Christopher Smith, Content Development Manager
Ailing Hsu, Content Tools Specialist
Pacific Access GeoProducts
Ailing Hsu earned a BS (1987) in geological oceanography from National Taiwan Ocean University and an MS (1993) from the URI Natural Resources Science Department. Ailing enjoys bushwalking in the national parks of New South Wales.
When I was a student at URI in 1995, I worked
as a research associate at the Environmental Data Center (EDC) while completing
my master's degree. To conduct my research I used Geographic Information
System (GIS) methods to measure the shapes of landscapes and their relationships
to ecological diversity and habitat fragmentation across Rhode Island.
After graduating from URI, I worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) on a national monitoring and assessment program and then
moved to Norway to work for the United Nations (UN) Environment Program.
At the UN, I collaborated with Norwegian and Russian experts to develop
a GIS-based navigation system for transit routes along the Russian Arctic.
From Norway, I moved to Australia to work on a national database development
project.
During her master's program in the Natural
Resources Science Department at URI, Ailing worked at the EDC using GIS
to study birds (the common yellowthroat), local endangered bird species,
and bighorn sheep. After graduating, she moved to Boston, to work as a
GIS analyst for EPA. She used GIS to evaluate wetlands and to identify
areas with high natural resource values. Her work won an EPA Crystal Globe
Award in 1996 in recognition of a GIS project of national significance.
Ailing moved to Australia and we now work
together using our GIS skills at Pacific Access GeoProducts, a subsidiary
of Australia's largest telecommunications company. At GeoProducts, we
create detailed digital road map products that support consumer guidance
services such as on-line mapping and in-car navigation systems, products
found mostly in Europe and Asia. These systems provide turn-by-turn driving
instructions in a computer voice with an Australian accent--"At the
roundabout, take the third exit." Last year we led a development
team that introduced Australia's first in-vehicle navigation database
for BMW and the first navigable road database in the Southern Hemisphere.
GeoProducts is completing the national roll-out of a navigable road database
that will support applications such as dynamic route guidance, Yellow
Page multimedia, and real-time traffic information.
From our graduate studies at URI, we both
agree that in addition to advanced studies, some of the most beneficial
training was refining the skills that we use everyday, such as critical
thinking, complex problem solving, and delivering under pressure.
