Students, staff and alumni were among those who marked the 30th anniversary of the University's Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Masters programme at a poster presentation event at St Mary's last week.
The annual MSc in GIS Dissertation Poster Presentation Workshop gives students the opportunity to showcase their research projects.
Now in its fourth year, this year’s workshop allowed an opportunity to celebrate three decades since the first cohort of students graduated from the GIS Masters programme, which launched in 1986.
Although the programme has had several different names over the past 30 years, the main thrust of the degree has largely remained the same, including the theory and practice of remote sensing, GIS, digital mapping and photogrammetry.
Dr David R. Green, the current director, has taught on the programme since it first began. He described it as being unique in its environmental and practical focus.
“As a vocational programme we have always had strong links with government, commerce and academia, and many of the modules are now linked to industry through guest lectures, field-trips, and external input to the modules,” he said.
“A large number of our students have come from all around the world and any of our graduates have gone on to have good careers in the offshore industry and in government.
“Last week’s workshop event gave our current students the chance to talk about their research projects to alumni and industry experts, and we are very grateful to all who came along to help mark the 30th anniversary of the programme, including representatives from industry and the external examiner.
“In particular, I’d like to express my sincere thanks to the staff who established this degree, including Robert Wright, Michael Wood, and William Ritchie, as well as Lawrie McLean and John Loder who all taught on it at the outset.”
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) MSc: www.abdn.ac.uk/gis
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