Leading Supplier Of Geospatial Software Creates Center Of Excellence At The University Of Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Creating increasingly sophisticated maps of the earth’s surface through satellites and advanced image processing is just one benefit of a partnership recently formed between PCI Geomatics of Ontario, Canada, and the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST) at the University of Arkansas.

PCI Geomatics, an industry leader since 1982 in developing geospatial software, has donated sophisticated remote sensing and geospatial software with a value of $172,420. Maintenance costs are also included in this gift. To mark this high-tech alliance, PCI has established a Center of Excellence in Geomatics and Remote Sensing at CAST, a multidisciplinary research and teaching center in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

This Center for Excellence will become the cornerstone for long-term initiatives in research, education and the transfer of technology.

"This is an exciting collaboration for CAST," said Director Fred Limp. "This agreement will expand an already productive relationship with PCI by allowing us to use the company’s software throughout the academic curriculum and in our research projects. The company’s suite of products provides a remarkable resource for our students and researchers alike."

Dr. Robert Moses, president and CEO of PCI Geomatics, said that "CAST offers us a wonderful opportunity to grow our product development to satisfy the needs of future users. We offer CAST a wonderful opportunity to grow the minds of the same future."

CAST has used PCI products in the past to develop high-resolution, accurate land cover maps for the entire state of Arkansas, to map areas in South Africa and India containing early hominid remains, and, in one innovative project, to create maps that helped predict areas prone to flooding.

PCI software is also central to the Seamless Warehouse of Arkansas Geodata Project, which involves creating an accessible online repository of more than 1.5 terabytes of data (or 1,500 gigabytes) about the state of Arkansas. In 1999, the Project received a Smithsonian-Computerworld Laureate award for technology innovation in academics.

Jim Farley, CAST technical director, explained that CAST will cooperate with PCI to increase both the accessibility and value of such geospatial data. "We plan to work closely with them to enhance research and development in areas such as geographic information systems, interoperability and Web mapping," said Farley.

As its primary contribution, CAST will offer research opportunities both on and off-campus for testing PCI products as well as internships to qualified UA undergraduate and graduate students in disciplines ranging from geography and environmental dynamics to computer science and business/commerce.

"Since it was established in 1991, CAST has substantially strengthened and broadened the research mission of Fulbright College. Faculty and students can now participate in projects with colleagues from across the UA campus as well as around the globe," said Fulbright Dean Randall Woods.

Interdisciplinary research at CAST involves students and faculty from the departments of anthropology, biological sciences, geography, sociology and geology in Fulbright College; the departments of agronomy and entomology in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences; and the department of landscape architecture in the School of Architecture.

In setting up this new Center for Excellence, PCI Geomatics joins other CAST associates such as Oracle Corporation, which established the Center of Excellence for Spatial Data Management in 1998 and invested in Strategic Centers initiated in the Middle East in April 2000, and Trimble Navigation Ltd., which established the Trimble Navigation Center for Excellence in 1994.

More information on CAST can be found at www.cast.uark.edu

XXX