Intermap Business

Hey all... I know I don't really do the blog thing anymore (sorry), but I wanted to share a press release with you from the company in which I am now employed. Most of you now understand what I do in general terms, but are still not certain "what for" and how it's used. This article explains one example of a cool (environmentally friendly!) application... I hope you find it interesting.

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Intermap Technologies and Auburn University Use GIS to Reduce Fuel Consumption

DENVER (August 6, 2007) - Intermap Technologies Corp. announced it has provisioned a grant to Auburn University to investigate and evaluate ways to save fuel using the company’s GIS 3D road geometries. The project’s initial focus is on achieving simulation results and designing a predictive cruise controller and automatic gear shifting algorithm to calculate optimal vehicle speed and gear selection that improve fuel economy and operating costs.

A significant amount of the fuel expense in the heavy trucking industry is attributed to changes in road slope. In an effort to address this problem, Intermap has sponsored a research team headed by Dr. David Bevly, assistant professor in mechanical engineering at Auburn University’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.

Eaton Corporation, one of the world’s major suppliers of heavy duty transmissions, is serving in an advisory role and sees significant efficiency opportunities in the project. “We are looking forward to the results of this work,” states Daniel G. Smedley, manager of advanced automation & control for Eaton Corporation’s Truck Technology group. “It opens up a new avenue of pursuit to help our customers get more miles out of a gallon of diesel fuel.”

According to Wei Huang, a member of Bevly’s research team leading the research effort, the project is unique in two ways, "First, the designed system is tested with real commercial 3D road geometry. Then, the influence of the road geometry and sensor accuracy on fuel economy is investigated. The 3D road geometry and GPS- based control system is designed to reduce the heavy trucks’ fuel consumption. The system consists of vehicle state estimators, the road geometry, and an optimal control system."

GPS technology is applied to estimate the truck position, while Intermap's 3D road geometry is used to identify information on the road slope that lies ahead. An optimal control system is then designed to predict and achieve ideal truck velocity and/or engine speed, based on the road geometry, with the consideration of fuel consumption and travel time. The basic function of this optimal control system is to automatically gauge when best to accelerate, decelerate, or change gears going into and coming out of slopes and curves.

"Early results have shown that truck fuel consumption can be reduced up to three percent without significantly increasing traveling time, when compared with a conventional cruise control system," adds Huang. According to the American Trucking Association, motor carriers spent $103.3 billion on fuel in 2006. Increased fuel efficiency will help carriers reduce their fuel consumption and overall operating costs – potentially saving approximately $3 billion dollars and a billion gallons of diesel per year. The Auburn study will also look at the tradeoffs between increased travel time and additional fuel savings.

“This is exciting news for the industry,” states Eric DesRoche, senior vice president of Intermap’s Automotive & Consumer Electronics division. “We are proud to be part of such a unique and visionary project that has the potential of reducing our vehicle carbon footprint and providing a substantial savings for the trucking industry.”

change

i was just reading julie's blog when i was reminded of something i forgot to mention in my previous post. during out time of prayer at medeba last weekend, sarah said something that i had not realized about myself... it really stuck in my head and cleared up some fog in my mind because she's right... it's true! so thank you so much sarah... your love and friendship has been a blessing to me once again!
i had be asking for prayer regarding some decisions i have to make in my life about jobs in alberta, ottawa (even thailand!) and stuff like that, and sarah pointed out that i have the gift of handling or dealing with change. then she went on to say that not only do i embrace change, but i search after it... it gets me excited! how profound that thought was for me! no wonder my life has never settled down! i never really thought of this as a "gift" before because it just comes so easily for me, but i guess now i understand why it's so challenging for so many other people... maybe i'm not "the norm"?! : ) and i'm ok with that. hehe... now this is a gift that i can use! ; )

