23 Young Geospatial Professionals to Watch in 2023 – 5 of 23
Name: Adamu Bala
Company: Department of Geomatics, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria.
Current Position: Lecturer II
Age: 36
Education: Ph.D. Surveying and Mapping Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan; MSc. Geomatics (2018) and B.Eng. Geomatics Engineering (2010) from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria; postgraduate diploma in mining engineering (2020) from the Nigerian Institute of Mining and Geosciences; and postgraduate diploma in education (2014) from National Teachers Institute, Nigeria.
Biography: Bala is the winner of the FIG Survey Review Biennial prize 2022 for the best peer-reviewed paper presented by a young surveyor at the 2022 FIG Congress in Warsaw, Poland. He is a lecturer in the Department of Geomatics at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, and also, a visiting lecturer at the Nigerian Institute of Mining and Geosciences. He has published 13 peer-reviewed journal papers and 21 conference papers.
Bala is registered as a surveyor and also an examiner with the Surveyors Council of Nigeria and is a member of professional bodies including the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS), FIG Young Surveyors Network (YSN), National Association of Surveying & Geoinformatics Lecturers (NASGL), amongst others. He is the national secretary of FIG Young Surveyors Network, and an interim editor of a Maiden Edition of Northern Surveyors Magazine in Nigeria.
A rising star, Bala has won many awards and scholarships including 2022 fully funded Chinese Government Scholarship for Ph.D. in Surveying and Mapping Science and Technology; the 2021 Netherland`s Orange Knowledge Programs scholarship; Leica Geosystems 2021 Certificate of Outstanding Achievement in the 100 years of innovation in Heerbrugg
Quiz; the 2019 National Map Making Competition Merit Certificate awarded by the Nigerian Cartographic Association (NCA); and the 2021 Award of Excellence for Societal development issued by Geomatics Students Association of Nigeria (GEOSAN).
Bala is also a graduand of the six-month 2021 SSSI Australia virtual Young Professionals mentorship program with a high distinction grade. He likes to inspire students and young and upcoming geospatial professionals.