July 2004
Welcome to The Sensor -- the newsletter of the Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions (EIGS) bringing you the latest developments from Mississippi ’s emerging geospatial industry cluster. Please feel free to share this with friends and colleagues. To subscribe, visit www.eigs.olemiss.edu
For further information, or
to submit story ideas, please contact Lisa Stone - lstone@olemiss.edu
The Director's Cut
Robin Buchannon
Director, EIGS
This has become an exciting time of year for the EIGS
staff as we work to put together the annual Economic Impact Report for Mississippi’s geospatial industry cluster.
There is always anticipation as to whether the final numbers will reveal the
growth that we have seen in years past. I am happy to report that this past
year, July 1, 2003 through
June
30, 2004,
has proven to be the rule, not exception.
Year after year since 1997, the business members of the EIGS cluster have
contributed to the Mississippi economy and brought higher
paying, high technology jobs to Mississippi. During the past fiscal year,
over 550 people were employed by EIGS geospatial companies with an average
annual salary of $50,000. Not only is the addition of over 100 jobs exciting,
but the increase in the average annual salary is significant. Across the board,
the average salary reported by the individual companies has gone up, which is
reflected in the jump of the cluster’s average salary of $47,000 last year to
$50,000 this year.
Since 1998, the EIGS companies have cumulatively invested $119 million in Mississippi
in salaries, office space and other operating expenses necessary to conduct business. Actual
cash investment in support of the cluster by NASA and the State of Mississippi from 1998
through 2004 totals close to $24 million. With the $119 million of corporate
investment in Mississippi-based operations during this same period, NASA and
the State of Mississippi have seen a six-fold return on
their investment in this cluster.
I would like to specifically thank the State of
Mississippi for their support in assisting to
develop the cluster and NASA for their significant role in the critical
geospatial R&D activities. Without their crucial efforts and guidance, Mississippi’s
geospatial industry cluster would not continue to report these strong growth figures.
I look forward to the upcoming fiscal year where we can capitalize on our strengths and take note of
lessons learned, as we work toward building a new industry for Mississippi.
The Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Project in Oxford MS
Another one of
the university programs in the Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial
Solutions is the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) at the University of Mississippi.
Though few know about the program, it is quickly garnering attention- read on and you will see why.
Attendance at a major sports
event at The University of Mississippi disproves the theory that traffic
congestion is only a problem in big cities. In actuality, major urban areas are
designed to handle high traffic volumes. Rural areas and smaller cities
like Oxford enjoy less-hectic traffic most days, but sometimes during
normal traffic load days, the drive times (and lunch times) get tedious. And
then there are football games. Enter the Intelligent Transportation
Systems (ITS) Project!
Under a Federal Highway
Agency (FHWA) program known as ITS, guided and
assisted by the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT), many municipal
areas have been granted funds to add ‘intelligent systems’ to the asphalt,
traffic lights, painted lines, and turn lanes. Oxford, Mississippi, is one such program, and one of
very few rural programs in the nation.
ITS consists of everything
that technologically enhances basic road and signal construction – lane
sensors, traffic cameras, intersection light controllers, connecting optical
cabling, programs to manage traffic flow, traffic operations centers, and so
on. It is all about better traffic safety and management for the citizens of an
area. The ITS program seeks to make everyone’s journey anywhere in the project
region safer, quicker, and even more energy efficient. It is not about building
roads – it is about making them faster, safer, and more efficient.
In 1999 a pilot program, now
entering its third phase in 2004, was granted by FHWA and MDOT to the City of Oxford.
The University of Mississippi acts as agent and technological
base for much of the effort. Early activities focused on putting in place a
sophisticated geographic information system (GIS) as a regional data base. The
GIS contains streets, digital elevations, space imagery, property boundaries
and other features useful to both the city and the public.
When the project finally
achieves its goals over the next several years, citizens can check traffic on
their computer, can see traffic patterns, download
pictures from imagery files showing areas of their own interest, get traffic
condition forecasts, and many other services. Emergency vehicles will be
routinely assisted in getting through on their missions of life and death. Any
serious incidents can be managed more efficiently and the everyday traffic flow
will be better facilitated – it will be seen and controlled.
In sum, ITS
is adding ‘safe smarts’ to our roadways and travel challenges.
For general information, visit http://oumits.olemiss.edu
or www.oumits.olemiss.edu or contact Dr. Hugh Sloan, Principle Investigator for ITS
at hsloan@bus.olemiss.edu or
662-915-7414;
for any technical details, contact Dr. Greg Easson
the technical Co-Principle Investigator on geasson@olemiss.edu
or 662-915-5995.
