Maptitude Mapping Software Donated to UTDallas GIS Workshop

The workshop was designed to introduce GIS novices to GIS technology, spatial data analytics and a broad range of spatial data sets. A mixture of hands-on tutorials, supporting theory and industry applications provided the participants with tangible experiences on how to incorporate GIS into their decision-making processes and how to enhance their academic and professional portfolios with the help of GIS.

The workshop used Maptitude GIS software, a donation by Caliper (www.caliper.com). Maptitude is particularly well suited to the needs of general GIS practitioners such as those in attendance.

Dr. Michael Tiefelsdorf, a professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, has used Maptitude in his graduate and undergraduate courses for non-GIS students. “In my view, a one-semester GIS introductory course with Maptitude gives non-GIS students a powerful set of tools and a broad spectrum of data with a benign learning curve,” said Tiefelsdorf.

Caliper is excited to support the growth of GIS. "The ease-of-use, integration, and common GIS tools provided in Maptitude facilitate the adoption of GIS by a broader range of students," said Stewart Berry, vice president of product management, mapping software at Caliper. "Maptitude has proven to be an excellent tool for students studying GIS, business geography, location intelligence, and environmental issues. The software integrates well with other vendor products, and natively supports formats such as Shapefiles. This allows students to get up and running quickly with an integrated and commercial grade GIS while being able to use the software at school and at home for coursework and research."