Alumni Spotlight: Eric Root
Author: Dylan Foote
Posted on Jan 15, 2021
Category:
“Studying Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering (GGE) at the University of New Brunswick (Fredericton), gave me the perspective and confidence to chase opportunities that seemed unreachable. The career opportunities after studying GGE are varied and span across most industries. Whether someone is looking for a career based in an office, or deep into technical details, or perhaps outside in the sunshine and the rain, or maybe a life of international adventure.... that life can all be found through just a few years in UNB's GGE department”, says Eric Root.
Eric graduated our Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering program in 2015. He remembers well when “we (students) studied together, worked late nights together, and we shared our stories with each other". Eric noted that “the diversity within the department as well as the supportive culture in the GGE community gave me exposure to the many types of (and sometimes wild) adventures people have had, from working with space technology, to being thousands of meters underground, to being helicoptered into the rainforest and living in the jungle, to exploring the arctic seafloor.”
“Inspiration was easy to come by in the GGE department both in the community and in the classroom. The courses are packed full of interesting and relevant information, and I always found that when I left campus at the end of the day, I could visualize how what I had just learned applied to the world around me”, Eric explained.
Throughout Eric’s time in GGE, he describes his summer jobs as “packed with adventure. From daily helicopter rides into deep forests of British Columbia, to redesigning the field-labelling and GIS for a power company in my local community, to working with Remotely Operated Vehicles and subsea technology over 2000 meters underwater.” In addition, through the GGE department Eric was able to study for 4 months in Hong Kong and “travelled parts of the world I had never even dreamed of.”
As a result of GGE and his career path, Eric is now working in Norway. His education and work experience are being utilized in his current work with subsea control systems and underwater intervention drones.
