National Surveyors Week Spotlight

It’s National Surveyors Week and we are excited to recognize a few members of our growing team of talented surveyors, who play a vital role in the development and advancement of our communities. This week is all about recognizing the ground-breaking men and women who are shaping our world as we know it today.

Hear some of their stories below, and the advice they offer to inspire the next generation of surveyors!

• Your inspiration for becoming a surveyor: The more information you have about the site, the more creative opportunities exist in the project. A detailed survey plan is integrable over so many people’s area of expertise! I find there is a lot of overlap between my interest in regenerative landscapes, permaculture design, water systems, and energy optimization, and the usefulness of a BIM or surveyor’s data set.
  
• What do you like most about the work you do? I like getting to be familiar with a place, being an interpreter and forensics specialist, plus there definitely are immeasurable rewards for being outdoors on a regular basis!
  
• When you think about working at Sebago Technics, what makes you proudest or most excited? As an employee-owner at Sebago Technics, I love the unique dynamic inside of the company and how my work is seen and valued. It’s natural to care about what you do, to keep learning more, and be your most excellent.
  
• What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about becoming a surveyor? If you haven’t yet, get to know your surroundings and see where your curiosities take you. The world is endlessly fascinating, so a bit of knowledge about local history, geography, geology, biology or even just a propensity for Randonauting could very well be your edge and open a path towards a well-suited profession.

• Your inspiration for becoming a surveyor: I wanted to become a surveyor for two reasons.: the challenge of going to college and academics. I also enjoyed working outside and the feeling of accomplishment from hard work.
  
• What do you like most about the work you do? I like that every job is different and comes with its own set of challenges. Today’s surveying has a lot of variety. One day its setting control and layout for Condo in Portland. The next day you could be marching through 100 acres of forest and swamp. It is never boring.
  
• When you think about working at Sebago Technics, what makes you proudest or most excited? What I have seen at Sebago is some really cool projects. When I see the skyline of Portland, I see three cranes. I know Sebago is working on all three of those job sites. When I drive around the State and I see solar fields, I know Sebago probably had a hand in them. I also think about the new technologies that Sebago uses and I am excited to be a part of it.
  
• What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about becoming a surveyor?  I think it’s a very exciting time to become a surveyor. The profession is changing in ways I think older surveyors never imagined. Technology is opening up new possibilities for surveyors to measure and record. It’s a changing field that has a large ceiling for expansion.

• Your inspiration for becoming a surveyor:  I always knew I wanted to work in the woods and be an explorer as a child.  I didn’t realize that’s what a surveyor is until I was in forestry school at UMaine.
  
• What do you like most about the work you do? Boundary surveys are essentially a big scavenger hunt / puzzle and I like putting it together and solving it.
  
• When you think about working at Titcomb Associates – A Division of Sebago Technics, what makes you proudest or most excited?  Being on the front lines in the surveying industry in northern New England.
  
• What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about becoming a surveyor?  It’s the best kept secret in the job world.  A bad day in the field is better than a good day in the office.

1. Your inspiration for becoming a surveyor: My love of the outdoors was the early inspiration for becoming a surveyor.  It’s great to be working outside along with all of the distractions that accompany that environment, insects, plants and of course, the weather.  I had left school and was working in a factory and decided to put my education to work for me; took a job at $2.78 an hour as a rodman and have never looked back.

• What do you like most about the work you do? The knowledge that what I do will survive. The records we produce have longevity and will be utilized by those that follow, just as we rely on the work of our predecessors.  The historical significance of what we do is exciting.  Helping to shape the future of our environment.

• When you think about working at Sebago Technics, what makes you proudest or most excited? The people who work here and the effort I witness on a daily basis.  A marvelous bunch of really talented professionals learning and growing into their future with every project.

• What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about becoming a surveyor?  If you love the outdoors, history, math and want to have a hand in shaping the future landscape be transformed and/or preserved, then surveying is a great way to participate.  It’s a wonderful profession that is both rewarding and also such a necessary element of our future development and design.  It all starts with a survey!

• Your inspiration for becoming a surveyor: My love of the outdoors and history.
  
• What do you like most about the work you do? The diversity in projects and the puzzles to be solved.
  
• When you think about working at Sebago Technics, what makes you proudest or most excited? My fellow employee-owners.  Watching them grow and be excited to come to work on the interesting projects that we have the privilege to work on.
  
• What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about becoming a surveyor?  It can certainly be a fun career with many options.  Being a surveyor can lead you in many directions:  Boundary; Topography; Construction Layout; Hydrographic; Route Surveying, to name a few.  But it also has many different technologies in use and adding more all of the time.  You can travel or specialize in one state.  It is certainly a rewarding career.

• Your inspiration for becoming a surveyor:  My father was a land surveyor and I started working for him when I was 14.  It turns out it was the best profession for my math skills, ability to problem solve, and desire to work outside at times.
  
• What do you like most about the work you do?  Over the years it has been the variety of work: boundary surveys and deed research, engineering surveys, and miscellaneous requests that require a unique approach to get the project completed.  In my current role, I’ve been enjoying passing along my knowledge and experience.
  
• When you think about working at Titcomb Associates – A Division of Sebago Technics, what makes you proudest or most excited?  I’m really excited about the younger and enthusiastic group of surveyors we have at Sebago and the technology we possess.
  
• What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about becoming a surveyor?  Patience.  Land Surveying is a lifelong learning process. I’m still learning!