Morgan Reed, Lidar Development Manager with survey company John Chance Land Surveys, Inc. (Lafayette, LA) is the third recipient of Fugro’s “Herman Zuidberg Award for Innovation.”
The namesake of this prestigious Fugro award is long-time Fugro innovator and inventor Herman Zuidberg. This Fugro Engineer, who has been working for the company for 40 years, put his work into a simple perspective: ‘Development is making something possible that was previously thought impossible. It is the modification and adaption of technical systems, of human beings. Development is generally not inventing something.’
Reed was chosen as this year’s recipient for his design, development and integration of Fugro’s airborne laser system, called FLI-MAP® (Fast Laser Imaging-Mapping and Profiling). The FLI-MAP system is a cost-effective and innovative alternative to traditional surveying and mapping. The helicopter-based system is used for terrain mapping, primarily for the utility, transportation, and rail industries.
Reed earned a B.S. Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and has been employed by Fugro for 18 years. Reed is the second Lafayette, LA recipient of this award. The first recipient was Dr. Dariusz Lapucha, Senior Geodesist with offshore survey company Fugro Chance Inc., also a Lafayette, LA company, who received it two years ago.
FLI-MAP has been used on several notable projects within the U.S. The FLI-MAP system was utilized to conduct damage assessment surveys on over 400 miles of levees in New Orleans following the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. The system was also selected by the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Commission to map ground and vegetation features on sedimentation areas along the base of the Grand Canyon. In Europe, FLI-MAP is being utilized to map archeological features in Cephalonia, an island off the east coast of Greece. The clients on this project have described FLI-MAP as “virtual napalm” because it allows the data processors to filter out the dense vegetation to clearly reveal archeological features such as old stone walls and building foundations.
About John Chance Land Surveys
John Chance Land Surveys, Inc. is a member of the international Fugro group of companies which has approximately 12,000 staff permanently stationed in over 50 countries. As a global leader, Fugro offers advanced geotechnical surveying, seismic, oceanographic, and positioning services.