Alumni spotlight
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Jon Neufeld BSc’03 (Geomatics Engineering)
Schulich alum “loves the world of mapping”
Jon Neufeld has long been a driving force behind Calgary’s geomatics boom
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.
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.
Jon Neufeld BSc’03 (Geomatics Engineering)
He’s played a major role in driving the remarkable growth of this field in Calgary. “Early in my career, I worked with airborne mapping companies. The very first job I had out of school was working with one of the first digital aerial cameras in existence,” he says. Now, IO Aerospace flies high-altitude jets with sensors and a custom airborne camera to collect data on everything from methane emissions to disaster response.
“We designed and built our own camera system that lets us get high-resolution images from 30,000 feet up,” says Neufeld. “We can cover huge territories—up to 10,000 square kilometers—in a single flight. Our main market so far has been utilities because they spend a significant amount of money on vegetation management and understanding where assets are and if there's any risk of vegetation growing into power lines.”
Neufeld also spent 13 years with TECTERRA, a government-funded non-profit, helping build the local geomatics ecosystem and witnessing “rapid and dramatic change in the tech culture in Calgary.” Initially, TECTERRA’S clients were small companies focused on natural resource extraction. Tech startups were rare.
“Over the last 15 years, we've seen the number of startups increase,” he says. “We've seen the deal flow from venture funding increase dramatically, and we were starting to see huge success stories like Benevity, which was acquired for $1Billion. We're really seeing tech growing and booming.”
And, with the advent of AI, the industry is facing more growth and big questions about ethics, open data and the availability of information, he says.
A member of Schulich’s Geomatics Engineering Advisory Council, Neufeld encourages Schulich students to consider building a career in tech. “They live in a very different world than I lived in at the time, but the things that they're learning—getting the key principles and understanding the why of how things work—are still applicable,” he says.
Neufeld loved his time studying at Schulich, making lifelong friends and picking up life skills, “that's something that I appreciate to this day,” he says. While he’s built a successful career in a growing tech sector, he says one thing hasn’t changed since he started studying geomatics: “I love the world of mapping. I love the world of knowing where things are.”