This new annual awards program recognizes the professionalism, value, integrity and achievement of MAPPS member and associate member firms in specific projects.

“MAPPS has assembled a distinguished panel of objective and knowledgeable judges representing diverse segments of the geospatial community,” said John Palatiello, MAPPS Executive Director. “Based on the high quality of submissions, the judges have a difficult task in choosing the most outstanding geospatial projects.”

Judges for the 2007 Geospatial Products and Services Excellence Awards are:

Don Evick, PE - Serving as panel chairman, Don is retired from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers where he was involved as an agency liaison to MAPPS and other trade and professional groups, coordinated Corps architecture-engineering (A/E), (including surveying, mapping and geospatial), contracting policy, and taught the Corps course on A/E QBS contracting.
 
Dr. Pamela Lawhead – Pamela is Director of the Institute for Advanced Education in Geospatial Sciences (IAEGS) at the University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS. IAEGS (http://geoworkforce.olemiss.edu/) is Ole Miss’s on-line education program in the remote sensing and geospatial field, responsible for soliciting course materials from principal remote sensing specialists internationally, developing this material into a state-of-the-art, interactive learning environment and delivering it to interested community colleges and universities. 
 
Prof. Bob Burtch – Bob is a professor of surveying engineering at Ferris State University, Big Rapids, Mich. (http://www.ferris.edu/faculty/burtchr/index.htm) where he was a leader in a summer stereoplotter operator course that FSU and MAPPS jointly sponsored in the 1990s. He also teaches a workshop for ASPRS on Preparing for ASPRS Certification.
 
Cyrena Respini-Irwin - Cyrena is Senior Editor of Geospatial Solutions magazine. (http://www.geospatial-solutions.com) She has previously served as the associate editor, managing editor, and Web editor of both Geospatial Solutions and GeoIntelligence, as well as digital media editor for Cadalyst magazine.
 
Marc Cheves – Marc is the founder of Cheves Media, publisher of The American Surveyor Magazine (http://www.theamericansurveyor.com/). He was previously editor of Professional Surveyor prior to founding his current publication. Marc is a professional surveyor with prior experience in private practice.

The judges will evaluate project submissions in six categories: airborne and satellite data acquisition, photogrammetry/elevation data generation, remote sensing, GIS/IT, small projects, and technology innovation. Judges will select one winning project from each category as well as an overall winner who will receive the Grand Award for MAPPS Project of the Year.

The submission period for the 2007 Awards is now closed. Awards will be presented to winners at the MAPPS Summer Meeting being held July 16-20, 2007, at the Mount Washington Resort at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.

About MAPPS
MAPPS was formed in 1982 by a small group of U.S. photogrammetry companies as the Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors to represent the interests of private photogrammetric and aerial surveying firms. Since then, MAPPS has expanded in size and scope to become the only national association exclusively comprised of private firms in the spatial data and geographic information system field in the United States.
Current MAPPS memberships spans the entire spectrum of the geospatial community, including Member Firms engaged in surveying, photogrammetry, satellite and airborne remote sensing, aerial photography, hydrography, aerial and satellite image processing, GPS, and GIS data collection and conversion services. MAPPS also includes Associate Members, which are companies that provide hardware, software, products and services to the geospatial profession in the United States and other firms from around the world.
For more information on MAPPS, please visit www.MAPPS.org.