Due to a shortage in the field, local surveyors and engineers with the help of Montgomery College started their own education source to get qualified workers certified.
Houston, TX – October 5, 2007 – What happens when you can’t find enough qualified and trained candidates to do the job? You form a group of industry professionals and create a program at the local community college to recruit and train students so that you can hire them.
And that’s exactly happened. David E. King RPLS, Surveying Manager at Montgomery & Associates, a Houston based civil engineering and consulting services firm was one of a group of area Registered Professional Land Surveyors who were approached by Montgomery College about developing a certification program for land surveyors – primarily because no one could readily find the trained help they needed.
Faced with the fact that approximately 65% of the registered land surveying professionals in TX are over 55, there is a serious need to build the ranks of younger land surveyors to satisfy the demand. Land surveying professionals perform highly skilled, advanced technical work in the fields of civil engineering and land surveying utilizing state of the art methods, procedures and/or instruments.
King sits on the Land Surveying and Mapping Technology Advisory Committee that was formed at Montgomery College, which is part of the North Harris Montgomery Community College District (NHMCCD). Montgomery College helped develop the curriculum for surveyors and helped get the instructors, but before classes could begin, the College needed capital to purchase the equipment necessary to train the potential land surveyors and to set up a scholarship fund. The word spread and donations started coming in from engineering and surveying firms around the area.
King said, “I am proud to say that Montgomery & Associates has been a leader in the effort to improve our industry.” He continued, “Our group helps to recruit the students as Surveyors in Training (ST) candidates while they are still enrolled in the program at Montgomery College. We look for students currently in High School from Beltway 8 to the New Caney area, or at the college who might be interested in pursuing this certificate.”
King noted, “Montgomery & Associates has three employees currently enrolled in the classes and we find that the engineering and surveying companies have been eager to send their employees to our program.”
Montgomery College is currently offering 4 classes this semester. There is a 2-year associate’s degree offering 2 different work certificates in land surveying and technology. This program enables people without a college degree to start out in the field and also provides a certificate program without pre-requisites. One of the requirements for becoming a Registered Professional Land Surveyor (RPLS) is a 4-year degree with 32 hours of surveying related courses.
David E. King RPLS, Surveying Manager at Montgomery & Associates is a resident of Spring Texas, a member of the TX Society of Professional Surveyors/State Chapter and Gulf Coast Chapter9, and a member of the America Congress of Surveying and Mapping. He received an Honorable Discharge from the Army and has an Associates Degree in Civil Technology.
About Montgomery & Associates
Since 1996, Houston-based Montgomery & Associates, LLC Consulting Engineers has demonstrated expertise in managing complicated, multi-party projects for both public and private clients and in dealing effectively with all levels of regulatory agencies. This has resulted in quality performance in transportation; airport, rail and port projects; water resources; surveying; land development; drainage and detention; wastewater; stormwater quality/NPDES and Special Districts (MUDs, TIRZs).
As a full consulting firm, Montgomery & Associates offers a recognized depth of experience in program management, project planning, feasibility analysis, design, cost estimating, construction management, agency liaison and permitting.
Montgomery & Associates professionals hold memberships in the Texas Society of Professional Engineers (TSPE), Association of Water Board Directors (AWBD), Texas Council of Engineering Companies (TCEC) and American Water Works Association (AWWA). The firm encourages employees to continue to stay abreast of innovations and trends within the industry.
They participate in community and civic affairs and provide support to organizations such NHMCCD, South Montgomery County Woodlands Chamber of Commerce, Montgomery County United Way, Greater Houston Builders Association, Greenspoint Chamber of Commerce, and the Spring ISD Intern Program.
For more information about Montgomery & Associates, please call 281.775.4650 or visit their web site at www.gmont.com.