GPS World, December 2009

OUT IN FRONT EDITORIAL Editor in Chief Alan Cameron acameron@ questex com Managing Editor Tracy Cozzens tcozzens@ questex com Art Director Charles Park cpark@ questex com Editorial Intern Gwen Cameron EDITORIAL OFFICES 201 Sandpointe Avenue Suite 500 Santa Ana CA 92707 8716 USA 714 338 6700 Fax 714 338 6717 www gpsworld com info@ gpsworld com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Innovation Richard Langley lang@ unb ca LBS Kevin Dennehy kdennehy@ questex com Mass Market OEM Stephen Colwell scolwell@ questex com Military Government Don Jewell djewell@ questex com Precision OEM Rob Lorimer rlorimer@ questex com Survey Eric Gakstatter egakstatter@ questex com Transport Avionics Bill Thompson bthompson@ questex com Utilities Communications Janice Partyka jpartyka@ questex com ADVERTISING Publisher Kristina Panter kpanter@ questex com 714 338 6733 Eastern Region International Account Manager Michael Eager meager@ questex com 913 254 9622 Western Regional Account Manager Classifieds Jeannie Hortness 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any responsibility for any losses or other damages incurred by readers in reliance on such content Published monthly www gpsworld com From IAIN to 101 T his is one of those mind puzzles that challenge you to transform one word to another in as few moves as possible No its not But it does constitute a journey of sorts I made it in a few minutes while listening to David Last give the keynote address at the 13th World Congress of the International Association of Institutes of Navigation Departure point ballroom of the Clarion Hotel Stockholm Sweden late October Destination GPS 101 an online webinar for engineers from PNTrelated as in kissin cousins disciplines sometime in the near future Last described the United Kingdoms Royal Institute of Navigation RIN of which he is president as a failing business in a booming industry He added that many institutes of navigation struggle with falling membership and declining revenues if not outright losses Contrast this with huge satnav growth and the exploding numbers of products Departure point IAIN plenary Stockholm late October Destination GPS 101 sometime in the near future that are more powerful more userfriendly more cost effective every time we have met Rising industry falling professional associations My concern here is not the well being of institutes but the global technical awareness possessed by engineers and designers from a range of industries whose products now seek to incorporate position navigation and or timing Phones cameras cars binoculars road tolling parole anklets and so on This magazine reaches and educates those far flung technical personnel in addition to our readers already working in and supplying the surveying aviation military marine mapping precision agriculture and other more traditional positioning fields I think we do so very successfully But I was surprised by the low level of awareness evidenced by participants in Julys webinar The GPS Constellation and More with Colonel David Madden GPS Wing Commander Presumably attendees came from among our readers and web visitors but some of their questions were beyond or below elementary Editor Don Jewell who moderated that webinar saw the need for a GPS 101 course and I fully agree We dont intend to compete with companies or institutes offering technical tutorials Rather to offer a stepping stone up to those tutorials and to leverage our free and extensive global reach to engineers everywhere Returning to the RIN president for Last words What was once a specialized set of professional techniques has expanded into an industry with hundreds of millions of users Navigation is a unique place where bright engineers hardware and software work alongside systems analysts geographers surveyors geodesists mapmakers and those who design manufacture market and support navigation equipment and those who use their products as practitioners These people are todays navigators Letters to Editor invited email to eic@ gpsworld com GPS World December 2009 www gpsworld com 6