A former Great Lakes student has shown what can happen when passion, genuine interest and a good education come together, by winning a major award at his industry’s night of nights.
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From Diamond Beach, Tim Langford has was award the surveying industry’s University Student Project of the Year, presented under the auspices of the 2016 NSW Surveying and Spatial Industries Awards.
“A fantastic and well-deserved reward for a hard-working, dedicated young man who chose a career path that he knew he would like (first and foremost), that best suited his strengths and offered him great opportunities for the future,” said his proud mother Ruth, admitting he wasn’t in the top classes at school.
“It was a matter of just doing well and finding what you like,” she said.
The former TAFE teacher said the opportunity for him to study for the HSC while also doing a TAFE Cert 2 in construction course gave her son choices he might have otherwise missed.
“One of the reasons he got into uni was because he had the TAFE course behind him. He’s gone on in leaps and bounds.”
After careers research and some local work experience, he studied at the University of Newcastle, graduating this year with a Bachelor of Engineering Surveying (Honours).
During his four years of study he gained a scholarship with the Port of Newcastle as a Trainee Hydrographer, measuring, describing and mapping the earth’s surface waters and completing a measuring project comparing traditional (tidal) and modern techniques (GPS).
“They put in a schedule of where the dredger needs to go to make laneways for the ships to come in. They use tidal marks to get the depth of formations and obstacles. Tim used a traditional method and compared it to using satellite surveying to measure how effective both of them were.”
Ruth said they were blown away after he won the award, attributing much of it to “how a great education and how the right choices can open up wonderful career opportunities.”
Tim now returns to his job in Alice Springs as a Graduate Surveyor with the NT Government.