Winners
Aakash Chhabra
Postgraduate Student Award
Coarsely mapped data on forest fuel condition that lacks spatial and temporal resolution, results in large inaccuracies in fire spread predictions, which impedes actionable decision-making during disasters. The integration of independent remotely sensed forest vegetation observations from Synthetic Aperture Radar and optical sensors has the potential to improve fire spread predictions by providing near-real-time assessments in detail, resulting in greater fire preparedness and emergency services support. Accordingly, Aakash’s research successfully developed a novel SAR-based vegetation index method (RADAR-VSPI), and an integration method for combining SAR and optical datasets. This research resulted in 1 journal publications in a top journal.
Jagannath Aryal
Educational Development Award
Dr Jagannath Aryal is an accomplished academic who has worked in Government and Academic sectors in close collaboration with private Industry. He has delivered outstanding Surveying and Remote Sensing education to students in Asia, Europe and Oceania. He has continuously volunteered for FIG, ISPRS, IEEE GRSS, SSSI Journal & Remote Sensing Commission. His rich research experience from delivering prestigious grants ($17 Million) benefitted significant number of PhD completions and ongoing PhD supervisions. Dr Aryal has a high track record of publications and citations. His outstanding teaching and mentoring have benefitted students who have secured successful positions in Geospatial Sector.
Adam Mattinson
Diversity and Inclusion Award
Adam has been working as a Geospatial professional for 14 years, and during this time he has been a vocal advocate for the visibility, and advancement of the LGBTIQA+ community. Adam has been an advocate for the advancement for this group in part because of his own personal experience, but primarily because of what appeared to be a void in the spaces our industry works in. Adam’s personal journey has instilled in him a desire to ensure that all of our LGBTIQA+ peers have a community of openness and support, where they can bring their whole selves to work.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment and Geoscience Australia
Award for Environment & Sustainability
Project: National Land Cover Accounts. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) and Geoscience Australia have collaborated to produce the first set of land cover accounts for Australia. This product provides information on changes in land cover trends over the last 30 years using nationally consistent data which informs on environmental and economic outcomes.
Land Surveys, Transurban, Dibit Measuring Technique, AECOM
Award for Technical Excellence
Project: Reality Capture for Tunnel Inspection. Replacing the labour intensive and manual process of tunnel inspection, Land Surveys, together with Dibit Measuring Technique, Transurban and AECOM combined high resolution imagery with LiDAR to derive a complete photorealistic 3D model of Transurban's Brisbane tunnel network. This dataset now forms the base layer of a ‘Digital Twin’ and can be used to identify deficiencies and features (e.g. crack defects, lights, cables, fixed assets), identify the baseline condition to detect changes year on year and enable data driven decisions for operation, maintenance and engineering activities to deliver operational efficiency over the life of the tunnel asset.
RILIPO and Stantec
Award for Community Impact
Project: Digital Asset Management Plan. The Digital Asset Management Plan (DAMP) recently completed by Cardno now Stantec for 31 Remote Indigenous Communities across Queensland has delivered a starting point for community collaboration, a central point of truth. The infrastructure and work as executed data from the DAMP directly feeds into the Built-Environment Integrated Information System (BEIIS) which has been developed by the Remote Indigenous Land and Infrastructure Program Office (RILIPO) to provide access to geographic information to support informed decision-making with respect to land planning and development in these remote communities.
Mangoesmapping
Workforce Development and Inclusion
Project: Accessible and Actionable Technical Support Guides for new GNSS survey users. Since November 2021, Mangoesmapping regularly publishes free and practical videos to help educate emerging consumers of GNSS survey technology consumers. Most of our users are distributed across Australia and are specialists in non-survey domains, seeking accessible alternatives to detailed technical documentation for their survey workflows. Online video content is discoverable and accessible. It provides the option to provide feedback, ask questions and discover related content, in an open community setting. The continued positive feedback from both our client base and industry has helped us develop a backlog of 59 additional video topics for future production.
Kurloo Technology
Innovation Award - Small Business
Project: Port of Brisbane Seawall. Faced with the challege of protecting contamination of an environmentally sensitive marine park, where risk to equipment and human life was ever present, Land Solution Australia demonstrated innovation excellence at the Port of Brisbane Sea Wall project though a innovative blend of remotely operated spatial technology and process including 3D construction models, UAV spatial analysis and Kurloo GNSS IoT Technology. This project delivered optimial data accuracy, improved productivity and reduced safety and environmental risk and has set a new benchmark for high risk spatial survalence and monitoring right across a wide variety of industries including transport, Utilities , Mining and Infrastructure.
Martin Brady
Professional of the Year
Martin Brady is a skilled, innovative and dedicated professional, who’s contribution to national and international geospatial excellence has enabled shifts in spatial and statistical analysis for the benefits of communities, businesses and industries worldwide. He has been a driving force in promoting the value of location insights within the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) & his nomination is supported by his peers and senior organisation leaders who wish to acknowledge his dedication, expertise, leadership in enhancing the geospatial evolution over many years within the ABS.
Dr Jun Wang
Future Leader of the Year
Dr Jun Wang is an outstanding Geodetic Scientist, Lead Researcher and Mentor at Land Solution Australia in Brisbane. Jun leads a dedicated research and development effort that has transformed the business model of Land Solution Australia within 5 years. He has published numerous academic papers, successfully obtained several research grants and played an active role on many iconic infrastructure and construction projects. Jun has mentored and supervised students and young professionals and established the Australian Chinese Geospatial Association group to promote the professional development and the exchange of ideas among professionals in the field of Surveying, GIS and Remote Sensing.
Veris
Award for Technical Excellence
Project: Paradise Gorge Digital Twin
Veris provided spatial data services and intelligence to inform, assess and protect against the risk of a rock fall on a critical section of the Tasman Highway near Paradise Gorge. Collaborating with key project stakeholders at short notice, Veris deployed UAV surveys, terrestrial laser scanning, real-time sensors, immersive 3D data visualisation and analysis to support the removal of over 2,000 tonnes of boulders and enable the safe re-opening of the highway to the public. The Digital Twin solution enabled the government and engineers to manage the risk remotely and reduce time and cost by planning remediation works online.
Esk Mapping & GIS
Innovation Award - Small Business
Project title: SPARQS - Next Level Web GIS
SPARQS is a next generation system utilising open-source technologies, is feature rich and is accessible everywhere. SPARQS unlocks the power of affordable GIS. The purpose SPARQS is to address a fundamental gap in the natural resources market: simple and effective management of resource information. SPARQS is designed for and provides rapid planning, mapping and operational decision making tools - without having extensive GIS knowledge. SPARQS features context sensitive and highly customisable map creation, reporting and integration tools, allowing users to do their work efficiently and consistently. This is a contemporary resurrection of a much loved and battle proven 1990s ArcView plugin.