‘I’d say we use Topcon equipment in close to 20 courses. Topcon has been enormously helpful in allowing us to teach students with state-of-the-art technology.’
– Jack Walker, chair of the Geomatics Department, Oregon Institute of Technology
In these days of declining tax revenues, state-supported colleges and universities find it nearly impossible to pay full price for today’s high-end surveying equipment. Back in 2005, upper management at Topcon Positioning Systems spotted this need for surveying equipment, especially GPS equipment, and launched the Topcon Educational Partnership Program (EPP). The program supplies colleges, universities, technical schools, and labor union training programs with state-of-the art surveying equipment at educational discount prices. Topcon dealers sell the equipment, then provide training at a nominal rate. The Topcon Educational Partnership Program is a strong part of Topcon Corporation’s global Corporate Social Responsibility Program. “I’d say we use Topcon equipment in close to 20 courses,” said Jack Walker, chair of the Geomatics Department at Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath Falls, Oregon. “Topcon has been enormously helpful in allowing us to teach students with state-of-the-art technology.” The University of Maine was one of the first schools to benefit from the Topcon program. “We got our first Topcon GPS system in about 2005,” said Raymond Hintz, PhD., professor of Surveying Engineering Technology at the University of Maine. “We got two complete sets of HiPerLite + GPS systems – two bases and two rovers. We used them in “Practical GPS,” “Advanced Practical GPS,” “Advanced Surveying,” “Surveying Capstone,” “Adjustment Computations,” and “Practical Field Operations.” University of Maine offers a four-year degree program in surveying. “We are 100 percent Topcon here,” says Hintz. “And Spiller’s, our local dealer, has had a lot to do with it.” What goes into a decision to choose certain survey instruments? “Price, quality, and service,” said Hintz. “I go with the people and the systems that don’t give me any problems.” Hintz said that last year the university bought three base stations and three rovers of Topcon’s line of GR-3 GNSS equipment. “Over the years we’ve had about 10 total stations from Topcon, and we own two of their digital levels and four construction laser level systems,” Hintz said. How important is service when operating survey equipment at a college or university? “Oh, man, yes, service is very important and we get unbelievable service,” Hintz said. “I ask, and they serve. Of course, they benefit from having the people learn to use Topcon equipment. “I think Topcon’s educational program is great, but it’s really the people involved who make it such a success,” said Hintz. He has special praise for Dominick Auletto, the former vice president of business development at Topcon and the man who started and built up the program. “Without Dominick I doubt this all could have happened,” Hintz said. Specifically he credits Topcon CEO and president Ray O’Connor, Topcon’s Hank Boudreau, the northeast regional manager, as well as Russ Desjardins at Spiller’s.” Auletto says he launched the Educational Partnership Program by working closely with the University of Maine. He had worked with Dr. Hintz for some years, and collaborated with him to shape the EPP. In working with the University of Maine, Auletto says he learned that the surveying classes needed multiple software packages “so that a class of 15 students did not have to all huddle around one computer. Auletto said Topcon started the program by focusing on approximately 25 schools that had four-year degree programs in surveying. A top priority was given to large schools such as the University of Maine, Oregon Institute of Technology, New Mexico State, Penn State, Ohio State, the University of Connecticut and the University of Florida. After that Auletto shifted the focus to engineering universities that offer surveying courses, then to two-year associate degree programs in surveying. “The next phase of the program was geared toward the training schools at the labor unions,” says Auletto. “We started with the Operating Engineers, and from there branched into the Laborers Union.” Topcon’s Educational Partnership Program has proved to be enormously successful in Europe. In Wales, for example, Cardiff University purchased the Topcon HiPer Pro and photogrammetry software. Alessia Taboga, a doctorate-level student at Cardiff University, used the Topcon equipment to map landslides and locate survey lines. She also used the instrument to monitor movement markers. The Topcon GPS equipment has proved to be a quantum leap ahead for Taboga, who began landslide survey efforts by setting up survey pegs for geophysical grids. “We soon found that process to be very time consuming because the pegs were being removed by sheep and local children,” Taboga said. “When we obtained the Topcon HiPer Pro, it revolutionized our work, because we could set up a base station outside the landslide area and survey locations to a high degree of accuracy using the rover,” Taboga said. She has also experimented using the Topcon HiPer Pro to monitor landslide movement by installing rock anchor markers. This has proved very successful; it is possible to monitor ground movements of approximately 0.8 meters per year to a sub-centimeter precision. “In fact, the data we have collected on landslide movement using the Topcon equipment have proved to be more reliable that the conventional EDM-based surveying carried out by professional surveyors employed by the local council,” said Dr. Peter Brabham, Taboga’s project supervisor in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University. What’s more, the Topcon HiPer Pro was used to locate a number of random target markers that were used with balloon-based photography. “Using the photogrammetric software, we were able to construct a detailed topographic model of the landslide,” Taboga said. The landslide surveying project was awarded the Cardiff University Innovation and Engagement Award for 2008. “I think Alessia Taboga’s work shows the way forward for monitoring these urban landslides in South Wales,” said Brabham. |
End-users: More than 500 educational institutions worldwide Location: College campuses around Project: Topcon’s Educational Partnership Program Scope: To provide Topcon GPS equipment to colleges and universities at affordable prices. Topcon Products: Topcon Dealer: |
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 Students at Purdue University listen as a representative from Positioning Systems trains them on Topcon’s HiperLite + GPS equipment. At left is Steven Johnson, PhD., Geomatics Engineering, Purdue. (Photo courtesy of Purdue University)
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 Students at New Mexico State University use equipment in the desert north of Las Cruces, N.M. (Photo courtesy of New Mexico State University) |
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