If there were an award for enthusiasm, Kate Pexman would definitely win it. At TECTERRA, we’ve given her our version of just that, which is the 2019 Award for Student Leadership in Geospatial.

A graduate student in the Department of Geomatic Engineering at the University of Calgary, Pexman’s main interest is in using 3D laser scanning to capture point clouds from buildings. She deduces information from this data (e.g., floorplan, blueprint, damage monitoring from environmental conditions) and then employs geomatics to gain insight.

Why geomatics? The discipline bridged and broadened her lifelong love of maps and math, and she enjoys the outdoor lab work and close collaboration with teammates. Some of the applications for her work have included modeling MRI scans, heritage sites, and the motion of sea ice. Pexman hopes to focus her further studies on the archaeological applications of geomatics.

Who will be 2020’s Student Leader of the Year? We’ll announce our class of 2020 in June.