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network surveys and with the semi-automatic and rapid operating sensor devices the 
amount of field work and the related qualifications are of minor relevance. The acquisition 
of data, although still of great importance, is much more strongly coupled to the 
manipulation (processing, administration, representation) of data. Also, with the new 
promising fields of application, the surveyor has to understand the professional tools, 
work style and product requirements of experts from other disciplines. Thus the surveyor 
becomes more a son of an "integrator", requiring interdisciplinary communication skills 
more than ever before. 
The need for this type of qualification is also indicated by the fact that the potential 
employment conditions and the related qualifications have a very wide spectnim. Today 
employment can be found in: 
• Research and teaching at universities and other research and educational institutions 
• Development, customer support arid marketing with system manufacturers 
• Technical ana administrative tasks in government agencies 
• Private engineering and planning firms 
• Independent consulting work 
» Manufacturing and exploration industry 
• Other employers like banks, insurance companies, etc. and a variety of users of 
surveying products in science, technology, industry' and an. 
The reorientation of social goals and values from the unrestricted exploitation of our planet 
to a thoughtful way of dealing with our limited resources and a sensitive protection of the 
natural environment also creates new' conditions for the surveying profession and has a 
severe impact on the required qualifications and thus on the educational concepts. This 
coincides with higher demands on the quality of industrial products and the automation of 
production and other processes. 
Nowadays we see tw ; o major fields of potential professional activity emerging for the 
surveying engineer: 
(a) Geographical Information Systems (GIS) 
(b) Close-range measurements (CRM) 
Here GIS and CRM stand as umbrella for a great number of tasks, technologies, products 
and fields of application. GIS is supposed to include all the traditional geodetic and land 
surveying techniques together with modern aspects of geophysical data acquisition, 
information systems, digital data handling, data analysis, and digital mapping, with 
applications from national map systems and multi-purpose cadastre to environmental or 
other spatial information systems. 
In this context photogrammetry and remote sensing play an important role not only as data 
acquisition techniques, but they also provide for a great wealth of algorithms, mainly 
raster oriented, but also vector based, which can support processing as w'ell as 
representation functions. 
CRM is used here as collective name for all activities and measurements w'hich are 
essentially local and non-topographic in nature or where the superior geographical 
reference plays a minor or no role at all. Thus CRM stands for applications in industrial 
measurements and engineering surveys, robotics and navigation, medical and 
biomechanical measurements, architecture and archeology, and a great number of other 
areas, which, from a photogrammetric point of view, are traditionally described as 
"non-topographic". Photogrammetry has always played a crucial part in these application 
areas, and will do so even more in the future. Machine vision, robot vision and medical ‘ 
imaging for instance are rapidly developing disciplines and the markets for industrial and 
medical measurement systems are forcefully expanding. 
We believe that photogrammetrists should play a key role in the advancement of these new' 
technologies.