What is Surveying Engineering?
Do you like mathematics, law, science, leading edge technology, working with computers, being outdoors? How about maps? Perhaps the idea of being a critical part of a multidisciplinary design team improving the world around us appeals to you? If so, you may wish to consider a career as a Surveying Engineer.

Surveying Engineers are involved with land boundaries; retracing existing ones or establishing new ones. They use and manage Geographic Information Systems. Surveyors determine the size, shape and gravitational forces of the earth and make extensive use of the Global Positioning System. Surveyors support the design and layout of infrastructure to include highways, railroads, bridges, tunnels, buildings and utilities. They perform critical tasks in the fields of natural resource management, mineral exploration and navigation. Surveying engineers produce maps of the surface of the earth both above and below the water.

A career in Surveying Engineering offers all the diversity that you may want. Jobs are plentiful and are available in government, the military, the private sector and in academics. As a Surveying Engineer, the only thing that will ever hold you back is what you are willing to settle for.

Watch Our Surveying Engineering Videos:
Flash Video 1 (14.5 MB) - Students Win National Competition
Flash Video 2 (23.5 MB) - Academic Overview
Video 3 (YouTube) - Leica Geosystems

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About Surveying Engineering

  • The largest undergraduate surveying engineering program in the Midwest and one of the largest in the U.S. The B.S. in Surveying Engineering is approved and recognized by the Michigan State Board of Licensing for Professional Surveyors.
  • Accredited (B.S. Surveying Engineering) by The Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET (www.abet.org).
  • The Surveying Engineering Department has educated surveyors for the State of Michigan and the nation for more than forty years.
  • Excellent job opportunities in the field or in the office.
  • Diverse employment opportunities with large and small private surveying and mapping firms; federal, state and local governmental agencies nationwide.
  • Comprehensive integrated curriculum including courses in field surveying, survey law, GPS, GIS, photogrammetry, geodesy, cartography, remote sensing, hydrology & hydraulics, soil mechanics, and other related courses.
  • Integrated field surveying component that links surveying theory to field applications .
  • State-of-the-art surveying equipment including the "Field To Finish" computerized systems, Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, and extensive mapping equipment.
  • Active student organizations - The Burt and Mullet Student Chapter of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM), and the Michigan Society of Professional Surveyors, (MSPS); Mary Feindt Chapter Lambda Sigma (national surveying honor society).
  • Over $20,000 in annual scholarships available for students.
  • Admission requirements: High school diploma, prefer students with math and science aptitudes.
  • Transfer options from other two and four year institutions (particularly to Surveying Engineering). Nearly 50% of students are transfers from other colleges and universities.