Barbara Duarte/Contributing Writer
The Biscayne Bay Campus will be opening its Geographic Information System Center at the Hubert Library on Oct. 8, and will have an open house, hosted by director of GIS Jennifer Fu on Oct. 11. The new GIS Center will provide assistance and resources for research and teaching in all BBC FIU departments, disciplines, and units.
The event will occur from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Hubert Library in rooms 127 and 124. Students will meet the GIS staff and Advisory Committee, who will be providing information about GIS classes, programs and advantages, as well as answering specific questions.
The GIS Center will be equipped with 18 Personal Computer workstations; a Hewitt-Packard plotter printer, capable of printing maps and images up to 36 inches; an HP 42” scanner; and a 3-dimensional photogrammetry workstation. A Geocommons Lounge will be located in front of the GIS lab, offering maps and geographic references, new seating, and two gaming stations for students, faculty and staff.
The Chair of the Faculty Senate, Thomas Breslin, will be the keynote speaker of the event. He was an important supporter of the GIS establishment initiative at the Modesto Maidique Campus in 1998, having the vision of a library-based GIS department that would support research in all disciplines.
The Geocommons Lounge will be inaugurated with a map identification game competition, the first prize will be a $50 FIU Bookstore gift certificate, and the second prize will be a $25 Starbucks gift certificate.
The system provides any type of demographic or geographical information, being capable of presenting them in innovative ways, such as interactive maps.
“Faculty need to be aware and open to new trends, and GIS allows professors and students to understand and meet the needs for reality,” Fu said.
Fu also explained how GIS is an interdisciplinary program
“The system can provide environmental and geographical details of regions,” Fu said. “Such as the Everglades, for natural science studies, census statistics for urban planning and social science, and demographics or historical information of a city.”
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