Ed Spitler, chairman of the engineering technologies department at Sandhills Community College, has been appointed to serve on the state Geodetic Survey Advisory Committee.

This committee serves in an advisory role to the state surveyor and represents the spatial data user community's interests.

"This is truly an honor for me to serve the state of North Carolina in this capacity," Spitler said.

Spitler's surveying technology program at Sandhills provides education for technicians in the many areas of surveying. Surveyors are involved in land surveying, route surveying, construction surveying, photogrammetry, mapping, global positioning systems, geographical information systems and other areas of property description and measurements.

The college offers several surveying degree options, including a one-year certificate, a two-year associate in applied science degree and 2+2 transfer degree opportunities in geomatics, civil engineering technology and construction management through select North Carolina universities. Sandhills surveying majors are also able to double major and earn a second associate degree in applied science degree in civil engineering technology.

Sandhills' surveying graduates enter both public and private design, construction and mapping industries, which helps ensure that most are able to find jobs in their chosen field of study. They qualify for positions as a survey party chief, instrument person, surveying technician, highway surveyor, mapper, GPS technician and CAD operator.

The engineering technology department believes in education, both inside and outside the classroom, Spitler said. Students participate in rigorous academic challenges in class while learning fundamentals and completing advanced hands-on projects using the latest technologies.

Students are provided annual opportunities to interact with professionals, tour construction sites and projects and to attend conferences and expositions off campus with faculty as part of the annual Experience Engineering Project, which began in the spring of 2000.

The Experience Engineering Project has provided Architectural, Construction, Engineering and Surveying (ACES) Club members and faculty opportunities for tours and visits to wonders around the world. Students and faculty have taken architectural tours in London, Paris, Washington, D.C., Charleston, S.C., and New York City.

They have explored engineering wonders such as the Hoover Dam in Nevada, the Biltmore Estate in Asheville and the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. They have toured monumental construction projects such as the Central Artery/Tunnel project in Boston, the Arthur Ravenel Jr. bridge project in Charleston, S.C., the Nationals baseball stadium project in Washington, D.C., and the One World Trade Center construction project in New York City.

This year, the faculty and students will visit Falling Water, a Frank Lloyd Wright house in southwestern Pennsylvania, and they will tour museums in Washington, D.C.

Anyone needing more information about engineering technology programs can contact Spitler at (910) 695-3797 or spitlere@sand-hills.edu.