Alumni Updates

Welcome, alumni! If you'd like to submit an update, please email geographynews@uiowa.edu

Daniel Harpenau, GIS Technicianm, Heartland Technology Solutions

Daniel Harpenau is a GIS Technician who works at Heartland Technology Solutions in Ames, Iowa. Harpenau (Geography, B.A.) graduated in 2011 with an emphasis in GIS. At The University of Iowa, Harpenau enjoyed studying the spatial variability of many things, specifically the variability of wildlife across the state. Today he focuses on the variability in corn or bean fields. Through the usage of multilayered queries and comparison analysis, it is easy to see why certain areas of a field performed better than others. One of the most powerful analysis that can be used is a yield by hybrid comparison. This comparison uses yield data collected through combine yield monitoring systems and compares that data to planting data. This kind of information is very important when it comes to selecting corn hybrids or soybean varieties for future years. At HTS Harpenau’s main responsibility is the mapping of agronomic data. For HTS, he is also the company’s central Iowa technician which includes performing installations on tractors, combines and sprayers and planters, as well as monitoring customers grain management systems remotely. Guidance systems on tractors, which utilize GPS to automatically steer the tractor through the field, are the most frequent type of installation that he does.Harpenau enjoys the mix of office time and field time as well with this job. He recommends current students to look into a variety of different fields for employment after graduation because many of them are starting to utilize the power of GIS.

Charles K. Huyck, Executive Vice President, ImageCat, Inc

Mr. Huyck is a geographer specializing in the integration of advanced geospatial technologies and emergency management. As Executive Vice President of ImageCat, Inc., he oversees a team of engineers, scientists, and programmers developing software tools and data processing algorithms for loss estimation and risk reduction. At the University of Iowa, Mr. Huyck studied GIS with Professor Marc Armstrong and Environmental Management with Professor Rebecca Roberts, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in 1993.   He has over 15 years of experience in GIS analysis and application development. He introduced GIS and Remote Sensing to EQE International, where he served as GIS Programmer Analyst on several loss estimation and research projects. At the California Governor's Office of Emergency services, he was responsible for geospatial analysis, database development, and mapping disaster information for the Northridge Earthquake, California winter Storms, and California fire storms. Mr. Huyck is proficient with several GIS and remote sensing software and has contributed to the development of several online and desktop programs, including: the HAZUS flood module, EPEDAT, J-EPEDAT, EPEDAT-LA, USQuake, InLET, DrillSIM, MetaSIM, RAMP, U-RAMP, REDARS, Bridge Hunter/Bridge Doctor, VRS, VIEWS, CatViewer, PDQ Disclosure, GeoVideo, and BetterDEMS. He has authored over 50 papers, many pertaining to damage detection and inventory development with remotely sensed data.

Craig Harvey, NVision Solutions

Craig Harvey is a 1998 graduate of the Geography program at the University of Iowa. His interest in Geography began with a work study position with the USGS Water Resources Division in Iowa City.  Shortly after taking the work study position he declared his major in Geography. He continued to work at the USGS through his undergraduate studies and eventually started a career with the USGS that lasted more than a decade starting with titles such as Hydrologic Technician, and ending as a GIS Specialist. With the USGS, Harvey continued to develop both his GIS expertise and desire to teach. He was selected as one of the USGS Senior GIS staff acting as both a national instructor teaching GIS and an a resource providing top level support to water resources scientists across the country. While working at the USGS, Harvey acted as guest lecturer at the University of Iowa, Kirkwood Community College, and taught Introductory GIS at Drake University. Harvey culminated his career with the USGS by commercializing the watershed model BasinSoft which is still in use today.

Harvey left public service to join PixSell, a fledgling startup company located at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in 1999. Using his experience, education, and Hawkeye spirit he grew a nonexistent GIS program into nearly a million dollar program and balanced training and production while developing a first-rate technical staff in just under two years.  As an early advocate of Web-based solutions Harvey was intent on positioning his technical staff to capitalize on the Web-based evolution of Geospatial data processing and data delivery. In 2002 his experience and vision made him a natural candidate to lead startup NVision Solution’s operations where he developed a highly technical and eclectic award winning staff. Harvey continues to maintain contacts at the University of Iowa and the Iowa City community viewing both as well defined resources that he has tapped many times having hired four Iowa alums during his entrepreneurial career for their well rounded education, expertise, and hard work. Still on a steep growth curve, NVision is a post 9/11 high tech start up company that has not only survived the “dot com era” and the ensuing “technological winter” but flourished.  Now more than 5 years old, NVision Solutions projects revenues approaching 5 million per year in 2008. With 23 current employees NVision continues to seek qualified GIS and GIS/Programming candidates to fill existing positions on Harvey’s team. Harvey's visionary work at NVision has lead to numerous awards: The 2006 Tibbetts Award for exemplary work in Small Business Innovation Research, Harvey was selected as SBA’s 2006 Small Business Person of the Year recognizing hard work, innovative ideas, and dedication to community, two Special Achievement in GIS Awards from ESRI, and the ESRI 2005 New Partner of the Year Award to name a few. Harvey attributes his success to his Marine Corp mentality and his well rounded Iowa Liberal Arts Education and experiences.

Jeremy Lind, GIS Analyst, British Petroleum

Graduation: May 2005 with a degree in Geography, emphasis in GIS

Currently Lind is employed at British Petroleum Corporate Headquarters in Warrenville, IL as a GIS Analyst working within their Pipelines and Logistics department.  As one of the pipeline GIS analyst, his core duties include database and integrity management, update and deployment of new GIS pipeline alignment map sheets, preparation of old relational pipeline data, or QA/QC, to be delivered into the new oracle database, and implementation of the mobile GIS application for adoption into the field sector.

The education Lind received from the GIS department at the University of Iowa has helped him to be a better asset to his team, allowing Lind to appropriate diagnose and deal with most problems or new developments encounters.  The Department of Geography's focus on the principles of GIS rather than the use of GIS software has been extremely beneficial in real world scenarios.  Lind did not know how many times he already heard, “Why can’t we just use this data?”  Garbage in, garbage out is usually my reply.  Understanding how data interacts within GIS and vice versa, how each can be utilized, and it's strengths and vulnerabilities has allowed Lind to make more educated decisions and choose appropriate courses of action. 

For example, a month ago the GIS team had a meeting with the mobile GIS developer and the oracle database specialist on how to best approach implementation of the mobile GIS application.  Some of the major concerns were ease of use, mobility, data acquisition, integration and management, GPS accuracy, and data flow.  After several hours of debate a consensus was reached on how to best approach and begin implementation of the mobile GIS program.

Lind's understanding on how each concern may interact, or not interact, with one another, problems that may occur, such as data delivery issues and device restrictions, and integration into the current GIS, was all derived from his experience and education received from Iowa’s GIS department. Without the support and expert knowledge garnered from the staff, he says he would not be where he is today.

Jeff Corns, GISP, Vice President of GIS, The Schneider Corporation

Jeff Corns is a 1997 graduate of the Geography program at the University of Iowa. His introduction to geography and GIS began with an undergraduate class discussing spatial patterns and their impact on economic situations. After graduating from Iowa, Corns joined a small GIS consulting firm (ProMap Corporation) in the Iowa State Research Park focusing on Local Government solutions. As COO of ProMap, he used innovation to help grow the company from seven people to more than 30, serving clients across Iowa and the Midwest. Using GIS and geographic principles to help solve problems and improve local governments has been a career long passion for Jeff. Today he is responsible for the GIS practice at The Schneider Corporation, a national geospatial and engineering consulting company based in Indianapolis, with offices in the Midwest and Southeast, including Ames, Iowa.

Corns has helped over 100 organizations develop and utilize GIS and bring geography into the forefront of their decision making processes. These organizations include over 40 counties in Iowa, and well as state and local governments throughout the Midwest and Southeast. He has also worked with a number of Fortune 500 companies across the country. These projects have won a number of state and national awards, and continue to lead the industry in innovation and efficiencies.

In addition to work, Corns has served on a number of industry and state boards including both Iowa’s and Indiana’s Geographic Information Councils. He is also currently serving on the Advisory Board for the Masters of Geography program at IUPUI, and as a member of the GIS Certificate Institute’s Review Board.