News in 2003

The 2nd Cadastral Congress organised by the Association of Polish Surveyors was held in Krakow, Poland September 18-21, 2003. The title of this conference was "Cadastre reliable for civil and social services". The conference was organised in co-operation with FIG Commission 7 and it was linked to Commission 7 annual meeting 2003.
The 11th FIG Symposium on Deformation Measurement was held in Santorini, Greece May 25-28, 2003. This symposium organised by FIG Commission 6 (Surveying Engineering) working group on Deformation Measurement has the longest tradition in FIG as a Commission organised event on a certain topic. This time this symposium attracted more than 130 participants from 29 countries – major national groups represented were Polish, Italian and, of course, Greek. Participation of more than 15 delegates, among them students and scientists from less developed countries became possible through grants from the sponsors of the symposium.

Proceedings are now available at: www.fig.net/figtree/commission6/santorini 

  • The Arab Federation for Surveying meets in Marrakech in January 2003
The Arab Federation for Surveying which was established in Beirut October 23, 2002 had its first meeting during the 3rd National Surveying Conference in Marrakech., Morocco in January 2003.

The first Executive Committee is chaired by President Dr. Sarkis Fadous (President of the Lebanese Order of Surveyors) and has following Vice Presidents members: Dr. Dalal el Alnaggar (President of the Regional Training Center in Egypt), Ing. Aziz Hilali (President of the National Order of Geographical Engineers and Surveyors in Morocco) and Secretary General: Ing. Abdu-el-Meneem Samara (General Director of the Land and Surveying Department in Jordan) and Treasurer: Dr.-Ing. Sameh Jazamati (Deputy and President of the Surveying Engineering department at the Syrian Order of Engineers) and following members: Dr.-Ing. Mouhamed el Rajihi (General Director of the Land and Surveying Department in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and Ing. Abdullah bin Obeid El Mazrouyi (Oman).

  • Grants and scholarships from the FIG Foundation
The Board of Directors of the FIG Foundation has decided on the FIG Grants 2002 at its meeting 19 December 2002. Totally US$ 13,000 were given to 12 applicants from 10 countries. The total number of applications was 20. The grants were given to the following applicants:

Dr. Frances Plimmer (United Kingdom), Boipuso Nkwae (Canada/Botswana), Mabel Alvarez de Lopez (Argentina), Dra. Analía Argerich (Argentina), Dr. Ioan Stancu (Romania), PhD Hande Demirel (Turkey), Alick R. Mwanza (Zambia), Sara J. Wilkinson (United Kingdom), Dr. Sankaran Rajendran (India), Marie C. Robidoux (Canada), Dr. Galcano Canny Mulaku (Kenya) and Dr. Jinyun Guo (P. R. China).

The deadline for the FIG Grants 2003 was March 15, 2003. Decisions on the grants will be made in April 2003. This year the FIG Foundation offered grants up to US$ 20,000. The maximum grant will normally be US$ 1,000 per applicant. The guidance notes for the application are available on The FIG Foundation web site as well as the application form. For the next time for applying please follow this site.