I enjoyed all the professors I had and the smaller class sizes helped keep me involved in the program. I am glad I went to Michigan State University and would encourage anyone who is considering to have the experience I had! After graduation I moved to Florida to work for an environmental engineering firm for 2 years (2007-2009) working on the FEMA Floodplain Management Program with the different water districts in Florida. My work involved extensive use of 3-D Analyst, Spatial Analyst and ArcHydro within ESRI’s ArcGIS program. I also used LiDAR data to create TIN and DEMs to build natural waterway networks along with the man-made drainage networks in order to determine the areas prone to flooding. I also did minor GPS work with structure location and environmental surveys. From February 2009- March 2011 I worked for a defense contractor manipulating data in GIS in order to build 3-D terrains in Terra Vista for 3-D simulation. I was mostly in charge of QA/QC for data coming in from 12 technicians. I also trained new employees on how to work in a production environment and wrote new training manuals for new employees. During this time I earned the GIS/LIS Technologist certification through the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS). The company I worked for lost their rebid for the contract which led me to move in March 2011 back to Michigan and currently work as a Business Analyst for the Oakland County IT department. I work with GIS data and Azteca CityWorks to implement a Collaborative Asset Management System (CAMS) for various Cities, Villages and Townships (CVTs) within Oakland County.
The information provided on this page has been contributed by the individual alumnus
Chad Cunningham
BS 2007