Edinburgh GIS Students Win Two Prizes in Two Weeks

14 May 2010, 9:06am

Two University of Edinburgh GIS students have won prizes in two prestigious competitions in the last two weeks of April.

PhD student Catherine Schroder won the ‘Best Paper by a Young Researcher’ at the GISRUK conference in London. This was followed by another success at the AGI Scotland conference in Glasgow when Christopher Barber presented work entitled ‘Latyourlife’ developed by himself and fellow students Amin Abdalla,Laura Mason, Dimitris Stratoulias.

Catherine, who completed the Edinburgh Masters in GIS 2006, and is currently working on her doctorate, received the prize for her paper “Giving and Receiving Direction: Requirements for Automated Pedestrian Wayfinding Technology” on the 16th April 2010.

‘Latyourlife’ is a personal planning aid that seeks to incorporate a geographic context into a traditional time based calendar. It beat strong competition from eight other entrants – all established GI professionals – to win the prize for “the most pragmatic means of enabling realisation of the aims of ‘One Scotland, One Geography’” on the 28th April, 2010.

Renowned for its academic excellence and strong links with industry and government, the Masters Programme in GIS at the University of Edinburgh was the first programme of its type in the world. Launched in 1985, it recognised the need for trained professionals and has, to date, produced 640 graduates who form a significant part of the global GIS industry.

Bruce Gittings, lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, said: “I am very pleased to see our students being rewarded for their efforts. These awards show the depth of talent and innovation developed by our GIS programme.”

Hugh Barron, Chairman of the Association of Geographic Information in Scotland, said: “The AGI was impressed at the diversity of ideas put forward. The GIS market needs the freshness and creativity that young minds can bring.”

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