Three students from Nipissing University's Environment & Sustainability Post-Baccalaureate program recently presented their work on a geospatial interface for the City of North Bay's fire hydrant inspections during a special event at City Hall.
Nipissing students Keshav Singh, Lovepreet Kaur, and Sagar Tewatia presenting their GIS projects in the City Hall Executive Boardroom
Lovepreet Kaur, Keshav Singh, and Sagar Tewatia collaborated with the city's Geographic Information System (GIS) team Tim Price, Kelly Seguin and Cameron Lacelle to transition fire hydrant inspections from a paper-based system to a digital platform that would allow managers real-time access to inspection data.
GIS is a utility for managing, analyzing, and visualizing location-based data. It integrates various types of data, such as maps, satellite imagery, and tabular data, to analyze relationships, patterns, and trends. This enhances the understanding of spatial relationships, benefiting both City of North Bay staff and citizens in areas such as transportation planning and municipal infrastructure management.
The students are part of the first graduating cohort of Nipissing University's Environment & Sustainability Post-Baccalaureate program. During the program, they acquired skills in geospatial technologies (GIS, GPS, Remote Sensing), an entirely new area for them given their diverse scientific backgrounds.
The city's GIS team guided the students throughout the project, providing expertise and mentoring as they developed a user-friendly digital interface to track and analyze seasonal fire hydrant inspections.
"We've benefited immensely from this partnership with Nipissing," said Tim Price, coordinator of the GIS team. "The students were enthusiastic and adaptable, and their work has set the stage for future projects."
"This program challenged us to learn complex geospatial technologies, but it also gave us the opportunity to collaborate on impactful projects like this one," Keshav Singh shared. "It's been a highlight of my time at Nipissing."
In addition to their academic achievements, the students also contributed to the campus community: Keshav Singh initiated a photography club, while Sagar Tewatia was involved in the development of Nipissing's eSports program.
"Working on this project has been a huge learning experience, and I'm proud of what we've accomplished," Sagar Tewatia commented. "The feedback from the city has been invaluable, and I'm excited to see how this digital system will improve fire hydrant inspections in North Bay."
"This project represents the power of collaboration," said Steven Melnichuk, Director of North Bay's Information Systems Department. "The students brought fresh perspectives and innovative problem-solving to a task that will improve the safety and efficiency of our city's operations."
This project, along with the positive feedback from the City of North Bay, adds to the growing list of successful collaborations between Nipissing University and the city.
As the students look forward to graduation, their work on this project leaves a lasting impact on the city's innovation opportunities and stands as a testament to the potential of university-community partnerships.
For more information about the Environment & Sustainability Post-Baccalaureate program, visit https://www.nipissingu.ca/academics/faculty-arts-and-science/post-bacc-diplomas
