This page includes information about new appointments and
positions in FIG member associations and other organisations that are of
interest to FIG and its members. The second part consists of short news and
pictures of visits by FIG representatives or visits to
the FIG office.
Matt Higgins listed among 50 top figures in GNSS
 |
Matt Higgins, FIG Vice President has been
listed by GPS World in the group of 50+ leaders to watch in GNSS
business. The list was published in the May 2008 issue of GPS World.
Read what Matt Higgins is saying.
The full article is also available on
GPS World web site. |
FIG Office Manager leaves
 |
FIG Office Manager Per Wilhelm Pedersen has
resigned from his position as Office Manager as from the end of April
2008. A golden opportunity appeared for him to start a company -
something he has thought about for years. FIG really regrets this as we
have developed a very close and professional relationship that has
enabled us to run FIG in a very professional way. We owe a big thank to
Per for this.
In this situation the Council has taken the necessary measures to
ensure that the Stockholm conference will be successfully implemented.
The Council is also considering how best to reorganise the Office in the
near future. |
Vice President Ken Allred Elected to
Alberta Legislature
 |
Vice President Ken Allred was elected to the
Legislative Assembly of the Province of Alberta in a general
election on March 3, 2008 as a representative of the Alberta
Progressive Conservative Party. The historic election, elected
Premier Ed Stelmach and 72 Progressive Conservative members,
out of a total of 83 seats in Alberta’s Legislature, with 9 Liberal
members and 2 New Democrats holding the remaining eleven seats. The
Alberta Legislature is the parliament for the province of Alberta,
one of the ten provinces in Canada with a population of 3.5 million
people.
Read more about the
elections. |
FIG Honorary Member, Professor Emeritus Jean-Marie Becker
passed away
 |
Prof. Emeritus Jean-Marie Becker, Honorary
Member of FIG since 2004 and FIG Commission 5 Chair from 1998 to
2002 passed away on 27 October 2007. He was born in 1935 in France.
Becker started his career in the Swedish National Mapping Agency in 1966
and was appointed adjoint Professor at the Royal Institute of Technology
in 1966.
He was the Chair of FIG Commission 5 between 1998 and 2002 and was
appointed FIG Honorary Member in 2004.
Read In Memoriam written by
Lars E Engberg Mikael Lilje
Ulf Sandgren
The Swedish Association of Chartered
Surveyors |
Prof. Holger Magel, Honorary President of FIG, receives the
Bavarian Order of Merit
(Bayerischen Verdienstorden)
|
Prof. Holger Magel and Bavarian Minister President Dr. Edmund
Stoiber |
Prof. Holger Magel received 11 July 2007 the
Bavarian Order of Merit from Dr. Edmund Stoiber, Bavarian
Minister President as recognition for his outstanding services to
Bavaria and to the Bavarian People.
The Bavarian Order of Merit is the highest Order of the Bavarian State
and thus ranking higher than the German Federal Order of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz).
Prof. Magel is the first surveyor in 26 years receiving this Order. |
|
Dr. Edmund Stoiber is thanking Prof. Holger Magel for his
outstanding services to Bavaria and the Bavarian people |
Mrs. Ansi Magel with Holger Magel |
New General Director Robert Iulian Tatu appointed at the
National Agency for Cadastre and Land Registration of Romania
 |
As of 11 of June 2007, the National Agency for Cadastre
and Land Registration from Romania has a new General Director, Mr.
Robert Iulian Tatu.
The former General Director, Mr. Mihai
Busuioc will carry on his activity as Deputy General Director.
Mr. Tatu graduated in 1994 from the Faculty of Geodesy
and up to the present has held the position of Director of Communication
Department from the National Agency for Cadastre and Land Registration.
On the occasion of his appointment, Robert wanted to point out the
importance of ensuring the continuity of the activity of the institution
he was now running and expressed his intention to consolidate and
develop the existent international relations.
"We are a modern, European institution, therefore we wish to become
strategic partners of similar institutions in other countries, thus
contributing to the development of a stable and transparent system of
cadastre and land registration", it is the message recently addressed by
the new General Director. |
Richard Meyer, Honorary Member
of FIG, passed away 20 February 2007
 |
Richard Meyer, Secretary General of the FIG Bureau during the
first German presidency 1968-1971 and a member of the US led Bureau
1971-1974 - in Germany passed away 20 February 20007. He was born 11
June 1910. The German FIG Council congratulated Meyer
at his 95th birthday in 2005 by saying that thanks to "Richard Meyer's
life-long outstanding engagement for FIG one can really say: Richard
Meyer made FIG well-known in Germany". Due to his multilingual language
skills and his open minded character he has found a lot of friends
worldwide and has brought the German way of surveying and land managing
a good reputation.
