GEOTalks 2025 User Conference

Patrick Cunningham has over two decades of experience in cutting-edge software development, marketing, sales, consulting, project management, and corporate management environments. Cunningham joined Blue Marble Geographics in 2003 and has led the company since 2004. He has overseen the growth of Blue Marble Geographics ever since, including the acquisition of Global Mapper in 2011 and the expansion of its innovative lidar and drone imagery processing tools.

• Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn
• Connect with Blue Marble Geographics on LinkedIn

Opening Remarks

Patrick Cunningham’s session will remark on the developments to our GIS software products in 2024, including the introduction of the Global Mapper Insight and Learning Engine™ (Beta) and the launch of the Geographic Calculator cloud-based platform. Join us for Patrick’s session to learn about what’s on the horizon for Blue Marble Geographics in 2025.

Simon Brown is a commercial diver with a deep interest in mapping and history. For a decade, Simon has worked with underwater photogrammetry to digitally preserve shipwreck and aircraft crash sites. In 2020, Simon Brown co-founded AccuPixel with Jose Martinez Rubio. AccuPixel delivers photogrammetry training and consultancy for terrestrial and subsea clients, including offshore survey companies working with subjects lying in waters thousands of metres deep.

In 2020, Simon Brown was named the Royal Photographic Society’s Science Photographer of the Year for the orthophoto of the S.S. Thistlegorm wreck. Much of the initial research has been presented and explored in the co-authored book Diving the Thistlegorm: The Ultimate Guide to a World War II Shipwreck.

Mapping the SS Thistlegorm
The first 3D baseline survey of the SS Thistlegorm was performed in 2017 for the Thistlegorm Project. This wreck sits in Egypt’s Red Sea and is considered one of the finest wreck dives in the world. However, the wreck’s popularity comes at a price with the loss/theft of artifacts, salvage of non-ferrous components, and damage to the ship’s structure caused by mooring practices. Global Mapper Pro has been a critical tool in consuming photogrammetric outputs and a wealth of supporting data and information. The software enabled Simon Brown’s team to present complex information to communicate changes they’ve documented and advocate about the risks posed to the site.

Documenting the SS Thistlegorm and its cargo is an ongoing process for Simon’s team. In 2022, the team performed a subsequent survey that recorded changes to the wreck, as well as the discovery of new, unrecorded artifacts on the surrounding seabed. Simon Brown’s session about mapping the SS Thistlegorm will demonstrate how Global Mapper Pro has been key to recording, understanding, and presenting the findings of the research to date.

Alonzo De La Cruz is the Senior Geomatics Engineer at Suncor Energy. He graduated from the University of Calgary in 2002 with degrees in Geomatics Engineering and Political Science. Throughout his career, he has taught math in Mexico, surveyed Northern British Columbia and Southern Alberta, and is now working on Suncor’s geospatial and geomatics projects.

The Evolution of Suncor Energy’s Custom Coordinate Systems in Geographic Calculator

Suncor Energy has relied on Geographic Calculator’s geodetic tools for over a decade. During that time, the software became the method they trusted to convert data to and from their custom coordinate systems. Suncor Energy relies on custom systems for a range of assets including single buildings, entire mines, and large project areas that cover multiple well pads and facilities. 

Suncor’s custom systems often have a vertical component that can present issues in other software that can be solved easily in Geographic Calculator. This talk will review the evolution of how Suncor Energy leverages the Geographic Calculator software from desktop version 2.5 to the current Geographic Calculator. Alonzo will also discuss how fitted horizontal systems, projections/vertical systems, and transformations connect to Suncor’s use of custom coordinate systems in Geographic Calculator.

Detective Eugene Gallant has been a police officer since 1996 and a Detective at the Windham Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division since 2014. Detective Gallant has been a certified crash reconstructionist since 2005. Along with crash reconstruction, Detective Gallant is also a forensic mapper and an event data recorder (vehicle airbag) technician/analyst. 

Detective Gallant holds a part 107 FAA license and alongside Captain Burke, started the first municipal public safety sUAS program in the State Of Maine. Detective Gallant has investigated over 200 crashes and is a court-certified expert in crash reconstruction and forensic mapping.

Captain Jason Burke has been a police officer since 2002, starting at the University of Southern Maine and transferring to the Windham Police Department in 2005. He was promoted to Sergeant in 2018 and Captain of Patrol in 2023. Captain Burke has been a certified crash reconstructionist since 2010. 

Captain Jason Burke is also a forensic mapper, event data technician, and analyst along with a licensed motor vehicle autopsy examiner. In 2017, he obtained his FAA Part 107 certification and began flying sUAV aircraft for the Windham Police Department to further the crash reconstruction mission.

Using Global Mapper Pro for Crime and Crash Scene Reconstruction

Detective Eugene Gallant and Captain Jason Burke will discuss the Windham Police Department’s use of sUAS imagery with Global Mapper Pro to reconstruct and analyze crime and crash scenes in Windham, ME. In this session, Captain Burke and Detective Gallant will demonstrate one of these workflows and highlight how they extract the data to complete a traffic crash reconstruction and/or crime scene analysis.

Jessica Vachon
Plan and oversee the marketing department to ensure success in all of our marketing efforts.

Meg Scribner
Here to make our social media exciting and share resources for users about mapping with Blue Marble Geographics’ GIS software!

Moriah Hajduk
Supporting Blue Marble Geographics’ educational programs through outreach and building relationships with academic institutions to encourage students.

Emily Hunt
Expanding our reach into new industries while creating content to help users optimize their workflows.