BGIS Capstone Project at SAIT

on

The Project

Two years ago I started this program at SAIT, and now I have started working towards completing my Capstone project. This class is meant to represent the culmination of our learnings within the program combining GIS into a full-fledged project provided by local industry. 

 Our class was broken into groups of 2-4 people, who then picked three potential projects and wrote simple two-page proposals. Some of the companies that provided projects were MNC ltd, Matrix Solutions, ProDelta and, SAIT's own CIRUS labs with projects from TECK Resources, Fernie Trail Alliance, and the Elk River Alliance. Projects ranged from leveraging technology to create a temperature monitoring visualization for a greenhouse to utilizing machine learning in a proof of concept to delineate wetlands.

The team I am part of comes from a wide background including oil & gas, wind energy, database management, and spatial records management.  Our various interests in GIS programming, databases, data management, and visualizations lead us to develop short proposals for three of the projects.

MNC's Digitial Integrated Disposition Project

The goal of this project is to develop a prototype proof of concept that would allow users to sketch as-built locations and compare them to the proposed or surveyed area provided in the official DID documentation. 

CIRUS Greenhouse Visualization Project

Using SAIT's greenhouse and various sensors, create a visualization showing the environment within the greenhouse.

ProDelts's Wetlands Delineation Project

Utilizing the Esri ArcHydro WiM, complete a proof of concept showing the effectiveness of machine learning to delineate wetlands in a predictable and accurate fashion. 

Project Selection

Our first pick of MNC was initially denied and we were given the choice of the other two.  Running simultaneously with our online cohort is an on-premise, daytime program competing for the same projects and they were awarded the MNC project.  However our instructor went back and talked with MNC and it was decided, since it was the creation of a prototype and a proof of concept, having two groups tackling it with different perspectives might be advantageous, and at the very least interesting.  I am reminded of Bart and Lisa playing hockey against each other in the Simpsons. In the end we were awarded the MNC Project.



Project Kickoff

Last night we met with our client over teams and held a project kickoff meeting where we discussed the scope, execution, schedules, and milestones and overall got a better picture for the vision of this project going forward.  We also set up bi-weekly meetings to meet with the client and keep them appraised of our progress with the project.

Next Steps

Our next steps are to put together a project charter and proof of concept for our vision and develop a project road map in MS Project.  As the team progresses through the project I hope to share our progress and learnings here, so stay tuned as we make our way through the semester ahead.

Comments

Post a Comment