In memoriam Richard Meyer (1910 - 2007)
by dr. Andreas Drees. |
Prof. Richard K. Bullard, FRICS Anglia Polytechnic University
passed away
 |
Prof. Richard K. Bullard, FRICS
passed away 25 January 2007. Prof. Bullard was a former national
delegate, appointed by the RICS, to FIG and Secretary of Commission 2
(Professional Education) and also a corresponding member of Commissions
3 (Spatial Information Management) and 7 (Cadastre and Land Management).
He was also representative of the Anglia Polytechnic University,
Academic Member of FIG, to FIG.
Prof. Bullard was working as a Researcher in the Department of the Built
Environment at Anglia Polytechnic University APU and also worked as a
freelance consultant specialising in land related issues. Started his
surveying career in Zimbabwe and worked in 41 countries. Completed
Masters in Engineering by research at the University of the
Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and Doctorate at Sheffield University. |
| Worked in many of the activities of surveying including,
cadastral, engineering, land management, photogrammetry, remote sensing,
and topographical survey. He was a Fellow of the Royal Institution of
Chartered Surveyors, and a Fellow of the Survey Institute of Zimbabwe.
The Chair of the Geomatics Faculty Board (2002-2004) at the RICS and a
Member of its Executive. An RICS APC examiner. With the European Faculty
of Land Use and Development and is a Professor in Systemes d'Information
du Territoire. His main interests in consultancy and research included
land reform, land management, land consolidation and coastal zone
management. Particular interest in the multidisciplinary aspects of land
development for countries in transition and those in the developing
world. Is the author of books, chapters and publications in the above
fields of activity. A member of the editorial panel of International
Land Management Series, published by Ashgate Publishing. Richard will be
missed by his wife Pauline and surveyors all over the world. |
Prof. Holger Magel receives the Soldner Medal
|
 |
President Holger Magel received 18 December 2006 the Soldner
Medal from Mr. Kurt Faltlhauser, the Bavarian Minister of Finance
as recognition for his services to Bavaria and as serving as the FIG
President and organising the XXIII FIG Congress in Munich. The medal is
named after Astronomer and Mathematician Johann Georg von
Soldner. Read more about the recognition and award in
German.. |
|
President Holger Magel and Minister Kurt Faltlhauser. |
Mrs. Ansi Magel with Holger Magel and Kurt
Faltlhauser. |
Prof. Holger Magel awarded with a high
Bavarian medal
|
Holger Magel and Alois Glück
©Rolf Poss |
Prof. Holger Magel was awarded 13 December with
a high profile Bavarian medal "Bayerische Verfassungsmedaille".
This silver medal was handed to FIG President Magel by Alois Glück,
President of the Bavarian Parliament. The award was given to the FIG
president and the President of the Bavarian Academy of Rural Areas in
appreciation of his services on developing rural areas and building
civil society through participatory involvement of citizens. The medal
is given by the Bavarian Parliament to persons, who have promoted the
conditions of Bavaria. It belongs to the national honours, which are
lent most rarely in the State of Bavaria.
 |
Mr. Geza Apagyi, President of the
Hungarian Society of Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing MFTTT passed away
 |
The President of the Hungarian Society of Surveying, Mapping and
Remote Sensing, MFTTT and the Head of Department of Land and Mapping at
the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Geza
Apagyi passed away 25 August 2006 in his age of 59. The
international community have lost valuable person and a good friend.
Hungarian surveyors will keep his memory for ever. |
Prof. Dr hab. inz. Kazimierz Czarnecki passed away
23 August 2006
 |
Prof. Dr hab. inz. Kazimierz Czarnecki,
President of the Association of Polish Surveyors and a long-time leader
of the Polish delegation to FIG passed away 23 August 2006 at the age of
67. The FIG Council and all surveyors feel sad about his
unexpected death. The Council had made a proposal to the FIG General
Assembly that it appoints Prof. Czarnecki as an Honorary Member of FIG
at the meeting in Munich. The Council will now propose that the
appointment will be made posthumously. Read more about Prof. Czarnecki
and his work in FIG on his
CV for
the General Assembly. |
Juha Talvitie, Honorary
President of FIG, receives his PhD and celebrates his 70th birthday in
September 2005
 |
Dr. Juha Talvitie, Honorary President of FIG got
his PhD at the Ceremonial Conferment of Doctoral Degrees at Helsinki
University of Technology. His PhD thesis that was approved in 2003 and
was titled "Information and Communication Technology: A New Aspect in
Urban and Regional Planning". The ceremonial conferment took place
at the HUT on the inauguration day of the academic year on the 9th of
September 2005 when Dr. Talvitie got his doctor's hat with 313 other new
doctors. Dr. Talvitie celebrated his 70th birthday the following Monday.