Graduate Fellow Feature
Cindy Shields, originally from Knoxville, Tennessee, graduated in 2002 with a B.S. in
Nuclear Engineering from The University of Tennessee. As a second year
NASA/EIGS Fellow, she just recently graduated with a Master of Business
Administration from The University of Mississippi in June 2004. Some of Cindy’s
many notable distinctions include General Electric Scholar, Golden Key National
Honor Society, University Honors Program, Past Treasurer of the Society of
Women Engineers, and Past President of the American Nuclear Society. She has
accepted a job with BWXT Y-12 in Oak Ridge, TN, as a Nuclear Criticality Safety
Engineer.
Under the direction of Dr. Hugh Sloan, Cindy’s project, “The Use of
High-Resolution Digital Imagery in Marketing Science: Advancing Market, Trade
Area and Consumer Spending Analysis” focused on the new, evolving field of
Marketing Geomatic Science (MGS). Her research
concentrated on housing characteristics as indicators of property value, which
is useful in determining potential retail revenues, optimal retail locations,
and estimated profitability (depending on the product or industry). It is
proposed that property value may be identified from imagery of habitat areas
alone. Such research is important because property value is proportional to
family income, and retail potential can be deduced from information concerning
property values in a given area. The ultimate goal of the research was that,
after model ‘training,’ the imagery alone provided managerially useful updates
of change between decennial censuses. This would reveal important urban,
suburban, and exurban shifts in the retail center, which is valuable to mall,
retail, and other commercial planners.
Seen and Heard…
From the Summer 2004 issue of Pointe Innovation Magazine: “With tech markets in decline all around us, and layoffs by the hundreds from ‘veteran’ companies in Colorado and in the Silicon Valley, it is not a mistake that NVision and other startups have been successful in their endeavors in Mississippi,” said Craig Harvey, CIO and Executive Vice President of NVision Solutions. “NVision Solutions has been successful due to a number of reasons. Not the least that we were a member of EIGS located on NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center. The State of Mississippi saw the benefit in fostering companies such as ours and left the stewardship of that support to EIGS. The fact that we are here, stable, confident and still growing after two years is a testament to that stewardship and the foresight of the State of Mississippi and of NASA.”
Company Spotlight
WorldWinds, Inc.
It is that time of year
again when Mississippians, particularly coastal residents, are acutely aware of
what is going on with the weather. Hurricane season is upon us and NOAA’s
2004 Atlantic hurricane season outlook calls for
12-15 tropical storms with 6-8 becoming hurricanes, and 2-4 of these becoming
major hurricanes. Tireless planning efforts are on-going to prepare for the
worst – a hurricane making landfall on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
It has happened many times
before and it will happen again, but an EIGS company member, WorldWinds, is working to mitigate this kind of potential
weather disaster. WorldWinds, Inc. provides highly
detailed weather and wave forecast data needed to respond to such hazardous
weather. Through their web-based hurricane storm surge and flood forecasting, WorldWinds can provide representations of the coastline,
immediate inland areas, and estuaries, which are critical for hurricane
preparedness and storm surge modeling.
Using a suite of computer models along with real-time satellite data, WorldWinds produces forecasts
that are both accurate and timely. These weather and wave applications have
been developed in coordination with NASA and the U.S Navy.
Another major product offering by WorldWinds, marine
weather data generated 24 hours a day/7 days a week, is being utilized by XM
Satellite Radio for their XMWX Satellite Weather service. The breakthrough data
WorldWinds provides to XMWX Satellite Weather is marine
weather data compiled from a suite of computer models along with real-time
satellite data to produce forecasts that are both accurate and timely. WorldWinds also works with WxWorx
and XM Satellite Radio to provide off-shore weather information to marine
vessels that enhances situational awareness and decision-making capabilities.
WorldWinds, Inc. was established in May 2000 as a
spin-off of User Systems, Inc., one of the seven charter members of Mississippi’s geospatial industry cluster.
WorldWinds is a privately held, 8(a) certified business
located at the NASA Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi. They provide customized
consulting support and analysis of weather and remotely sensed data including
accurate, near real-time, high-resolution weather forecasts. Their forecast
applications are used in a variety of markets including: marine transport, oil
and gas operations, commercial fishing, coastal hazard and response support,
aviation, agriculture, air pollution monitoring, and insurance applications.
For more information, visit www.worldwindsinc.com
or contact Elizabeth Valenti at evalenti@worldwindsinc.com or
228-688-1468.
If you have suggestions
for future SPOTLIGHTS, please send an e-mail to lstone@olemiss.edu.
Be sure to visit the EIGS website at