speaking of gifts (whether you would consider them spiritual or not i don't know, but they still come from God)... my mom has always maintained the gift of hospitality. i have never met anyone in my life whose home (and refrigerator) has had an open door policy like my own parents. and now that i am living on my own, i believe that i have inherited this gift... actually, it's really just a way of life that i have learned. my apartment has become a common ground for the uac college and careers and yesterday i was able to see in a tangible way the blessing i have been to others, and then i was blessed in return. andy and andrew were celebrating their birthday's this week and wanted to go to the movies to see 300 last night. so i decided to invite a number of people over to my place to hang out before hand. I made a lemon/green marble cake with green icing and sparklers (kinda a st. patty's day theme, haha) and we sang for them and took pictures, etc. i then received an email this morning from andrew expressing his gratitude for my generousity as he has not had a birthday party with friends since he was 12 yrs old (and he's now 28)... that made all my efforts worthwhile and put a big ol' smile on my face today. i never thought that something so simple could mean so much to someone else. i love friends.

anyways, i mentioned a few weeks ago that i went to a lacrosse game and i loved it... so i'm going back again tonight! the Rock are playing the Colorado Mammoth... can't wait! : )

alright, i'm out. have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

p.s. my daddy is going back to work on monday (which he can't wait for)... pray for him as we're not sure how much he can handle at this point with his heart rate

graphite and medeba

a few weeks ago i had the chance to return to my first love and my second home. i spent most of my younger years at graphite bible camp in bancroft, but since i've been in university and now working, it is rare that i get to go back, even just to visit. i can't tell you how much i love it there... there are so many memories packed into that place. i went back to graphite for a college and careers retreat. i got to see so many long lost friends and co-counsellors from previous years (and even one of my klbc teachers cause he was the speaker!). as soon as i arrived on friday night i felt at peace... back where i belong. i was just in awe of how big the sky is there! that was the first thing i noticed when i stepped out of my car. you just cannot appreciate the beauty of nature when you live in the city. life itself is so much different. and the snow was so crisp, not like the sloppy stuff here... so much more fun to play in! while at camp i got to play broomball, soccer in the snow, go tubing, tobogganning and snowboarding (ramps and rails included on site). i also went snowmobiling at high speeds through the bush and across the lake (even caught some air off a few ramps!), and played floor hockey in the gym... so much activity for one weekend! i love it so much. it makes me feel so young and really good about myself when i get that much exercise. there was alot a lot of joking around too on the weekend... most of which revolved around my brother. it started on friday night with my brother getting up at 2am to ring the camp bell (which echos across the lake and woke up a bunch of people). he then went into the kitchen and duct taped the refrigerator door shut. this kind of thing happens on a pretty regular basis during the summer, so the camp director and cook easily saw the humor in it and laughed it off. kenton knows the boundaries... in fact, he's probably the one who drew the lines! unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for kenton, since he likes the attention) everybody knew exactly who did it without question, so there was no mystery in it. on the saturday kenton and his friend teamed up to try to subtly pry some information regarding the girls dorm... then in the middle of the night, as pretty much expected, the pranking began. they snuck into the girls dorm, more specifically the room i was staying in with a few other girls, slide a pot just inside the door, lit some firecrackers in the pot, and took off running (and laughing uncontrollably). it was definitely loud and woke up the entire building very abruptly, but it was a good one! props to him! : ) haha there was quite a mess of ashes left in the room afterwards, but apparently it was a well thought out plan... kenton was in charge of making sure the fire alarm didn't go off, and his buddy was delegated the task of ensuring the carpet didn't burn. also in tales of humor, kenton co-wrote a song entitled "click click double-click" during the weekend, which came about from a dinner table conversation regarding the online dating experiences of those who were sitting at our table during that meal... including the time kenton found kim on Lavalife (LOL)! the video coverage can be found here. i find it quite entertaining... but maybe you just had to be there.

this past weekend i got to go on another college and careers retreat at camp medeba near haliburton. it was completely different, but just as awesome. there was less activity and structure to the weekend, and the jokes were lacking and pranks were non-existant, but the prayer and worship (with the Mike Albano band) was amazing... not to mention Gary Weekes' messages. and i got to spend so much time girl-talking (including many tears)... much needed! and had the chance to strengthen a number of friendships. i also got to go on the zip line twice, and we went tubing, and had a campfire and smores before bed. unfortunately because of the warm weather, i didn't get to go on the ice climbing wall : ( the one good thing about this weekend as opposed to the previous is that after it was all over, i got to go home with all my friends and hang out with them some more... i didn't have to leave them behind to go off on my own direction, making goodbyes difficult as i did at graphite.

point form

I am officially BAD at writing on my blog, so here we go again with another summary of things that are significant to me over the past couple months.

