About Tim Burch

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Tim Burch, GPS World’s co-contributing editor for survey, is executive director of the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) and director of Surveying at SPACECO Inc. in Rosemont, Illinois. He has been working as a professional land surveyor since 1985.

Posts by Tim Burch

Coordinating surveyors on where we draw the lines Posted on 07 Sep 2022 in the Opinions & Survey categories.

Technology changes the rules of the game, and surveying may be more in its crosshairs than the profession will admit Maps have existed for centuries. The lines on maps indicating... Read more»

Mapping the original stones along the Mason-Dixon line Posted on 04 May 2022 in the Opinions & Survey categories.

Ask surveyors why they became engaged in the profession and why they had continued with it, most will centralize on one aspect: working outside. Read more»

Surveyors: Always in the ‘middle’ of something… Posted on 02 Mar 2022 in the Opinions & Survey categories.

The surveying profession is intrinsically involved with many functions of today’s communities and environment. When we take a closer look at the roles we play, the surveyor is usually found... Read more»

A look back at 2021, a look ahead at 2022 Posted on 05 Jan 2022 in the Opinions & Survey categories.

Another year has come and gone. The global pandemic of COVID-19 is still upon us, and while we have experienced peaks and valleys of controlling the virus, it has radically... Read more»

What the mind’s eye sees: The surveyor and spatial intelligence Posted on 03 Nov 2021 in the Opinions & Survey categories.

If we introduce children who have an interest in visualization of puzzles, art and mathematics to the appropriate training methods, we can help train future STEM students that could turn... Read more»

The surveyor and augmented reality – ready for the future Posted on 01 Sep 2021 in the Featured Stories & Opinions & Survey categories.

The surveying profession has experienced a plethora of advancing technology over the past two decades and it does not look like there will be a slowdown any time soon. Read more»

Surveying and the future: Where is technology going? Posted on 07 Jul 2021 in the Opinions & Survey categories.

Earlier this year, we looked back at 2020 and reviewed how surveying has dealt with the worldwide pandemic while adapting to the new tools and technology being created. We discovered... Read more»

Surveyors, not the tools, define the profession Posted on 05 May 2021 in the Featured Stories & Opinions & Survey & UAV/UGV categories.

Many have debated how the surveying profession has morphed into something less than what our predecessors would have called surveying. In earlier times, the surveyor was an honored figure in... Read more»