598
September 2017
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
A N I N T E R V I E W
ASPRS Certification validates your professional
practice and experience. It differentiates you from
others in the profession.
For more information on the
ASPRS Certification program:
contact
visit
STAND OUT
FROM THE REST
earn asprs
certification
ASPRS congratulates these recently
Certified and Re-certified individuals:
CERTIFIED LIDAR TECHNOLOGIST
Cathy McPherson, Certification #015LT
Effective July 20 2017, expires July 20 2020
CERTIFIED MAPPING SCIENTIST LIDAR
Daniel Wagner, Certification # L016
Effective July 27 2017, expires July 27 2022
RECERTIFIED PHOTOGRAMMETRISTS
Paul A. Badr, Certification #R1011
Effective May 20 2017, expires May 20 2022
Frank R. Taylor, Certification #R1208
Effective August 14 2017, expires August 14 2022
Stephen G. Kopach, Certification #R692
Effective August 6 2017, expires August 6 2022
RECERTIFIED MAPPING SCIENTIST
REMOTE SENSING
R. K. Kandukuri, Certification #R197RS
Effective October 18 2016, expires October 18 2021
THE
IMAGING & GEOSPATIAL
INFORMATION SOCIETY
What would you consider to be the most important advice
you could offer a younger, upcoming scientist / engineer?
In the mid 1970s, I embarked on a career path in photogrammetry
without having a clear notion of where that road might lead. So far, I
have ‘travelled’ through the sectors of academic teaching and research,
commercial industry and research management, and I have yet to
reach the journey’s end. Looking back, I would say that prerequisites
for success in my professional life have been the provision of a solid
education in the fundamentals of the science of technology of what is
now encapsulated by the term geomatics, along with the pursuit of a
specialisation, in my case, broadly, the analytics of photogrammetry,
from close-range to satellite imaging. Whereas I would like to imagine
that I have kept abreast of the developments in our evolving discipline,
I am ready to concede that these days this is more at the technology
overview level. So, my advice to young scientists and engineers is to
pursue excellence in the fundamentals of your chosen discipline while
at the same time reaching out to and improving your knowledge of as-
sociated disciplines in which developments having a direct bearing on
photogrammetric technology are rapidly emerging.
What significant changes have you seen in your field
during your career?
The evolution in photogrammetry during my career has been dramat-
ic, especially the transitions from analog to analytical to digital pho-
togrammetry. This has not only impacted in the area of professional
topographic photogrammetry, it has also led to the emergence of a host
of new application domains and even nowadays to the consumerisation
of photogrammetry where, for example, hobbyists are conducting auto-
matic, image-based 3D measurement and modelling from off-the-shelf
cameras and inexpensive drones. In my own case, I have been privi-
leged to witness and actively participate in the birth, development and
maturation of a new application area of photogrammetry, namely that
of large-scale vision metrology, especially in the aerospace and aircraft
manufacturing sectors.
How do you see the future of our profession?
As an essential 3D mapping and modelling technology underpinning a
great many of the burgeoning applications of modern spatial informa-
tion services and products, photogrammetry has a very bright future.
This should augur well for future photogrammetric scientists, engi-
neers and technologists. Unfortunately, however, from the perspective
of ASPRS and like professional societies internationally, we are not
seeing a corresponding growth in the profession, at least as indicated
by membership numbers. Part of this trend is no doubt attributable to
technological change, exemplified by the growth in process automation,
but it is also due in part to the growth in integration of photogram-
metric technology into closely linked spatial science disciplines such as
computer science and GIS. Indicative of this overlap is the R&D area
termed photogrammetric computer vision. What we as photogramme-
trists are witnessing is growing participation in our discipline of those
from related disciplines. This is undoubtedly very positive for photo-
grammetric technology development, but is not necessarily beneficial
for the likes of ASPRS, since these same professionals have their ‘nat-
ural homes’ in other professional societies, and there’s only so many
technical conferences and trade shows that one can attend each year.
