Curtin, SKM stand out in inaugural Spatial Excellence Awards

The inaugural Western Australian Spatial Excellence Awards were held at the weekend hosted by the Western Australian regional groups of the Australian Spatial Information Business Association and the Spatial Sciences Institute.

Curtin University of Technology was well represented among the winners, with three representatives. SKM projects won two awards while NGIS received two commendations.

The awards recognise the leading projects and people in the spatial sciences industry
in WA.

Below is a list of the 2007 Spatial Excellence Award Winners, followed by individual information on each winner:

Professional Eminence and Excellence
in Spatial Sciences
Individual - Winner: Dr William Featherstone
Australian Research Council Professorial Fellow, Curtin University of Technology

Infrastructure and Construction
Industry - Winner: Fugro Spatial Solutions Pty Ltd
Project Name: New Metrorail City Project- Automatic Data Monitoring
System for Geotechnical Instrumentation

Industry and Entrepreneurship
Industry - Winner: SKM
Project Name: Transperth Route Information System -
SmartRider Ticketing Implementation

Spatial professional of the Year
Individual - Winner: Paul Harris
Chief Executive Officer, NGIS Pty Ltd

Service to the Spatial Community
Individual - Winner: Rex Ballard
GIS Officer - City of Rockingham

Resource and Environment
Industry - Winner: Whelans
Project Name: Audit, Assessment and Transfer
of the Ord Irrigation Network from the Water Corporation
to the Ord Irrigation Co-Op (OIC)

Education and Professional Development
Individual - Winner: Dr Bert Veenendaal
Associate Professor and Head of
Department of Spatial Science, Curtin University

Young Spatial Professional of the Year
Individual - Winner: Wing Shattock
Senior Transport Planner, Department of Planning and Infrastructure

Measure and Mapping
Industry - Winner: SKM (Landgate, BHP)
Project Name: Amendment of the Newman to Port Hedland Railroad Lease

Research and Innovation
Industry - Winner: ER Mapper
Project Name: ER Mapper Project Composer

Spatial Student of the Year
Individual Winner: Georgina Warren
PhD Research Fellow, Department of Spatial Sciences,
Curtin University of Technology

Industry and Entrepreneurship
Industry - Highly Commended: NGIS
Project Name: NGIS Australia and BHP Billiton Iron Ore:
ioMaps: Enterprise-wide Location Based Data Systems

People and Community
Industry - Highly Commended: FESA
Project Name: SLIP Emergency Management -
Establishing a Coordinated Spatial Information Capability
for the Western Australian Emergency Management Community

People and Community
Industry - Highly Commended: NGIS
Project Name: NGIS Australia and the SIM-Centre: The role
of spatial in the post tsunami recovery and reconstruction effort.

Honorary Fellow of the Spatial Sciences Institute: Recommendation
Citation - Kevin Pownall

Below is individual information on each 2007 Spatial Excellence Award winner:

Professional Eminence and Excellence
in Spatial Sciences
Individual - Winner: Dr William Featherstone
Australian Research Council Professorial Fellow, Curtin University of Technology
Professor Will Featherstone's career is marked by outstanding performance as a researcher in the spatial
information sciences, and specifi cally his contribution to the discipline of geodesy. In a research career
of over seventeen years he is internationally renowned and respected among his peers, as evidenced by
numerous papers and citations. Will contributes to many editorial boards of journals as well as advisory
committees.
Will holds several positions at Curtin University. He is the fi rst-ever ARC Professorial Fellow, Director of
the Western Australian Centre for Geodesy, Professor of Geodesy, and Associate Dean of Research in the
Division of Resources and Environment with responsibility for all research administration and strategy in
the Division of 200 staff.
Will also became an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the Geodetic Institute, Stuttgart University,
Germany in 2006 and was one of only 420 Australians to have ever been awarded this fellowship.
Will's research involves close liaison and collaboration with other geodetic and geophysical scientists,
both Nationally and Internationally. His current responsibilities include: Editor-in-Chief of the Journal
of Geodesy, executive/member positions on three different International Association of Geodesy study
groups, Vice-President of the Australasian Surveying and Mapping Lecturers' Association, and Editor of
Geomatics Research Australasia
Will has attracted over $3.3M in competitive research grants and contracts since 1993 of which over
$2.8M was from the Australian Research Council, comprising 1 ARC professorial fellowship, 6 large/
discovery grants, 2 linkage grants, 2 linkage international grants, 3 RIEFP grants and 5 ARC small grants.
Will has published over 240 written works since 1991, over 145 of which are peer-reviewed, and he has
received numerous citations, 360 of which are listed by Thompson ISI.
Some of Wills local prizes and awards include, Best Technical Workshop Prize, SatNav2003 Conference,
Melbourne (2003), The A.W. Canning Excellence in Surveying Award, Institution of Surveyors, WA Div
(1999), The President's Medal, Mapping Sciences Institute of Australia (1997).
Will has been a driving force behind shaping the research strategic direction within the Science and
Engineering disciplines at Curtin University. His professional reputation and achievements have raised the
local research profile, and brought significant benefits to the Australian spatial information industry.

