News Releases

Geomatics Engineering and Land Management now offered at UWI

For Release Upon Receipt - March 5, 2010

St. Augustine


St Augustine Campus introduces new programmes for Engineering students

 

The University of the West Indies (UWI) Department of Surveying and Land Information has changed its name to the Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management. The change followed a meeting of the University Finance and General Purpose Committee on October 9th, 2009.

“In the last 12 years, our Department really has outgrown its previous name,” said Professor Jacob Opadeyi, Head of The UWI Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management.

The Department now offers programmes in Land Management and Geomatics Engineering, an emerging field of studies which includes a range of disciplines such as land surveying, geodesy, photogrammetry, remote sensing, cartography, land and geographic information systems, urban planning, cadastral systems, global navigation systems and hydrography. Undergraduate offerings include Bachelor of Science (BSc) degrees in Land Management or Bachelor of Science (BSc) degrees Geomatics. For postgraduate students, the Department now offers Master of Science (MSc) degrees in either Geoinformatics or Urban and Regional Planning. Two research programmes were recently introduced: the Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in either Geoinformatics or Urban and Regional Planning.

“Our Department’s new name represents the expanded scope of our academic offerings. In response to the University’s Strategic Plan, all of our programmes have undergone significant curriculum review, and many of our courses have been revised to meet industry demands,” Professor Opadeyi said.

Geomatics Engineering is a modern, rapidly developing field of study which integrates the acquisition, modeling, analysis and management of spatially referenced data. Geomatics engineers use their knowledge of science, engineering and measurement technology to solve complex world problems. Technologies developed within the discipline have revolutionised global navigation, resource and environmental management and urban planning.

Career opportunities for the Geomatics Engineer span over both the private and public sector markets and range from the technical engineering fields to policy making and planning. The Geomatics Engineer will be able to work in any of these sub-disciplines and many related fields in the built environment.

“The name change reflects a deliberate effort to make our graduates more relevant to current industry requirements,” Professor Opadeyi said. He cited the example of the Department’s undergraduate Geomatics programme, which now offers courses in Communication Skills, Health and Safety (seminar), Applied Project Management, as well as two project courses specially crafted “to make our students ready for the workplace.”

Land Management refers to disciplines involved in the process of managing land as a natural resource in a sustainable way. It includes the sub-discipline of Land Administration, which involves determining, recording and disseminating information about the ownership, value and use of land. It also includes urban and regional planning, which involves the organisation and regulation of physical development in both the urban and rural landscapes locally and regionally, as well as valuation surveying, which is the process of developing a fiscal value for real property. The Department offers a specialisation of property valuation at the undergraduate level as well as graduate programmes in land administration and physical planning.

Graduates of the land management programmes have several opportunities for employment in both the private and public sectors as they relate to physical planning, property valuation, fiscal cadastre development, as well as managerial responsibilities in local government agencies.

For more information, please click http://sta.uwi.edu/eng/surveying/BScInGeomatics.asp, or contact Professor Jacob Opadeyi, Head of the Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management at jacob.opadeyi@sta.uwi.edu or (868) 662 2002 ext. 2108 or 3313.

 

For the latest UWI News, click http://sta.uwi.edu/news.

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About The Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management

The Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management was established 27 years ago as the Department of Land Surveying, to facilitate the education and professional training of Land Surveyors to fulfill the need for qualified Caribbean personnel in cadastral, geodetic and engineering surveying. In 1998, its name was changed to the Department of Surveying and Land Information, as it had expanded to encompass disciplines in the fields of physical planning, GIS, land administration and policy.

About UWI

Over the last six decades, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged University with over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest and most longstanding higher education provider in the English-speaking Caribbean, with main campuses in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and Centres in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Christopher (St Kitts) & Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent & the Grenadines. UWI recently launched its Open Campus, a virtual campus with over 50 physical site locations across the region, serving over 20 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean. UWI is an international university with faculty and students from over 40 countries and collaborative links with over 60 universities around the world. Through its seven Faculties, UWI offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Pure & Applied Sciences, Science and Agriculture, and Social Sciences.

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