November 18, 2010 -- Orlando, FL - Michael Baker Jr., Inc. has been selected as the Grand Award winner in the 4th Annual MAPPS Geospatial Products and Services Excellence Awards competition presented November 17 in Kissimmee, FL. Baker's project, "U.S. Bureau of Census - Accurate Coordinate Datasets Collection", generated spatial ground control for 1,018 counties/municipalities, spanning 37 different U.S. States and five U.S. territories in support of the Census Bureau's MAF/TIGER Accuracy Improvement Project (MTAIP). The project spanned over four and a half years and was delivered ahead of schedule, and $2.4 million under budgeted allocation.

"Baker was selected due to the overall size and complexity of the project, as well as the glowing client recommendation," said Christine Grahl, editor for POB Magazine, Troy, Michigan, one of the judges who evaluated the submitted projects. "Baker's ability to coordinate multiple resources and overcome a multitude of challenges to deliver such a large project ahead of schedule, under budget and with a 99.6% first-time acceptance rate on deliverables is worthy of acclaim."

MAPPS awarded winners in six technical categories. Baker's Census project won in the Photogrammetry/Elevation Data Generation category. Photo Science's project, "Humboldt Bay Ecosystem Mapping" won for Airborne and Satellite Data Acquisition. Woolpert, Inc. won for "City of Columbus 2009 Impervious Surface Program" in Remote Sensing. The Sidwell Company's project, "Improved Geospatial Cadastral Mapping with GIS Integration" was selected in GIS/IT. Kappa Mapping won the Small Projects category for "Tenant's Harbor Buoy Counting Project". And Microsoft won the award in Technology Innovation for its "UltaCam L/Lp" digital aerial camera.

"MAPPS member firms have once again demonstrated the professionalism, innovation and societal benefit that the private geospatial community provides to enhance our quality of life," said MAPPS Executive Director John Palatiello. "On a daily basis, MAPPS member firms are providing quality services, data and technology products. The Excellence Awards highlight these achievements and the professionalism MAPPS members strive to provide."

A panel of independent judges evaluated projects submitted by MAPPS members for the awards program. Joining Ms. Grahl on the panel was chairman Robert Burtch PS, CP, Ferris State University, Big Rapids, Michigan; Pamela Lawhead, associate professor at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi; Leonard Gilroy, AICP, director of government reform at Reason Foundation, Los Angeles, CA; and Donn Dears, president of TSAugust.org, a nonprofit think tank conducting research on energy and economic issues, in Geneva, Illinois.

The awards presentation took place at the MAPPS Fall Policy Conference, held in conjunction with the Special Joint Symposium of ISPRS Technical Commission IV and AutoCarto 2010 held in association with the ASPRS/CaGIS Specialty Conference on GIS Day, November 17, 2010. The event and a reception was sponsored by Riegl USA, a MAPPS member firm, at the Kissimmee Airport, Orlando, FL.

About MAPPS
Formed in 1982, MAPPS is the only national association exclusively comprised of private firms in the remote sensing, spatial data and geographic information systems field in the United States. The MAPPS membership spans the entire spectrum of the geospatial community, including Member Firms engaged in satellite and airborne remote sensing, surveying, photogrammetry, aerial photography, LIDAR, hydrography, bathymetry, charting, aerial and satellite image processing, GPS, and GIS data collection and conversion services. MAPPS also includes Associate Member Firms, which are companies that provide hardware, software, products and services to the geospatial profession in the United States and other firms from around the world. Independent Consultant Members are sole proprietors engaged in consulting in or to the geospatial profession, or provides a consulting service of interest to the geospatial profession.

MAPPS provides its 180+ member firms opportunities for networking and developing business-to-business relationships, information sharing, education, public policy advocacy, market growth, and professional development and image enhancement.

For more information on MAPPS, please visit www.MAPPS.org.