Infrastructure and Construction
Industry - Winner: Fugro Spatial Solutions Pty Ltd
Project Name: New Metrorail City Project- Automatic Data Monitoring
System for Geotechnical Instrumentation
Leighton Kumagai JV approached Fugro Spatial Solutions ("FSSPL") in March 2004 seeking a solution
for the required monitoring and an Automatic Data Monitoring System for Geotechnical Instrumentation
for their New Metrorail City Project.
With the assistance of FSSPL's sister company Fugro Geotechnical Services Hong Kong a proposal was
submitted and accepted by LKJV and work commenced in April 2004.
The perceived requirement was for a Chief Monitoring Surveyor and an Assistant plus 2 Robotic Total
Stations and a number of prisms for 2 years.
FSSPL's full time involvement concluded a the end of March 2007, just short of 3 years from the first
work carried out on site.
During that time FSSPL reached a peak of 12 staff who worked in excess of 37 000 man hours, 6
permanently mounted Robotic Total Stations, hundreds of prisms and over 1000 retro-reflective targets
on site.
Operations required 24/7 support for the system and on many occasions multiple shifts per day.
The computer systems were based in FSSPL's West Perth office with data transmission from all
instruments on site back to West Perth by a wireless LAN for uploading into a proprietary database
for distribution in a variety of formats via web browser.

Industry and Entrepreneurship
Industry - Winner: SKM
Project Name: Transperth Route Information System -
SmartRider Ticketing Implementation
The Transperth Route Information System (TRIS) is a fully integrated 'Web Based' information system
which assists with the management of a large and complex business.
Multiple Transperth business units and contractors are involved in planning and maintaining of bus
services using the system which has evolved over the past fi ve years as Transperth's business has
changed to meet new demands and technology. An example is the implementation of the SmartRider
smartcard-integrated ticketing system.
The integration of TRIS with SmartRider provided the basis for the fare calculation which is the
fundamental component of successfully implementing smartcard-integrated ticketing systems. The key
business process change for the SmartRider implementation was the need to manage the on-zone, offzone
and artifi cial zones as separate entities. This process is required to make correct fare calculations
(i.e. the applicable zone for each tag-on/tag-off). This process is now managed on a daily basis by the
staff and contractors of Transperth within the TRIS system.
Western Australia's SmartRider is the fi rst Australian smartcard-based integrated ticketing system to
be up and running successfully.

Spatial professional of the Year
Individual - Winner: Paul Harris
Chief Executive Officer, NGIS Pty Ltd
Paul founded NGIS in 1993 and has seen it grow to one of Australia's largest GIS consultancies. Paul
has personally overseen the successful delivery of many large GIS projects for key clients throughout
Australia. He has also been involved in capacity building projects throughout China, Vietnam, Tanzania,
East Timor and Fiji, developing National Strategies for the use of GIS and remote sensing and assisting in
the practical application of these technologies.
Paul is a founding member of WA Aid, an organization developing business opportunities in the ODA
market for WA companies. He sits on the WA Vietnam Business Council, was an inaugural member of the
WALIS Advisory Committee and is a Past Chairman of AURISA and a great supporter of SSI.
More recently Paul has used his spatial science and business skills to really make a difference where it
counts in a humanitarian way. As a UN advisor in Aceh Indonesia Paul has assisted in redefi ning land
and resources for the resettlement of the 2004 Tsunami victims.

