As one of G&A's professional land surveyors prepares to conclude his long and distinguished career, in one of the most timeless professions, we thought we would ask Jim McEwen, P.L.S., a few questions about his journey.
How did you start your career in surveying?
My first exposure to land surveying was when I went to Paul Smiths College in New York for forestry and ended up in their survey option degree program. I enjoyed both areas of study, but ended up getting a land surveying job after graduation. After working a few months, I was drafted into the Army and ended up performing Artillery Surveys, not to mention other tasks, in Vietnam. When discharged, I went back to my previous employer and have pretty much been surveying ever since with one exception. My career has been a zig-zag one between forestry and land surveying. I did zig at one point back into forestry and attended Washington State University to obtain my bachelors and master’s degrees in forestry and then worked for Boise Cascade in Kettle Falls, Washington, until the economy tanked. Then I zagged back into surveying and moved back east, thus ending my zig-zag career. I’ve been surveying ever since.
What is one aspect of surveying that you enjoy the most?
Diversity is what I like the most about land surveying. Diversity of the various sites one works on from urban, to rural, to very remote. Diversity in the many hats one must wear such as adventurer, researcher, detective, analyst, lawyer, map preparer, arbitrator, expert witness, preparer of legal documents, and ultimately a perfectionist. Even though you do pretty much the same thing for each project, each one is on a new site with new challenges.
What is one of your most memorable projects and why?
I’ve been surveying so long it is hard to name just one and they are not specific projects per se.
One outstanding memory is my time surveying section lines in the Pacific Northwest for Weyerhaeuser and Boise Cascade because it is such beautiful country to work in.
Another is the change in technology over the length of my career. From using a transit and steel tape with a three-person field crew in the analog days to using robotic instruments, data collectors, and GPS field equipment with a one-person field crew in today’s digital world. Oh yes, there’s the office too. From using trig functions and logarithmic tables, plotting with a pencil and paper, calculating by hand, and running prints on ammonia printers to today’s digital world of computers, software programs including AutoCAD, and plotters.
What would you say to someone who is considering a career in surveying?
Go for it. If you like the outdoors no matter what the terrain or weather, if you like researching and reading various types of documents, if you like history, using computers, robotics, scanners, lasers, and other technically advanced equipment, are a team player, like solving problems, and oh yes, there are always those deadlines to meet, then you should like surveying. It is a great profession with a long history, always challenging, will certainly keep your interest.
Credits:
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