In later years, the day came to be observed in honor of those who had died in all U.S. wars, and in 1967 its name officially changed from Decoration Day to Memorial Day. It is observed with the laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, and by religious services, parades, and speeches nationwide.[3]

National Public Works Week was first proclaimed in 1962 by President John F Kennedy. “. . . I urge all our people to join with representatives of governmental agencies in activities and ceremonies designed to pay tribute to our public works engineers and administrators and to recognize the substantial contributions they have made to our national health and welfare”.

Managing and protecting fish populations is more critical than ever. Aquaculture now supplies nearly half of the world’s farmed and wild fish and the demand continues to surge.

Technology, Stewardship, and a Sustainable Future

Each year on April 22, the world comes together to celebrate Earth Day—a reminder of our shared responsibility to protect the natural world. At InfraMarker and Berntsen International, our connection to the earth has been lived for more than 50 years, starting with innovative, lightweight marking products that helped outline the boundaries of our national parks.

How InfraMarker Simplifies Identification and Accelerates Field Asset Management

In the electric utility sector, precision is essential. Yet in the field, teams frequently encounter a challenging and potentially risky scenario: many infrastructure components appear nearly identical.

Since people have owned land, surveying has been an essential profession. The earliest evidence of surveying, potentially going back to 11,000 years ago, is found at the Nabta Playa site in southern Egypt, related to the construction of large megalithic structures. 

Happy Pi Day! We hope you have the chance to enjoy the tasty kind of pie today – in the meantime, here’s a pi “appetizer”.

To a surveyor, pi is a key concept that undergirds everything, because surveying occurs on a sphere. Specifically, all boundaries must take into consideration the curve of the earth (and any distortions of that curve, as well as elevation).

Terminalia (February 23) has been observed since 753 BC when legend says that Romulus established the celebration of the god of boundaries: Terminus. From the beginning, it’s clear that Romans understood the importance of boundaries – and the art of surveying.

After the Revolutionary War in 1789, the constitution established a 10 square mile district as the site of the new capitol for the United States.  Subsequently, after much haggling in Congress, the “Residence Act” was passed and set the site of the new city on the northern and southern shores of the Potomac River at a location to be determined by President Washington.

The growing demand for cloud computing, along with surging use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) is driving investment in data centers – the facilities that house and operate the servers, storage devices and networking equipment that make powerful computing possible.

As we step into 2025, the drive for simplicity, efficiency, and connectivity is reshaping the technological landscape. Three major trends—Artificial Intelligence (AI), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)—are converging to create a connected world where innovation drives smarter, faster and more intuitive solutions.

It’s been a busy year, and a very good year for the US economy. In fact, according to RSM, over the past eight quarters, the American economy has grown at an annualized 2.9%.  This performance is striking in comparison to other countries. For example, the EU’s growth during this same period was just 1.9%. The biggest economy in the EU is Germany, and its economy shrunk by 2% during the same period.

This year, Americans will be spending an average of $2,000 per person over the holidays – with more than $600 on travel, and the rest on decorations, celebrations and gifts.  For most of us, this translates to a lot of running around and spending money – and enjoying the holidays.

It’s good to know that in the background, little RFID elves have been busy keeping everything running smoothly to help make the holidays truly magical.

Human history has been shaped by colonialism, and one wave of colonialism resulted in the founding of the United States. In fact, most countries were colonized by European powers from the late fifteenth century until just after World War II. At its height, the British Empire controlled nearly a quarter of the world’s nations.

GIS was first developed in 1963 by Roger Tomlinson who used computers to handle map information for the Canadian government.  Since that time, the use of Geographic Information System technology has exploded. According to MarketsandMarkets, the GIS market is expected to reach $14.5 billion by 2025. By 2032, the market is projected to reach about $43.8 billion.

In 1996 Georg Rothbucher was visiting a customer at a construction site who was facing a difficult problem. Two thousand square meters of concrete had been poured incorrectly for the Finished Floor Level (FFL) of a new building. This surveyor was trying to recover the original reference point used to set the FFL – a chalk mark, pencil line or a nail.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology uses radio waves to identify virtually anything. It is a wireless system consisting of an RFID tag and an RFID reader. RFID tags store data that can be read, even from a distance—without making any physical contact or requiring a line of sight.

Christopher Gist came to the surveying profession naturally.  In 1736, his father, Richard surveyed the western shore of Maryland and the town of Baltimore. Though there is little information about Christopher’s childhood, it is thought that Christopher learned surveying profession from his father.

A recent survey revealed that many people believe that natural disasters are more frequent and severe than in the past. It turns out that this observation is backed up by facts. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the frequency of natural disasters is increasing year-over-year. There were 28 weather and climate disasters in 2023, surpassing the previous record of 22 in 2020, tallying a price tag of at least $92.9 billion.

Many of our founding fathers started their careers as surveyors. Along with providing an essential service, surveying was a very profitable trade in eighteenth century America. Surveyors would purchase newly opened land from the Crown and sell tracts to settlers at higher prices. This led to some resentment and suspicion by settlers – but one surveyor remained popular throughout his surveying career – and beyond.