Service to the Spatial Community
Individual - Winner: Rex Ballard
GIS Officer - City of Rockingham
Rex Ballard has provided exemplary dedication, effort and service to the spatial community over many
years. In 1996 Rex became a member of the AURISA WA Committee and has served on this and its
equivalent within SSI ever since. He has supported SSI and WALIS initiatives and worked tirelessly on the
committee and in the industry for the mutual benefit of his employers and the general spatial community.
In particular Rex has been a stalwart for Local Government professionals in the spatial industry. In 1999
through his own initiative Rex established the Local Government GIS Focus Group under the banner of
AURISA. This was a significant step for Local Government GIS professionals in WA and the group has
grown in numbers and reputation over the years. Their most recent meeting was in June2007 at the City
of Rockingham and Rex through his dedication ensures that regular networking occurs now under the SSI
banner to keep Local Government spatial professionals informed of recent developments.

Resource and Environment
Industry - Winner: Whelans
Project Name: Audit, Assessment and Transfer
of the Ord Irrigation Network from the Water Corporation
to the Ord Irrigation Co-Op (OIC)
Prior to the privatization of the ORIA the OIC, and its financial backers, required that a comprehensive
audit of assets, including the channels and drains to be undertaken. Whelans were commissioned by the
Water Corporation to assist in this audit and assessment of assets. The combined delivery system consists
of approximately 159 kilometers of earth lined channels and is controlled by approximately 120 fl ow
regulators and over 3000 structures. The channels and drains were suited within unallocated crown land,
which was also required to be transferred to the OIC.
It may be said that without the exploitation of exceptional spatial applications applied with rigorous
technical integrity, it would be near impossible to tackle a project the size and complexity. To be
successful it was essential that a concise and strategic approach was taken for the capture, integration,
management and dissemination of all spatial information.

Education and Professional Development
Individual - Winner: Dr Bert Veenendaal
Associate Professor and Head of
Department of Spatial Science, Curtin University
Practicing academic Associate Professor Bert Veenendaal has been initiating improvements in teaching
and research in the spatial sciences for over 20 years. He was instrumental in Curtin's geographic
information science program and their undergraduate degree in geographic information systems, which
was a world fi rst.
He has led the development of interactive and virtual online learning and implemented numerous campus
based and fully on-line programs in GIS science for Curtin University for use nationally and internationally.
He leads two CRCSI education and training projects and has been active and effective in promoting spatial
science at the high school level in WA
Bert is currently Head of the Department of Spatial Sciences at Curtin, and recently fi nalized an MOU with
Landgate securing a $430,000 contribution towards a state-of-the-art high technology Spatial Sciences studio.
Bert has always strived for excellence and has achieved creditable results in spatial science education. He
is responsible for an extensive list of technical papers and has won numerous awards including Honorary
Fellow of SSI in 2003.

Young Spatial Professional of the Year
Individual - Winner: Wing Shattock
Senior Transport Planner, Department of Planning and Infrastructure
Former Chair and current national representative for the Western Australian SSI Young Professionals,
Wing has been a mentor and leading driver of the YP committee in Western Australia. She has grown the
membership and provided a platform for recognition of young individuals within the spatial industry.
Wing is also the Vice Chair on the Women in Geographical Information Technology (WinGIT) Committee.
This group represents women in the Western Australian spatial industry and is important in promoting the
benefits of working in the spatial industry to female students and graduates.
Her membership on both Committees has allowed her to promote the spatial industry to people of all
ages and backgrounds, especially those new members. Her friendly, approachable nature, vast knowledge
of all things spatial, and dedication to the industry, make her an ideal Committee member and role
model, and a Young Professional of which the Spatial Sciences Institute is very proud.

Measure and Mapping
Industry - Winner: SKM (Landgate, BHP)
Project Name: Amendment of the Newman to Port Hedland Railroad Lease
The current resources boom has placed an enormous focus on upgrading infrastructure in remote areas
of Western Australia and clarifying the spatial and legal position of leases.
In 2007, through a successful close collaboration between industry and government, BHP Billiton Iron
Ore and Landgate with SKM's assistance completed a project which brought significant mutual benefits
to both of the organizations and the State.
By amending the Newman and Port Hedland Railroad Lease to reflect the asset's true position on the
ground, BHPBIO was able to confirm the status of its tenure in this area - a vital requirement for its Rapid
Growth Program to meet the increased demand for mining and shipping of iron ore.
The project has enabled planning, design and construction to proceed with greater confidence without
the need for expensive ground survey to defi ne the lease boundaries. Landgate benefits from a significant
upgrade to the Spatial Cadastral Database in an area of high economic value to the State. Other
organizations in the future will undoubtedly also gain a higher degree of certainty regarding the spatial
location and relationship of their tenure and assets. This project serves as an excellent model for similar
collaborative endeavours between industry and government.

