Category Archives: Energy/Utilities
RFID Crazy
Above image: A Berntsen RFID reader is being used in conjunction with a smart phone. RFID-enabled infrastructure marking could become a cornerstone for a connected infrastructure management world. Imagine if all public works engineers and utility company crew chiefs were equipped with a mobile device that could easily and accurately identify every piece of infrastructure...
Who Does SUE?
Subsurface utility engineering lies at the intersection of surveying and engineering. Over the years I have had many discussions with folks in the broader engineering and survey world about subsurface utility engineering (SUE) regarding both the practice and the terminology. One of the main discussions has been whether the practice aligns more closely with engineering...
AI-enabled UAS Inspection
AI provides UAS users with biased analytics, the ability to analyze data for insights, and the knowledge of when to act. Artificial intelligence (AI) is at the center of controversies regarding jobs and employment. Will AI take away all our jobs? While some jobs will indeed change or disappear as they have always and will...
Cooperative Effort Takes Off
Tapping into UAS technology creates possibilities for a northern Arizona utility. Sometimes, the most effective, revelatory, progressive solutions to a problem can be found in the unlikeliest of places. Case in point: three and a half hours north of Phoenix in the city of Lakeside, Arizona, an electric cooperative that serves more than 33,000 member...
TheGeoDude on The UESI Conference
I’ve attended a lot of conferences over the years. They’ve primarily been either surveying-focused or technology- (GPS, laser scanning, reality capture, CAD) focused. The recent Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute (UESI) conference, held April 22 to 24 in Pomona, California, was my first conference with a strong mix of civil engineers and surveyors; a show...
Getting out Is a Good Thing
Field Notes Although I have been active in the surveying profession in several ways over the years, including serving as the editor of Field Notes, I really haven’t ventured out much to seek face-to-face encounters in various venues and settings, but that recently changed a bit and has produced a new perspective for me. In...