Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The city of Urbana donated retired GPS survey equipment to the Parkland College Engineering Science and Technologies Department for its Construction Design and Management program and Surveying Technology programs.
The city recently purchased new GPS hardware and donated its replaced equipment to Parkland. GPS equipment can be costly, with each new measuring system costing approximately $20,000-$25,000. Parkland is already fortunate to have the Kara Company, Inc. of Countryside, Illinois, loan the college GPS equipment for two-month periods. The City of Urbana's donation will now give Parkland students access to survey equipment year-round as well as training on an additional type of GPS equipment.
Parkland's Construction Design and Management program prepares students to enter one of three primary sectors of the construction industry: residential/light commercial construction, heavy commercial construction, and civil construction. The Surveying Technology program prepares students for careers in land surveying. Each of these areas requires knowledge of
surveying and use of GPS equipment.
The monetary value of the donation is about $10,000, but the value of the equipment goes far beyond a dollar figure, said Todd Horton, Construction Design and Management's program director. "With the City of Urbana's help, we can make hands-on training in GPS survey methods far more accessible for our students. It will allow instructors to plan better projects, larger projects, and more projects for the students."
Bill Gray, public works director for the City of Urbana, said in a letter to Parkland that he is happy to donate this equipment to the college. "The city of Urbana has benefitted from Parkland graduates in the past," Gray said. "They have been well-prepared for the engineering technician assignments and construction management and inspection typical of municipal infrastructure projects."