Research and Innovation
Industry - Winner: ER Mapper
Project Name: ER Mapper Project Composer
ER Mapper mage Processor is an easy to use, high speed compression solution specifically designed
for large geospatial image data.
Image Compressor is the fastest compression engine available and gives you the versatility to quickly
compress your large image datasets into either ECW or JPEG 2000 format.
ER Mapper specifically developed ECW to compress large geospatial images plus the JPEG 2000
compression component has been tailored to handle large real-world geospatial images.
As well as batch reprojection functionality, Image Compressor also features innovative wizard based tools
that allow you to easily crop and mosaic and colour balance your image titles making them easier to use,
share and leverage into your business activities.

Spatial Student of the Year
Individual Winner: Georgina Warren
PhD Research Fellow, Department of Spatial Sciences,
Curtin University of Technology
Georgina has a Bachelor of Science (Cartography) with 1st Class honours and was dux in 2002.
She has won numerous awards including 2 trips to the USA.
For the past ten years Georgina has worked extensively in the areas of digital cartography, digital image
processing, GIS and spatial modeling for the Department of Agriculture of Western Australia and Bunnings
Tree Farms, while researching agricultural application of remote sensing through her current doctoral
research. She has over 20 publications in her area of research.
Georgina has demonstrated her leadership and mentoring through presenting lectures and running
tutorials including Digital Image Interpretation, Computer Aided Mapping and Cartographic Statistics.
Additionally she has helped at the Department of Spatial Sciences booth on Curtin Open days, assisted
students during orientation, and promoted spatial awareness to high school students. She has
coordinated and chaired the GIS/Remote Sensing/Cartography research seminars at the Department of
Spatial Sciences over several years. She is an SSI member within the WA SSI Young Professionals and a
great role model for spatial science students.

Industry and Entrepreneurship
Industry - Highly Commended: NGIS
Project Name: NGIS Australia and BHP Billiton Iron Ore:
ioMaps: Enterprise-wide Location Based Data Systems
Mining giant BHP Billiton Iron Ore and leading geospatial consultancy NGIS Australia have joined
forces to develop an innovative business system that delivers geospatial information to non-technical
users across the iron ore business in Western Australia.
Notable for its simplicity and user appeal, the ioMaps system demonstrates an innovative and
sophisticated approach to integrated spatial applications. It successfully utilises web services and a
powerful tasking engine to combine more than 800 datasets which interact seamlessly with business
processes via a single browser interface.
The application sets a new benchmark in Australia's mining industry helping to increase productivity,
reduce cost and risk, and improve the speed and accuracy of critical decision-making.
People and Community
Industry - Highly Commended: FESA
Project Name: SLIP Emergency Management -
Establishing a Coordinated Spatial Information Capability
for the Western Australian Emergency Management Community
As part of the State Land Information Platform (SLIP) initiative, FESA, in partnership with other state
emergency management agencies, is establishing a coordinated spatial capability for Emergency
Management in Western Australian (SLIP-EM).
The SLIP-EM Program has excelled in establishing a range of pilot services which are engendering
an improved spatial awareness of the emergency management community while also improving the
understanding of the spatial data community to the specific information needs of the emergency
management sector.
SLIP-EM is now delivering services which are ensuring agencies are
a) better informed of the spatial environment when managing major emergency events and
b) able to effectively share real time spatial information and ensure greater collaboration and
coordination in the management of major emergency events
thereby contributing to the greater safety and wellbeing of the Western Australian community and
industry.

People and Community
Industry - Highly Commended: NGIS
Project Name: NGIS Australia and the SIM-Centre: The role
of spatial in the post tsunami recovery and reconstruction effort.
Following the devastation of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, he United Nations asked NGIS Australia's CEO
Paul Harris to travel to the region to help establish a Spatial Information and Mapping Centre (SIM-Centre)
to work within the Indonesian Bureau for Recovery and Reconstruction to provide a dedicated spatial
service to aid in relief and rebuilding efforts.
Development of the SIM-C ensured that the process of reconstruction included a large spatial component.
This project allowed the introduction of Web GIS to the BRR technology base. The SIM-C continues to
work closely with BRR and the local government to train staff, create a Spatial Data Infrastructure and
maintain a comprehensive GIS database. To date, the SIM-C has trained 115 people on the use
of GIS and GPS.

