Editor’s Farewell

It has been an immense honor to serve as the editor in chief of the Journal of Surveying Engineering from June 2015 to June 2023, a period marked by significant innovations within the surveying engineering community. This opportunity allows me to reflect on memorable events and express gratitude toward the talented individuals I have had the privilege of working alongside on this incredible journey.

Foremost, I am grateful for the mentorship of Dr. Tomás Soler, who graciously reached out early in my career, introduced me to the ASCE geomatics divisions, encouraged me to become involved in activities, and provided me with opportunities to serve in varied roles at the journal. His guidance on my first manuscript submission to the journal was invaluable, helping me navigate the complexities of publication and peer review. His continued support has significantly shaped my career, allowing me to contribute to the journal as an author, a member of the editorial board, an associate editor, and, ultimately, editor in chief.

I also appreciate the dedicated team of associate editors, whose hard work ensures the quality and timeliness of our peer reviews. Their efforts have been crucial in maintaining the journal’s efficiency and expanding its impact on both researchers and practitioners. It has been a privilege to collaborate with distinguished researchers such as Drs. Georgia Fotopolous, Jim Bethel, Craig Glennie, Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska, Alireza Amiri-Simkooei, Daniel Gillins, Michael Starek, Jen-Yu Han, and Sergio Baselga in this capacity.

I am thankful for the unwavering efforts of the editorial board and the reviewers whose behind-the-scenes efforts enrich our publication process. Our community of experts, representing many facets of geomatics, generously dedicate their time to provide insightful and detailed feedback to authors of submitted manuscripts. Toward these efforts, we have also sought to identify some promising, early-career editorial board members to build up capacity in the leadership of the journal to ensure its longevity, as well as to provide their expertise with the new advancements in geomatics technologies.

The contributions from our authors, who share their innovative work and ideas through carefully crafted articles, have been particularly rewarding to engage with. It has been very rewarding to explore their many innovations across the field of geomatics through their manuscripts.

I am immensely grateful for the unwavering support from the ASCE publications staff, who continuously improve our submission and review processes. I appreciate their guidance and assistance when resolving some of the difficult situations that sometimes arise.

Special thanks to Dr. Gene Roe, whose guidance was instrumental as I transitioned to serve as editor and helped keep me abreast of advances in geomatics technology and research across the globe.

During my tenure, the surveying engineering community has witnessed tremendous advancements and we have regularly updated the journal’s aims and scope to stay at the forefront of emerging research areas such as computer vision–enhanced photogrammetry, information modeling, and bathymetric mapping. A key motivator in these efforts is to extend the journal’s reach and emphasize the importance of surveying as a catalyst for integration across multiple disciplines toward convergent research. Nevertheless, to avoid dilution of the fundamental purpose of the journal, submitted manuscripts are expected to clearly demonstrate significant scientific contributions and advances within the field of surveying engineering rather than simply apply surveying engineering principles to other domains.

As our field grows, we face challenges, such as keeping pace with the educational demands associated with the proper application of rapidly advancing technologies. Surveyors and surveying engineers must have a solid understanding of fundamental geomatics principles to remain at the center of these technological advancements to ensure proper usage and application of these technologies and associated data such that the limits to their accuracy are understood. For example, today we see countless examples of uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) structure from motion (SfM) multiview stereopsis (MVS) derived pixie dust data sets that lack proper survey procedures to establish control in the collection and processing of such data instead of high-quality point clouds that can be obtained with the proper knowledge in application of this powerful technology.

The journal plays a critical role in educating our community to avoid these pitfalls. The journal is supported by initiatives such as ASCE Manual of Practice No. 152 (ASCE 2022), which provides a comprehensive reference on surveying practices and technologies. These resources are crucial to help educate surveyors and diverse research communities with both fundamental theoretical knowledge and practical, efficient workflows to ensure quality data to meet increasingly complex demands of geospatial data.

Another key challenge is the fracturing that has occurred with the geomatics community given the role it plays across many disciplines. Through serving as editor and in various capacities on committees within the ASCE Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute (UESI) and other organizations, such as the Surveying and Geomatics Educators Society (SaGES), I have looked for opportunities to reintegrate the geomatics community across these professional organizations so we can work together to tackle the grand challenges in surveying engineering. These include efforts to improve appreciation of geomatics among those in many other disciplines who have a limited understanding of surveying engineering. For example, ASCE UESI has reinstituted a national surveying conference and explores partnerships with other professional surveying organizations in these efforts. Two such conferences have been held to date, and in June 2024, a multiorganization surveying and geomatics conference will be held at Oregon State University.

Finally, I am delighted to see Dr. Sergio Baselga assume the role of editor in chief. His vision for the journal promises to further its influence in the surveying engineering community and beyond. I am thankful for our friendship and collaboration, and I look forward to the bright future of the journal under his commendable leadership.