of the working groups can be found on the FIG’s web page www.FIG.net but the outline is that they all have a chair, and some have study groups focussing on specific areas of interest, such as laser scanners, GBSAR, Railway Surveying Techniques, Geotechnical Sensors, Fibre Optic Sensors. These study groups also have a lead person to enable the focus of these activities to be lead.
The working groups and study groups will participate in the FIG’s annual working weeks, and in addition to this; specialised and focussed workshops will be held. Collaboration with other organisations and groups is also underway, which promoted a crossover of knowledge and expertise. All the resulting papers from the FIG organised meetings are held on a centralised repository that can be accessed by anyone. This provides a source of information for all the commissions’ work.
University Partnerships
Universities are excellent sources of partnerships for developing and providing CPD events. These are for three main reasons. Firstly, universities usually have academics that are already involved with professional institutions, and able and willing to participate. Secondly, students at universities on accredited courses will also benefit from attending such CPD events, and also once a university has been established and has been running accredited courses for a while, then the students will require IPD and CPD once they graduate on their track to becoming a qualified or chartered engineer or surveyor. Thirdly, the resources in terms of meeting rooms, seminar rooms, and catering facilities also mean that organising CPD events is simple.
The University of Nottingham Ningbo, China (UNNC) is the first Sino-Foreign university on mainland China. It was established on 2004 with some 280 students, and today has approximately 4,800 students on a purpose built campus. The University of Nottingham in the UK is a very broad subject based university, and covers most disciplines. The Business School was the first to be established at UNNC, and a few others followed. Today, there are three faculties: the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, the Faculty of Social Sciences, and the Faculty of Science and Engineering. The latter is a relatively new Faculty at UNNC, and many of the
engineering courses have only been running for a couple of years. As of September 2011 there will be 9 undergraduate engineering based courses running, and as of September 2012 the MSc course in Geodesy and Surveying Engineering will also be running at UNNC. This course is the same as the one that has been running at the University of Nottingham UK for approximately 20 years. All the courses have the same quality control as the UK’s, and all students receive a University of Nottingham degree certificate. There is also a campus in Malaysia.
The Ningbo Government realized that very soon, engineers would start to graduate from UNNC with a UK qualification and would consider seeking professional qualifications, and becoming chartered engineers. UNNC and the Ningbo Government put together a scheme to fund a centre at UNNC called the International Centre for Professional Development (ICPD). The initial aim of the ICPD was to facilitate and provide IPD and CPD for graduates as well as engineers in China in areas of Environmental Engineering, Computer Science, Built Environment and Mechanical Engineering. The need has now expanded to other areas of engineering, including surveying and geodesy.
CONCLUSIONS
The role of the engineering surveyor is changing, due to technical advances, new technologies and software, as well as the globalization of the subject. International recognition of competencies and expertise is required. In addition methods to enhance and keep the engineering surveyors’ knowledgebase up to date are also required.
REFERENCES
Banister A, Raymond S, Baker R; Surveying (7th Ed) (Longman). ISBN 0 582 30249 8.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Prof Gethin Wyn Roberts is Professor of Geospatial Engineering and Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Nottingham Ningbo, China. He is the Chair of FIG’s Commission 6 “Engineering Surveys”, a Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors.
CONTACT
Prof. Gethin Wyn Roberts
The University of Nottingham Ningbo, China
University Park
199 Taikang East Road
Ningbo 315100
CHINA
Email: [email protected] Web site: www.nottingham.edu.cn
© G.W. Roberts, 2011
