Mohawk College donates land surveying equipment to Oakville high school
Recently, Mohawk College’s Engineering department was able to find a new home for some outdated equipment.
Oakville’s Garth Webb Secondary School is the fortunate recipient of three Leica Total Stations, two data collectors with perpetually licensed software, tripods, prisms and accessories.
Although the equipment was outdated for college use, it’s an upgrade for high school students in the drafting and engineering design courses, and their Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) program. Previously, the students had been learning using theodolites, which only take angular measurements. Total Stations will also allow them to perform electronic distance measuring using a laser.
“The donated total stations and data collectors will greatly enhance their ability to create topographic maps, enabling their students to capture far more information in a much more interactive way, hopefully inspiring students to look into the field of land surveying,” explains Tyler Sowden, Technologist, Building & Construction Sciences.
After meeting Garth Webb's teacher, Nick Carrescia and some of his students during a tour of the college, Tyler saw an opportunity.
“The students entered our lab and quickly began calling equipment out by name. I asked how they knew the names of these rather niche machines,” says Tyler. “They answered that they were all in Mr. Carrescia’s design class and had been using some survey gear.”
“I asked Nick Carrescia if they needed more units, because we had some old ones laying around collecting dust.” Nick instantly showed interest, as his school did not have enough equipment to do much hands-on learning with the students.
The equipment had not been used at Mohawk for approximately eight to ten years, but was previously used by several programs, including Civil Engineering Technology/Technician, Architectural Engineering Technology/Technician, and Urban Planning and GIS.
Tyler, who coordinated the donation, was also thrilled to pass on a Digital Theodolite and Transit Level on behalf of John Martin, a class of 1977 graduate from Martin-Steward Contracting Ltd.
The current geomatics equipment that Mohawk College students use is more advanced, aligning with current industry standards. “Our current Total Station equipment is all robotic—it ‘follows’ the surveyor around, making it a one-person operation—has higher accuracy, and wirelessly streams to a Windows 11 data collector,” explains Tyler.
The program uses GNSS receivers (global navigation satellite systems) to survey with an accuracy of 2-4 cm. It also integrates disruptive technologies such as drones and laser scanning, using equipment obtained through industry partnerships and projects through Mohawk’s Unmanned and Remote Sensing Innovation Centre (URSIC), an IDEAWORKS research centre focusing on precision geomatics, unmanned systems, and digital twinning.
The current equipment fleet, as well as the synergy between research and academics, makes Mohawk College’s geomatics lab one of the best-equipped college labs in Ontario.