NEWS  &  ANNOUNCEMENTS

Head on over to the PSU Wilkes-Barre website to check out all of the latest job postings for Surveying Engineering and Surveying Technology. New jobs are posted as companys contact the Surveying department and express their interest in Penn State students!

If you plan to take the Fundamentals of Surveying exam this October or next April here are the steps you need to follow to register:

Visit the NCEES website to create an account.

Fill out the FS Board Application and mail the application in by July 1st for the October exam or by December 1st for the April exam. This includes the Report of Student Status Form, so you won't need to fill that out separately. You will receive a letter in the mail saying that you've been approved by the Board.

After you receive your letter in the mail, fill out the Scheduling Form. This is to tell the Board where you want to take the exam. At that time you will need to pay a $200 Entrance Fee. Send the Scheduling Form and Entrance Fee back to the Board by September 5th for the October exam, or by February 21st for the April exam.

Then you're done! The Board may not send you a letter detailing your exam location, but calling to comfirm is in your best interest. After that you should receive materials in the mail a couple weeks before the exam.

Thanks to Matt Eckenrode for all of the great information!

On April 21st, The Penn State Wilkes-Barre Student Government Association recognized Outstanding Student Leaders for their achievements in academics and activities inside and outside the classroom.

Ryan White, Rich Cebrick and Heather Nicholson
with Dr. Frank Derby after the Awards Dinner.

Ryan White was honored for his incredible organizational skills and exceptional service as President of the PSU Wilkes-Barre Chapter of Lambda Sigma National Honors Society. Ryan is a graduating senior in the Surveying Engineering program and he plans to attend graduate school this fall.

Rich Cebrick was honored for his dedication and time spent designing, coding and maintaining the Penn State Surveying Society website. He is a Surveying Engineering student and, in addition to being an active member of the Surveying Society, he is Treasurer of the PSU Wilkes-Barre Chapter of Lambda Sigma National Honors Society.

Additionally, Matt Boozer, Chris Monahan, Brennan Coates and Mark Wasickanin were recognized for their accomplishments in athletics and extracurricular activities. Michael Schubert received an award from the SGA "For Asking All of the Questions That No One Else Would" during the weekly SGA meetings.

The Surveying Society was recognized as "Student Government Association Club of the Year" for its organization, community service and overall club excellence!

A Special Thank You  is extended from all members to Breenan Coates, our "Fearless Leader" and 2012-2013 Penn State Surveying Society President. Without him we would not have been as successful as we were during the past year!

On April 18, 2013 Dr. Thomas Seybert was recognized by the Surveying Society for his outstanding advising and mentorship throughout his tenure at Penn State.

Dr. Seybert is presented An Award of Recognition by
Matt Boozer and Brennan Coates

Dr. Seybert is a Professor at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, where his chief responsibilities include advising, scheduling and teaching Surveying Principals and Engineering Concepts to the students enrolled in the Surveying Technology and Surveying Engineering programs. He is highly skilled in the disciplines of Plane Surveying, Curve Geometry, Large Scale Mapping, Statistical Measurement Analysis, Stormwater Management and Land Development Design. Additionally, he conducts extensive research in the fields of Watershed Assessment, Urban Hydrology, Stormwater Managment for Land Development and Best Practices for Stormwater Management Design.

Dr. Seybert received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Penn State, all in Civil Engineering. He has been a professor at the Wilkes-Barre Campus since 1996 and this is his 16th year serving as the advisor for the Penn State Surveying Society.

"This is long overdue! Dr. Seybert has always made time for me no matter what. Whether I needed help with computations, lab work or my degree audit I knew I could count on him!" -Brian Halchak

The Surveying Engineering Open House took place on April 14th in the Tech Center on Campus. High school students from as far away as Vermont attended presentations from Surveying Faculty and Students. Additionally, the attendees participated in outdoor field activities where they were introduced to modern survey equipment including total stations and GPS rovers and receivers and the proper procedures to operate the equipment. Thanks to the students from Lambda Sigma Honors Society for their hard work and preparations to make this year's Open House a huge success!

Dr. Charles Ghilani, professor of Surveying Engineering at Penn State Wilkes-Barre received the 2013 Milton S. Eisenhower Award for Distinguished Teaching. Dr. Ghilani was presented with the award during the ceremony held on March 25th at the Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park Campus in State College.

Dr. Ghilani is presented with the Eisenhower Award
by Penn State President Dr. Rodney Erickson

The award recognizes excellence in teaching and student support among tenured faculty who have been employed full time for at least five years with undergraduate teaching as a major portion of their duties. Milton S. Eisenhower, brother of former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, served as president of Penn State from 1950 to 1956.

A Penn State Wilkes-Barre faculty member since 1989, Dr. Ghilani designed the Bachelor’s Degree Program in Surveying Engineering. He is the author of two of the leading textbooks in his field, with one adopted by 256 U.S. schools. To address varied learning styles, he often holds problem-solving group sessions in lower-level courses, and his Angel course-management website includes online books he wrote, practice exams, lesson notes, video lessons and links to external information sources. To help students who have trouble visualizing three-dimensional images by looking at two-dimensional drawings, he created 3D animations of difficult class topics for students to view and manipulate in Angel. For field surveying, he placed QR codes on equipment so students can use their smart phones to access videos on equipment and software usage.

Dr. Ghilani also maintains an open-invitation Friday-morning breakfast at a local restaurant for his students with two rules: no talking about class, and the students pay the tip. "I often hear about their Thursday nights, upcoming weekends and other things related to their lives," he said. "What I hear stays with me and gives me insight into their lives."

One student nominator said, "I cannot imagine a more thorough, prepared or intelligent professor." Another nominator wrote, "Assignments are always challenging, and although students consistently grumble about these assignments, the challenge forces every student to dig a bit deeper, try a bit harder and study a bit longer. In the end, students simply learn more."

The 7th Annual Surveying Society Golf Tournament took place on Saturday, April 6th at The Wilkes-Barre Municipal Golf Club. A big thanks goes out to our sponsors, teams, participants, the Wilkes-Barre Municipal Golf Club Staff, and Society helpers for making this year's tournament a success! We enjoyed nice weather, good fellowship, and good competition for this year's bragging rights.

Over spring break, 5 members of the society gave presentations to high school classes. The society believes in the importance of educating surveying as a profession and the programs offered at PSU Wilkes-Barre. Below is infomation regarding society member visits: