Extreme Engineer of the Month

Profile: Christopher Medina, Professional Surveyor
and Business Owner

Chris began college as a civil engineering major, but after a couple of surveying classes he realized that was the profession he wanted to pursue. At New Mexico State University, surveying engineering is a small program with hands on professors that are approachable, knowledgeable, and who like to challenge you. He liked the other students, and they became friends inside and outside the classroom. Even during social time they often talked about surveying. “Our girlfriends and wives were getting kind of sick of it,” Chris said. “Everyone had one goal—to get their degree and to go out in the field and start working. We could relate to each other.”  

During the summer of his junior year, Chris did an internship with Wilson & Company, Inc. in Albuquerque. A four-year degree is required to become a registered professional surveyor in New Mexico, so companies actively recruit students in the surveying programs for summer internships and jobs. After graduation, Chris applied with several different companies throughout the country, but decided he wanted to stay in New Mexico, so he signed on with Wilson & Company.

He started with Wilson & Company as a rodman and grew up into the ranks of party chief, then survey field manager in the office. In 2002, Chris obtained his license and was promoted to survey field manager. In that position he was responsible for the oversight of five to six survey crews and reported directly to the survey manager of the company’s Southwest Survey Group. The work done within his group included right-of-way surveys, topographic surveys or design surveys for the engineers, and construction layouts. They used a lot of different types of tools—including GPS, total stations, and photogramtry. Chris says it gave him a good, well-rounded background.

One of the most challenging assignments he worked on was in 2003, when he was tasked with surveying a 20-mile corridor of interstate near Denver, CO. He had to set up photogrametric panels for aerial mapping and conduct the control surveys using GPS. The project had a tight deadline, and Chris was responsible for laying down the panels and conducting the control survey and producing a control report with oversight and direction of several field crews. They had certain specifications to meet for the Colorado DOT. The crew had to live out of hotel rooms for a couple of weeks. The limited time frame and personnel and amount of equipment required made it challenging.

In conducting aerial or photogrametric surveys, survey crews on the ground go in and lay down aerial panels—essentially crosses on the ground—the aerial panel locations were dependant on several key factors, the scale of the mapping, flying height of the plane, and overlap between photos. The crew set crosses at predetermined sites to match the number of panels required to be in each photo, etc. Once the panels are set up, they fly it and take the pictures. The panels are used to help orientate the photo and as a reference point to take measurements on the photos. The surveyors lay the panels on the ground along the interstate corridor at determined interval spacing. Once that component is completed, the surveyors go back and do the control survey. They use GPS to establish a known X, Y, and Z coordinate on it. They are mapping x and y coordinates, tied to a specific longitude and latitude, which is generated by GPS, and are also measuring the elevation of each aerial panel point.

The project provided an accurate topographic map so DOT could create preliminary designs for widening the road or alternate transportation, by including alternative transportation such as rail. “We provide the mapping and turn that over to the engineers to create their design on,” Chris says.

Chris enjoyed his time and Wilson & Company, but his ultimate goal had always been to be self-employed. Both this father and grandfather had owned their own businesses. In August of 2004, Chris left Wilson & Company and hung a shingle out for business. Responsible for the field crew operations at Wilson & Company, he didn’t have any client contacts, so the first several months were slow. He started off by himself for the first two months before coming to the conclusion that he needed help, primarily for safety issues in the field. “When working on boundary surveys, you’re out in the middle of no where, perhaps on a big ranch. In New Mexico, it’s pretty wide open, and there is always a possibility of getting injured” he said.

Chris hired his first employee as a survey rodman about two months after starting the business, and a second employee to help with CAD drafting in the office a month later. Right now, Chris has four employees plus himself, and they are quite busy. They’ve grown from one instrument and Chris’ pick up truck to two GPS systems and two survey vehicles, and they’ve moved out of Chris’ garage to a small office. His client list now boasts many companies with a nice diversified base. Projects have included working on Kirtland Air Force Base providing construction staking services, boundary surveys of several large ranches, boundary and topographic surveys for several private subdivisions, construction staking of several large public infrastructure improvement projects, and boundary and topographic surveys throughout New Mexico.

While much of surveying work is done outside, there are also opportunities for inside work—including developing project budgets, preparing survey crews for next days work, writing proposals, and attending meetings. “That’s satisfying, but not as much as being out in the field, smelling the fresh air,” says Chris. Chris also likes is the diversity of projects. “It’s always different scenery, different projects, and different people,” he says.

Chris notes that each project has its own challenges and different approach. “Being a surveyor is a lot like being a detective, engineer, and lawyer,” he says. “You’re doing a lot of research on a boundary survey—research with the courthouse, the owner, neighbors—trying to find as much information as you can to put together a puzzle. You also deal with the engineers quite a bit on their designs, answering their questions, asking them questions, and learning what their intent is, so that when you lay it out for the contractor they will build it exactly like the engineer design it.”

I’m very lucky that I’ve landed in a field that I enjoy, says Chris. “It makes it that much easier to do the work.”