|
Celebrations of the 50th birthday
of Vice President Andreas Drees and his company
|
President Magel giving the FIG greetings to "Scribe
Drees". |
Prof. Holger Magel, President of FIG was the
keynote speaker at the 50th anniversary celebration of the surveying
company of Vice President Andreas Drees in Münster Germany. The
event took place on the 19th of March, which was at the same time the
50th birthday of Dr. Drees. The celebration and presentations attracted
lot of colleagues and friends of Dr. Drees. About 180 people were
listening the presentation of President Magel, his speech is available
here (in
German). Also Presidents of BDVI, DVW, GE, CLGE attended the
celebrations. Further many high-level representatives of state and
municipalities attended the event and congratulated for 100 years. |
 |
Vice President Andreas Drees (on the right)
together with the representative of Münster municipality (Stadtbaurat)
and his partner Dipl.-Ing. Bernhard Schlüter (on the left) |
Prof. Willem Baarda, Honorary Member of FIG passed away -
In
Memoriam
 |
Prof. Willem Baarda, Honorary Member of FIG
since 1959 passed away 2 January 2005.
He was born in Leeuwarden 20.7.1917 and died in Delft. On January 2, 2005.
Prof. Baarda was an honorary member of the Netherlands Geodetic
Commission, member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and
Sciences, honorary member of the Royal Institution of Chartered
Surveyors (GB), honorary doctor of the University of Stuttgart. He
received the Levallois Medal of the IAG in 1995. Read
In Memoriam written by Prof.
(em.) Dr.-Ing Wolfgang Torge. |
Vice-President Allred Makes Presentation at Lund University
 |
Vice President Ken Allred made a presentation on January 30,
2006 to the students in the Masters program at Lund University in Lund,
Sweden.
Students from the Master of Science in Engineering - Land Surveying
and Management program at Lunds Tekniska Högskola have been active in
FIG over the past several years giving presentation in Paris (2003) and
Athens (2004).
The M.Sc. program at Lund combines geomatics, law and economics to
provide students with a good background in land management. Some of the
specializations students can take in their later years are real estate
economics, land use planning and geomatics. About 50 students, including
a large percentage of female students, are admitted to the program each
year. |
Visit from NSW, Australia to Denmark and FIG Office
|
Visit to the Ministry of Environment: Warwick Watkins (to the left),
Minister Tony Kelly, Niels Østergård,
Stig Enemark and Virginia Knox. |
A delegation from New South Wales, Australia visited Denmark 4-5
July 2005. During the visit delegation visited the Ministry of
Environment and the FIG office to get familiar with FIG and to discuss
the arrangements of FIG Congress 2010 to be held in Sydney. The
delegation was headed by the Hon. Tony Kelly, Minister for Lands
and included Virginia Knox, Chief of Staff, Warwick Watkins,
Director General, Department of Lands, Surveyor General and Registrar
General and Richard Lyons, Director of the Office of Emergency
Services. FIG was represented by Vice President Stig Enemark and
Markku Villikka. During the visit to the Ministry of Environment,
Niels Østergård explained the
visitors the planning system and local governance reform in Denmark. |
FIG President visits Slovenia
 Prof.
Holger Magel, President of FIG visited Slovenia 30 September - 1
October. During the visit he met with Mr. Janez Kopac, Minister of
Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy.
Tomaz Petek, Member of the Executive Committee of the Association of
Surveyors of Slovenia, Bojan Stanonik, M.Sc., M.Sc., President of the
Association of Surveyors of Slovenia., Prof. Holger Magel,
Janez Kopac, M.Sc., Minister of Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy
and Bozena Lipej, Ph.D., Deputy Director General of Surveying and
Mapping Authority
FIG receives ESRI "Special Achievement in GIS"
 FIG
received one of this year's ESRI "Special Achievement in GIS". The award was
given to FIG during the ESRI Users' Conference in San Diego in August 2004.
Jack Dangermond, President of ESRI, Markku
Villikka, FIG and Mike Weir, ESRI at the award ceremony.
|