Honorary Fellow of the Spatial Sciences Institute: Recommendation
Kevin Pownall - Citation

Honorary Fellowship is a membership grade not bestowed lightly. It is reserved for those who have contributed in auspicious ways through the practice of their vocation, their contribution to the community and their contribution to their profession.

Kevin was honoured with fellowship of the Institution of Surveyors in 1990 for his commitment to the private sector and the community. Given his holistic approach to the spatial industry right throughout his professional career it it is now entirely appropriate that he be considered for Honorary Fellowship of the Spatial Sciences Institute. As illustrated in the following passages Kevin was a visionary leader in all things spatial - well ahead of his time. He was a pioneer in recognising and promoting the concept of the wider spatial information industry which is now so evident to us all today

Kevin Arthur Pownall was born on 01 June 1933 at Claremont Western Australia. He attended St Josephs primary school in Subiaco, Christian Brothers College, Leederville (where he was one of the first group of students to attend the newly opened school) and completed his secondary education at Christian Brothers College, Perth (now Trinity College). In 1951 he commenced his education as a Surveyor when he became articled to the Surveyor General, the Department of Lands and Surveys Western Australia. He completed his articles and gained his certificate of competency in 1955 when he also became a registered surveyor..

As a Staff Surveyor with the Department of Lands and Surveys Kevin's experiences were many and varied. They included projects to the outback of Western Australia; traversing the Canning Stock Route in 1955, the survey of a dam site on the Fitzroy River in the Kimberleys in 1960, Tellurometer traverses as part of the Geodetic adjustment of Australia (including those numerous KAP points in the North west of WA) and the survey of the Emu Proof Fence alignment.

Personal note:
Kevin's first appointment in the L & S Department was to Albany where he set up camp on Crown land out of town on the road to Cheynes Beach. He had set up 2 tents facing each other, connected to scheme water (a real organizer was Kevin), hooked into mains power (don't ask how), got hold of some flooring and installed it and had the postman and milkman call. Now that he was established he married Sally in 1958 and brought her to live in this splendid camp. Kevin said he thought that she would be so happy that she would be prepared to live there for the rest of her life. Sally was not as impressed with his camp as Kevin was.

During his time with the Department Kevin had also broadened his education and in 1965 was awarded a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from the University of Western Australia.

In that same year Kevin saw opportunities for private mapping within the booming State and left the Government to set up his Company, Associated Surveys Pty Ltd, with the object of providing a private mapping facility to government and private clients. In this regard he was supported by the Department of Industrial Development and the Rural and Industries Bank who financed his first B8 plotter which was originally installed on the back verandah of his home. As business grew he moved into an old house at 990 Wellington Street Perth and from there to Survey House at 18 Prowse Street a purpose built facility to house what became the biggest "spatial" company in WA until bought out recently by Fugro Pty Ltd.

In 1969 Kevin took a one third interest (with Kevin Radford and Roy Jones) in the air geophysical company Geosearch Pty Ltd to service the expanding mineral exploration work in Western Australia using aerial magnetometer surveys. In 1979 he merged Taylor, McMullen, Cotterell and Burrell Pty Ltd with Associated Surveys to give his clients added service which then spread throughout Australia and even as far as South East Asia, The Middle East and the United Kingdom.

Kevin became a member of ISA in 1957 and in 1968 was appointed a member of a deputation from the WA Division to the Premier on Survey Coordination. In 1977 and 1978 Kevin served on an ISA subcommittee examining the Federal Hydrographic and Bathymetric scene and advised the then WA President Peter Byrne on various matters. In relation to the holistic industry Kevin can be directly quoted from a letter dated 15th November as follows:

"It should be remembered that the survey profession is no longer simply registered surveyors but consists of engineering surveyors, computers, geophysicists, geologists, computer scientists, landsat specialists and many other people".

In the same letter Kevin suggested: that ISA make an immediate start on an examination of the holistic industry to consider including "fringe" survey professions within ISA, and that they push for development of a mapping program for WA and for survey integration.

