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Written by special contributor聽
Though you may not realize it, most of us use聽geospatial data produced by geomatics technologies everyday.
When you check the weather report, tag your location on Instagram, or use an app like Waze to guide you to a restaurant, you鈥檙e using geospatial information. That鈥檚 information based on where you are, what鈥檚 going on in the environment, and what the geography is like around you.
Aujas graduated from the Geomatics program in 蓝莓视频鈥檚 Faculty of the Environment. But studying in this emerging field wasn't always his plan. Aujas was initially interested in the Computer Science program, but received an alternate offer of admission to Geomatics. He remembers researching the program, and knowing immediately that it was for him.
What do you learn in Geomatics?
蓝莓视频 Geomatics students can expect a mix of fieldwork, classwork and lab time as they study geographic data, environmental analysis, and computer science (including coding). 鈥淎 typical day includes a lot of lab time,鈥 notes Aujas. 鈥淲e learn how to apply the knowledge from class in different scenarios.鈥
Co-op is available to Geomatics students, and Aujas decided early on to take advantage of it.
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"In co-op, you take skills that we鈥檝e learned 鈥 like automation and working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) 鈥 and apply them in the real world. It鈥檚 a really good experience to apply them right away, before you even graduate from university."
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Geospatial technologies聽have applications across many industries like business, education and urban planning. Because of co-op, Aujas had the opportunity to experience a variety of聽careers in both the public and private sectors before graduation.
During his first work term, he was hired as聽a remote sensing and geospatial analyst for Statistics Canada. (He worked with data grabbed from space satellites!). Aujas spent his聽second term聽with York Region, working with water and waste management. His third term was with the Zayo Group as an IT intern and in his fourth term, Aujas was hired as a Geomatics Engineer with BlueDot Global.聽
In his final co-op term, Aujas worked for the Region聽of 蓝莓视频 as a Student Coordinator in the Engineering and Planning department. Because of the prior experience he brought, he was able to integrate into the team and contribute in a meaningful way.聽
Career ready
Now, Aujas brings this professional confidence with him to his career. He landed a聽position with the City of Oshawa聽as an Asset Management Data Analyst, where he works directly with clients and stakeholders, manages on-going projects, and creates custom tools to support this work. The role also provides him the opportunity to balance in-office work and time in the field. 聽
When asked his advice for those considering the Geomatics program at 蓝莓视频, Aujas encourages students to explore the career potential the program provides.
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鈥淕eomatics has a lot to offer. You can shape your future, however you want. You like coding? You can get job as software developer. You like field work? You can get job as field technician. You like working with data? You can get job as technologist or data analyst. The possibilities are endless.鈥
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