Matthew Dunbar, Robert Thomas, Stuart Blundell, Christopher Parrish and Michael Zoltek Elected as Assistant Division Directors
The results of the 2012 election have been tallied by the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) Tellers Committee and they reported that Stewart Walker, Director – Product Initiatives for the Geospatial eXploitation Products business area of BAE Systems in San Diego, California, won the election to become ASPRS Vice President for 2012. With the installation of officers at the ASPRS Annual Conference in March, Roberta (Bobbi) Lenczowski moves into the position of President; Stephen D. DeGloria becomes President-Elect, and Gary Florence becomes Past President.
Stewart Walker (right) has MA, MScE and PhD degrees in geography and geomatics from the universities of Glasgow, New Brunswick and Bristol and an MBA from Heriot-Watt. He has authored approximately 200 technical papers.
Walker joined ASPRS in 1973. He is an ASPRS Certified Photogrammetrist and a chartered land surveyor (U.K.). In 1977 he switched from academic life at the University of East London to the private sector, with Surveying and General Instrument Company, Kern, Leica, LH Systems, and Leica Geosystems, in sales, product management and business development, in England, Switzerland and the U.S. He became product manager for SOCET SET® in 1991, when Leica undertook worldwide distribution, joined BAE Systems in 2004 and is responsible for new directions in the development of SOCET GXP® and enterprise software products.
He has served ASPRS as President then National Director of the Southwest U.S. Region, Co-Chair of the Defense and Intelligence Committee, and Chair of the Conference Planning Committee for the ASPRS 2010 Annual Conference.
Walker says, “To ensure a vibrant, visible Society, we must market ASPRS energetically and recruit new members relentlessly; entice student members to stay after graduation; foster the Student Advisory Council and its initiatives; and develop fresh ideas for young professionals.”
Matthew Dunbar was elected Assistant Division Director of the ASPRS Geographic Information Systems Division (GISD). Dunbar is the GIS Program Director at the University of Washington’s Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology, where he has led the development of a research infrastructure for spatial analysis since 2008. He has a PhD in Geography from the University of Kansas, where he worked at the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program. He has over 10 years of Geographic Information Systems and Analysis (GIS/GIA) experience encompassing spatial data acquisition and database development, analysis and modeling, cartography (print and web-based), manuscript development, and overall project management.
Dunbar got involved in ASPRS earlier in his graduate education. He became a member in 2002, served as a student volunteer at many of his first conferences, and is the proud recipient of several ASPRS scholarships: The Central Region’s Francis E. "Gene" Lortz Memorial Scholarship (2004) as well as the National Ta Liang Memorial Award and William Fischer Memorial Scholarship (2005). He also served as a founding officer of the University of Kansas Student ASPRS chapter, and currently advises the Puget Sound ASPRS Student Chapter at the University of Washington.
Robert Thomas was elected Assistant Division Director of the ASPRS Photogrammetric Applications Division (PAD). Thomas is Vice President of Analytical Services with Integrity Applications Incorporated (IAI). He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Colorado in 1996 before being commissioned in the United States Air Force as a Mapping, Charting and Geodesy (MC&G) officer. While assigned to Strategic Air Command (SAC), he served in a number of key positions in the areas of photogrammetry, geopositioning, and multi-spectral image processing.
Following his return from Desert Shield/Storm, Thomas transitioned to the private sector and joined Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) as a member of their professional staff. While working in Omaha, Nebraska, Thomas completed his master’s degree in Applied Math at the Creighton University during the summer of 1995. Following a five-year assignment with United States European Command, Stuttgart, Germany, he returned to the States in 2001 and accepted a position with IAI. In his current role, he is responsible for a highly-specialized team of scientists and engineers working next-generation image and geospatial product chain analysis.
Thomas has over 24 years of defense support experience in program management and advanced research and technology development in the core area of photogrammetric-based geospatial analysis and services. Outside of his leadership role to include business development, he participates directly as a systems engineer on a number of key customer sponsored initiatives, geospatial standards development, lidar-based enhancements, image-processing, and rigorous error propagation. Thomas frequently delivers key geopositioning-related briefs in support of senior future warfare systems management forums including select Defense Science and Defense Acquisition Boards. A member of ASPRS since 1993, he is actively involved with the recently formed Defense and Intelligence Committee.
