The bachelor's degree in geomatics focuses on the future of the industry
In the fall semester of 2021, the 1000th student successfully completed her bachelor’s degree in geomatics at the FHNW University of Applied Sciences. Every year, the course produces specialists who are in high demand on the job market. In order for these to be able to cover a growing number of application areas in geomatics, the course was revised with the option of specializing in four forward-looking specialization profiles. In addition, the Institute of Geomatics has further strengthened itself with the appointment of Christian Gamma as the new professor for land administration and cadastral systems.
Since the origins of surveying training at today’s FHNW almost 60 years ago, the geoinformation world has changed radically. While the professional field used to focus on surveying and then also on geographic information systems, graduates are now increasingly taking on tasks in other application areas, e.g. in the future-oriented areas of GeoBIM, infrastructure management, environmental analysis or in data-supported planning.
In order to meet the increasing demand for specialists in all areas of geomatics, the bachelor’s degree in geomatics is being revised, starting in autumn 2022. Four new holistic and interdisciplinary specialization profiles have been created, in which specialist and methodological skills are taught in the context of current areas of application . Always with a view to future job descriptions and the needs of a changing and diversifying industry. With a focus on project-based learning, interdisciplinary project modules with complex practical issues and a field course are offered in each profile. The combination of main and secondary profile guarantees that graduates not only have a specialization but also the desired breadth of specialist knowledge.
With the appointment of Christian Gamma as Professor of Land Management and Cadastral Systems, the new GeoDesign and Land Management profile is strongly positioned with an expert from the field right from the start.
The trained surveyor and studied geomatics engineer Christian Gamma is a certified engineer surveyor and has managed the surveying office of the canton of Aargau as cantonal surveyor for the last few years. Since 2016 he has been working as an external lecturer for cadastral surveying at the institute. He sees the sustainable development and use of the space as a major challenge, to which geomatics makes important contributions: “Thanks to interdisciplinary cooperation under the leadership of geomatics, the rooms are being designed and rearranged. The results must then be recorded geometrically and descriptively in an up-to-date, reliable, binding, public and official information system, the so-called cadastre. I look forward to accompanying this development and preparing future specialists and managers for these interesting and demanding tasks.»
The redesign of the bachelor’s program in geomatics focuses not only on new content but also on the promotion of self-directed learning and critical self-reflection. The creation of freedom, for example to take elective modules, contributes to the independence of the students and enables them to put lifelong learning into practice as part of their portfolio even after they have completed their studies. The future graduates are more ready than ever for the challenges and developments of the future and an enrichment for the companies and organizations that will be able to benefit from their specialist knowledge in the future.