Alumni spotlights

Back in 1999, Jon Neufeld, BSc (Eng)'03, MBA’15, started studying geomatics at the Schulich School of Engineering, a burgeoning program that had evolved out of civil engineering and later, the Department of Surveying Engineering.

“Geomatics had recently changed its name from Survey and Cadastral engineering to reflect the more technology-oriented, forward-looking world of that industry,” he says. “I was very much impressed and amazed by computer mapping techniques, satellite positioning, all of the technology that was evolving so rapidly to tell us where things are in our world and how they're all connected.”

Twenty-five years on, and Neufeld’s even more amazed at geomatics. Today, he’s president of IO Aerospace, delivering extensive data solutions to a range of clients, founder of NORTH51, an annual ideas conference “pushing the boundaries of the geospatial industry,” and co-founder of GNO-SYS, which designs, develops and deploys geospatial and remote sensing systems.