* I am now a volunteer for Hockey Ministries International and I am very excited about it! This is a Christian organization that runs a chapel program for NHL, AHL, and OHL teams (not exclusively... many leagues across North America and Europe are involved, but I am currently only involved in the Ontario chapter of HMI) and hockey camps for kids, as well as variety of other outreach events such as fundraiser tournaments and banquets with high profile hockey personnel. Their purpose is to combine high quality hockey instruction and practical training in Christian living to prepare young athletes for challenges both on and off the ice. The chapel programs support the spiritual needs of players and coaches and reaches out to those who have never heard the gospel of Christ or experienced His love before. I first learned about HMI when Mike Fisher was drafted to the NHL in 1999 and became an instructor at HMI summer camps. A few months ago though, Mark Osbourne, former Toronto Maple Leaf and now HMI Ontario Rep, came to make a presentation at my church. I spoke to Mark afterwards and he got me connected with Paul Allen, the HMI Ontario coordinator. Since then Paul has been thrilled to have me onboard to assist with the administrative side of things (as he is known to have technical difficulties when it come to computers ; ) Before Christmas I was involved in mailing Christmas cards and a Christian sports magazine subscription offer to all OHL and AHL players, including Boyd Devereaux, Mikael Tellqvist, and all kinds of other guys that you may have heard of before if you watch the major junior leagues at all. I can't tell you how happy it makes me feel to be able to do something that combines my two greatest loves in life -- my faith and hockey!

* I am involved with a small group Bible study for college and careers aged people held at my apartment once a week. It is quite enjoyable! We just finished studying the book of James two weeks ago and have now started a new series called 'An Ordinary Day With Jesus'. I have made quite a few great friends through this group. Blessings of all kinds!

* My landlords finally announced their wedding! They have been living together for a few years already with their kids from their previous marriages, but just last summer, shortly after I moved in, they got engaged. They are planning a SMALL backyard wedding on July 14 this year and I am invited (naturally, since I live here).

* I got new hockey skates this year and my landlord put in a backyard rink. w00T! I used to only skate with figure skates, so I've been having fun practicing on my new skates. I love it... it feels more like "me"... I don't know why I didn't tell my parents this is what I wanted many years ago?!

* After years of saying "I love all country music", I finally officially decided that Toby Keith is my favorite! I mean, I still do love all country music, but I didn't a favorite before now. Not that it matters...

* Bon Cop Bad Cop is my new favorite movie : )

* I got a new Canon Powershot A630 digital camera for Christmas (yay) and new silverware! Those 2 things alone made it a good year, nevermind all the other great gifts.

* I was able to make it back to Montreal again on my Christmas vacation for a short visit (3rd time in less than a year!). Keith's New Years Eve party was MUCH fun! But since Lindsay was not in town, I also made a side trip this time to visit her (and Taylor) in Ottawa. Wow, was it ever great to catch up on some much needed girl talk with her... loved it! And to eat a burger with kraft dinner on it... yummy! I also made a quick stop near Hawkesbury (half way between Montreal and Ottawa) to have lunch with Ange Wade... lucky I did since she just found out that her husband got a job near Edmonton, she's moving there this week so I probably won't see her again for a very long time.

* Lindsay was invited to speak at an Aerospace Engineering conference at Ryerson University back in January, so her an Taylor came to visit me! I attended the conference with her and then we went for dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory and spend the night at a hotel downtown in the Penthouse Suite, all expenses paid by the Federal government! :-D hehe Good fun. We also went to The Corral (country bar) in Oshawa that weekend... which leads me to my next point ; )

* The Corral has local bands to do live music every night, and it just so happened that on the Friday night I went with Lindsay, Taylor, and a few other friends, Blair Smythe, a guy I went to highschool with, was there that night doing the live music. I wasn't really close friends with Blair in highschool, but I did know that he did gigs around Stratford fairly regularly, so I was really happy to see him in Oshawa that night. He's really good! Anyways, we talked and he bought me a few drinks and I went back to see him play again on the following Tuesday night. We've been keeping in touch since then... : ) Enough said.