James Stuart Blundell was elected Assistant Division Director of the ASPRS Remote Sensing Applications Division (RSAD). Blundell is Director, Strategic Programs at Exelis – Visual Information Solutions. Previously he was vice president of Geospatial Products & Solutions at Overwatch Systems, Ltd. While there he oversaw the research and development of a broad array of tactical and strategic intelligence software products and solutions used by imagery and geospatial analysts. Prior to joining Overwatch in 2006, Blundell was the co-founder of Visual Learning Systems, Inc. which became a leader in the development of automated feature extraction (AFE) software technology for the remote sensing community. The introduction of Feature Analyst in 2001 was the first instance of using machine learning approaches in commercial-off-the-shelf software to address the issue of generating cartographic feature data from a new generation of commercial Earth imaging satellite such as IKONOS. From 1997-2008 Blundell served as the principal investigator on a wide range of research projects for NASA Stennis Space Center, JPL, NGA, NSF, Army Geospatial Center and other organizations exploring the use of AFE technology to support mapping, object detection and other mission planning requirements. VLS was acquired by Overwatch in 2006.
Blundell has supported ASPRS through the development and teaching of professional workshops. In addition, he has authored or co-authored multiple professional publications on the use of AFE technology. Blundell received his BS in Geophysical Engineering from Montana College of Mineral Science & Technology in 1986 and his MS in Geology from the University of Wyoming in 1988. During his tenure at the University of Wyoming, Blundell was fortunate to have the privilege of working with Dr. Harold Lang at JPL on quantitative approaches for remote sensing of sedimentary basins in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming.
Christopher Parrish was elected Assistant Division Director of the ASPRS Lidar Division (LD). Parrish is the Lead Physical Scientist in the Remote Sensing Division of NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey (NGS). In his current position, Parrish is responsible for conducting research into remote sensing systems, platforms, and software in support of NOAA programs and serves as NGS’ Project Manager for Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping (IOCM). Parrish also holds an appointment as an Affiliate Professor in the University of New Hampshire
(UNH) Earth Sciences Department and is based at the NOAA-UNH Joint Hydrographic Center-Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (JHC-CCOM). Parrish’s academic background includes a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering with an emphasis in Geospatial Information Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, an MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida, and a BS in Physics from Bates College. His primary research interests include full-waveform lidar, sensor modeling and calibration, uncertainty analysis, and coastal mapping applications. Parrish was the 2011 President of the ASPRS Potomac Region.
Michael Zoltek was elected Assistant Division Director of the ASPRS Professional Practice Division (PPD). Zoltek is a licensed Professional Photogrammetrist/Surveyor experienced since 1990 in a wide variety of public and private sector projects and currently holds active professional registrations in 14 states, as well as being a Certified Federal Surveyor (CFedS) and a Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP). He has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Surveying & Mapping from the University of Florida (1993) and has worked as a survey field crew member, CAD draftsman, project surveyor, project photogrammetrist, private sector survey manager, QA/QC coordinator, and has held the positions of Vice President/Regional Manager at Nobles Consulting Group, Inc. (Niceville, FL) and Vice President of Surveying & Mapping at Pictometry International, Corp. (Rochester, NY).
Zoltek has been in “responsible charge” of production on projects since 1997 and has been responsible for the training of staff in field techniques and office procedures and software packages. He has been active in state surveying societies and has attended annual conferences of Florida, Alabama and Georgia. He has served as an expert witness on boundary related litigation cases in Florida and has been a guest lecturer at both the University of Florida and Troy University Geomatics Programs. Zoltek has also been a presenter of professional technical seminars at the Rocket City Geospatial Symposium at Troy University, The Surveying and Mapping Society of Georgia (SAMSOG) Summer Conference, at Avatech Solutions’ in-house training seminars in Virginia Beach, Virginia and Las Vegas, Nevada and also at Pictometry’s Futureview Conferences and various State Pictometry User’s Groups (PUGs). A member of ASPRS since 1992, he is also a member of URISA and the New York State GIS Association.
About ASPRS
Founded in 1934, ASPRS is an international professional organization of 6,000 geospatial data professionals. ASPRS is devoted to advancing knowledge and improving understanding of the mapping sciences to promote responsible application of photogrammetry, remote sensing, geographic information systems and supporting technologies.