June 1, 2022

Dr. Mike Barry retires after 20 years at the University of Calgary

Professor & Chair Land Tenure and Cadastral Systems

Dr. Michael Barry FGS

The Department of Geomatics Engineering celebrates Dr. Michael Barry’s outstanding academic career and wishes him a wonderful and well-earned retirement.

The following paragraphs summarize Mike’s contributions:

Contributions to the Department/University

Dr. Barry joined the University of Calgary on 28 August 2002 as an Assistant professor. He was promoted to Associate Professor in July 2003 and Full Professor in April 2010. He held the John Holmlund Chair in Land Tenure and Cadastral Systems from 2008 to 2013 and he has held the Chair in Land Tenure and Cadastral Systems from 2013 to the present. He wrote the necessary exams and has registered as a Professional Engineer in Alberta since 2010 and a Canada Land Surveyor (CLS) since 2007 in order for the Geomatics Engineering undergraduate degree to be accredited by Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) the Canadian Board of Examiners for Professional Surveyors (CBEPS).

Service and Administrative Responsibilities

Dr. Barry was appointed Associate Head, Undergraduate Studies, in the Geomatics Engineering Department soon after he joined the University of Calgary, from 2003 -2009. As Associate Head, he revised the undergraduate program, and he prepared the documentation for accreditation visits by both the Canadian Board of Examiners for Professional Surveyors (CBEPS) and the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB).

He has served on a number of Department, Faculty and University Committees. University committees include the International Centre Africa Program Committee, The University of Calgary Faculty Association (TUCFA), Graduate Scholarship Committee, University Eyes High Postdoctoral Scholar’s Program Applications Assessment, and the Graduate Studies: Interdisciplinary Graduate Programme Scholarship Committee.

Schulich School of Engineering committees include the Academic Appeals Committee, Undergraduate Studies Committee, Schulich Student Activities Development Committee, Donna Geekie Service Award Advisory Committee, Faculty Promotions Committee (FPC), Assessment Coordination Team (Act) (CEAB Visit), and Programme Quality Assurance Committee (PQAC).

In the Geomatics Engineering Department, he has served on the Undergraduate studies committee, three Headship Selection committees, six Recruitment & Selection committees, the Awards Assessment Committee, the Geomatics Engineering Liaison Committee (which he chaired for six years) and the Geomatics Engineering Liaison Committee.

National

Dr. Barry has been the University of Calgary representative on the Board of Directors, Canadian Board of Examiners for Professional Surveyors (CBEPS); Member CBEPS Exemption and Accreditation Committee, Canadian Board of Examiners for Professional Surveyors (CBEPS); CBEPS On-Line Degree (TOLD) Steering Committee; CBEPS On-Line Degree (TOLD) Accreditation and Exemption Process Committee; and CBEPS On-Line Degree (TOLD) National Syllabus Team, Law, Tenure, Cadastre, Boundaries and Planning team; and a Member, Canada Lands Survey Systems Benchmarking Working Group, Natural Resources Canada and Association of Canada Lands Surveyors.

He has been the Chair, Association of Canada Land Surveyors Task Force on Membership Goals and Strategies; Chair, Canadian Board of Examiners for Professional Surveyors (CBEPS) Accreditation Team - University of New Brunswick, Geodesy & Geomatics Programme, December 2017, 3-day site visit; and Canadian Board of Examiners for Professional Surveyors (CBEPS) Accreditation Team - British Columbia Institute of Technology.

International

Dr Barry has been the Canada Representative, International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) Commission 7 representative since 2006 and a member of the FIG Foundation Board of Directors since 2005.

He has been an invited speaker and invited workshop participant at a number of universities and events organized by the World Bank and UN-Habitat.

He was an International Accreditation Reviewer, National Commission for Academic Accreditation & Assessment (NCAAA), Saudi Arabia College of Engineering Surveying Program at King Saud University (KSU), Riyadh.

Research

Dr Barry has supervised or co-supervised 13 MSc graduates and 3 PhD graduates since 2002. Among a number of other publications, he has published two book chapters, 42 peer reviewed journal papers since 2002 and 57 conference papers since 2002.