Kevin moved into Hydrographic Surveys right from the outset having founded Associated Surveys in conjunction with Alf Gummar (and Hugh Agnew as a 17 year old chainman) and Strata Marine who were surveying Port Hedland harbour. The big thrust in this area came in the late 1970's with the first serious offshore contract for Woodside, a multi million dollar submarine pipeline route study survey in a joint venture with Osiris Surveys of the Netherlands.

In 1982 Kevin, with Hugh Agnew, formed a new Company, Qubit Pty Ltd, to develop and manufacture offshore survey navigation equipment. This Company was exceptionally successful in the United Kingdom (working for British Telecom) and throughout Europe, fulfilling re equipment programs for various navies and including the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy.

Kevin was also responsible for the formation of Radtek Pty Ltd, a forerunner of the current system of communication used by the WA taxi industry.

In 1977 Kevin founded ESRI Australia. He negotiated the distributorship agreement for Australia and New Zealand and in doing so was probably the first to introduce a commercial GIS (in the true sense of the term) to Australia. It was a significant vision as the term GIS certainly had no profile in those days (people thought GIS stood for General Insurance System); the GIS technology was generally used mainly by scientists involved in the management of the environment, land use planning and forestry. It was particularly pertinent that it was taken up by a surveyor rather than a geographer or environmental scientist.

Kevin showed incredible belief/faith in the potential of the evolving technology as it was not until the advent of the ArcInfo product in 1983 (5 years after founding) that ESRI Australia got any buy in on the technology with its first sale in 1984 to the then South Australian Department of Planning. This was quickly followed by Forestry Tasmania also in 1984.

In 1987 and 1988 Kevin supported initiatives by the ESRI Australia management to explore the SE Asia market and ESRI Australia was a key player in the World Bank LREP Project in Indonesia and in the Hong Kong Lands Department adopting GIS software for its land management.

Kevin also backed an initiative into using spatial technologies in the world of marketing retail and finance and the use of what was then termed psychometrics in evaluating the spatial variations in the market place. This involved making use of the socio-economic data published by census district and integrating with sales in different localities. Another company - Centar - was founded and after moving to Melbourne was absorbed by Roy Morgan Research.

Kevin laid the foundation to what has become one of the leading GIS Companies in Australia and is responsible to some degree for the wide adoption of the ESRI software in the SE Asian region.

Kevin extricated himself from the wonders of GIS when he sold his part of ESRI Australia in 1989. He later sold Associated Surveys to his staff and is now in semi retirement but still no doubt dabbling in the industry he served so well.

Some of the "spatial' compainies that Kevin either formed or was an owner of included:
Associated Surveys Pty Ltd
Associated Surveys (Aust) Pty Ltd
Associated Suveys (Vic) Pty Ltd
Associated Surveys International Pty Ltd
ESRI Australia Pty Ltd
Geosearch Pty Ltd
Qubit Pty Ltd
Qubit (UK) Pty Ltd
Centar Holdings Pty Ltd
Radtek Corporation Ltd
Soil and Rock Pty Ltd
Computer Mapping Services
Strata Marine Pty Ltd
Atlas Surveys Ltd
Associated Offshore Onshore Services

Kevins community involvement dates back to his school days as a member of the St Vincent de Paul Society visiting disadvantaged and hospitalised people. In a non exhaustive list it has been confirmed that Kevin has also been involved in the following professional and community organisations

Vice President (WA Division) Committee for Economic
Development Australia
Member of Institute of Cartographers
Affiliate of Australian Planning Institute
Member Board St John of God Hospital
Member Board Camillus House (home for destitute men)
Member of the Knights of the Southern Cross (mission includes promotion of the advancement of Australia and to conduct and support educational , charitable, religious and social welfare work across Australia.)
Member Company Directors Association of Australia
Foundation student member of the Institution of Surveyors Australia.
Committee of the Western Australia Division of ISA (1959)
Member of the Australian Institute of Navigation
Member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Engineering Surveyors
Association of Aerial Surveyors Australia (Founding member and Chairman)

As a surveyor Kevin is an extremely successful businessman, occasionally hard but always fair, Kevin has brought credit to the profession of surveying in all the walks of life in which he has become involved. He was a pioneer spatial scientist operating in most of the disciplines including data capture from land, air and sea, data analysis, selling software, hardware and the data itself. There are few spatial professional in Western Australia that have demonstrated such conspicuous service to the spatial profession and for this Kevin Arthur Pownall is recommended for Honorary Fellowship of the Spatial Sciences Institute.