MAPPS, the national association for private sector geospatial firms, recognized 15 individuals for significant contributions to the association and the profession at the association's recent annual conference in Bolton Landing, NY.

Jeff Lovin (Woolpert, Inc., Dayton, OH) outgoing President, recognized the following individuals for Presidential Awards:

• Bobby Tuck (Tuck Mapping, Big Stone Gap, VA) nominations committee chair;
• Jim Page, legislative affairs committee chair;
• Eric Andelin (Woolpert, Inc., Garland, TX), program committee chair;
• Bob Hickey (Photo Science, Inc., West Chester, PA), MAPPS Treasurer, COGO delegate and MAPPS scholarship task force;
• Mike Tully (Aerial Services, Inc., Cedar Falls, IA), government cost estimating tutorial;
• Jim Van Rens (Riegl USA, Orlando, FL), associate members committee chair;
• Pat Olson (AeroMetric, Sheboygan, WI), COFPAES delegate;
• Scott Perkins (Wilson & Company, Kansas City, MO), scholarship task force;
• Mark Safran (BAE Systems, Mt. Laurel, NJ), GEOINT committee chair;
• Zsolt Nagy (AECOM, Charlotte, NC), FEMA task force chair;
• Kurt Allen (Photo Science, Inc., Bowie, MD), MAPPS Geospatial Excellence Awards Program task force;
• Tina Cary (Cary and Associates, Longmont, CO), coordination of business-to-business networking; and
• Steve Cox, (McColl School of Business, Queens University of Charlotte, NC) economic survey.

Cy Smith, GIS Coordinator of the State of Oregon, was the first public sector recipient of a Presidential Award for his role as Chairman of the Coalition for Geospatial Organizations (COGO).

"MAPPS is truly a member-driven organization, and all of our accomplishments are achieved through the efforts of individual volunteers. The President's Award recognizes those who go above and beyond serving the organization. Each of these individuals has invested so much of their time and talent in the organization, and these awards are an expression of my personal gratitude," said Lovin.

About MAPPS
Formed in 1982, MAPPS is the only national association exclusively comprised of private firms in the remote sensing, spatial data and geographic information systems field in the United States. The MAPPS membership spans the entire spectrum of the geospatial community, including Member Firms engaged in satellite and airborne remote sensing, surveying, photogrammetry, aerial photography, mobile mapping, LIDAR, building information models (BIM), 3D mapping, hydrography, bathymetry, charting, aerial and satellite image processing, GPS, and GIS data collection and conversion services. MAPPS also includes Associate Member Firms, which are companies that provide hardware, software, products and services to the geospatial profession in the United States and other firms from around the world. Independent Consultant Members are sole proprietors engaged in consulting in or to the geospatial profession, or provides a consulting service of interest to the geospatial profession.

MAPPS provides its 180+ member firms opportunities for networking and developing business-to-business relationships, information sharing, education, public policy advocacy, market growth, and professional development and image enhancement.

For more information on MAPPS, please visit http://www.MAPPS.org.