* Um, my dad nearly died on Dec 21. He had a massive heart attack 2 days after he had a double hernia operation, and then the combination of these two things lead to a number of other complications, so he ended up being in Intensive Care for a week over Christmas. It's a really long story and I don't really feel like going into it too much more, but he's doing pretty good now and is scheduled to go back to work on March 19. Many of you have already heard all the details, but if you're interested in knowing more, feel free to ask.

* I'm back into interviews again this week. I've been casually looking for a new job for a while cause the job I have now is only half good (haha, if that makes any sense) and it pays poorly... and I simply cannot stay living in Toronto for forever :-P So I had an interview for a job in the municipal government at the County of Grande Prairie in northern Alberta (~4 hrs northwest of Edmonton) on Friday. They don't currently have any GIS people working there, so it's a pioneer type position that they're hiring for, so it sounds like an exciting challenge to me. Anyways, the interview went really well and they're willing to fly me out there for a meet and greet, buuuuut.... I have another interview coming up on Monday morning, so I'm gonna wait to see how that one goes first before I decide on Grande Prairie. This second interview is a federal government job at Environment Canada in the Canadian Ice Services department as a Satellite (primarily radar) Order Desk Representative in Ottawa (Sussex Drive, actually hehe). It's a very similar position to the job I had working at the Canadian Space Agency in Montreal a few years back, so I'm feeling pretty confident about it. I've been looking for a job in the remote sensing field for a long time (ever since I left Montreal, actually), and I'm excited about the possibility of being able to live with Lindsay again (cause she quit her job at the CSA in Montreal and is starting a new position in Ottawa next week)! So ya... wish me luck! I'll let you know later how it all turns out.

* Last weekend I went to my very first Toronto Rock lacrosse game. All I have to say is WOW. I absolutely loved it! I was sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time. It's a very rough, exciting, fast-paced game. I wanna go again! I almost like lacrosse as much as hockey now : )

* Facebook -- if you're not on it, you're not anybody! (and what are you waiting for?!?!) Be warned, however, if you're gonna join (and you should), this online community is highly addictive! It's such a good way to reconnect with old friends and see what they're up to these days and see how so much has changed. I've already got/found nearly 175 friends in the few short months that I've been a member. I've found all kinds of people from elementary school, highschool, bible college, camp(s)... even people I met when travelling in Europe! It's pretty crazy and so fun. The site allows to you create a profile, send messages, share photos, write blog-like posts, join interest groups... and even serves as a handy birthday reminder!

Ok, I'm done. For now. Bye.

Europe 2005 Photos

Well, the long awaited first release of pictures from my trip to Europe with Trisha and my Mom in the summer of 2005 is finally here! This includes pictures from Egypt, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland. Greece and Italy are still on their way (sorry). There's a lot to take in, so I would not recommend that you look at them all at once... pace yourself! : )

PLEEEEASE leave your comments here whenever you get a chance to see my albums. Let me know what you loved (or not), where you've been if you've been there too, if you have any corrections or comments to add to my captions, or anything else you want to say! Just let me know you were there.

You will find a link to my photo album on the side bar to get you started. Thank you so much for taking an interest! I will let you know when I make the second release of photos.

VOTE (it's your civic duty!)

I got this idea from watching Leno... he did a special show with an audience of military personnel for the American Thanksgiving and he sent people out on the street (the JayWalk) to get the opinions of some random people. Sorry, it's an American question, but it's good fun so I want to hear what you guys have to say. Guys can answer this question too... more than 10% of the military is female!

If you had to date someone from the military, which branch would you want him/her to be from? Or which division of the US military do you think is the sexiest? and why?

Army
Navy
Air Force
Coast Guard
Marines

YouTube has it all...

Worst. Video. Ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgX-hiQdfFw

Greatest. Video. Ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5zWaTEVkI