Trae Timmerman
IESA degree obtained and graduation year:
B.S. Applied Environmental Spatial Analysis 2016
What is your current professional title?
Geospatial System Architect
Since graduating from 91ÁÔÆæ’s IESA, what are you doing professionally (describe the organization you are with and your associated role)?
I work for a small, full service geospatial consulting firm called NewEdge Services, LLC. We assist municipalities with their enterprise GIS and asset management system needs. We also host ArcGIS Enterprise and Cityworks deployments in AWS on behalf of clients. As a system architect, I design and implement enterprise systems that support the GIS for various organizations. My days are pretty varied, and I wear a lot of hats. Some days I'm a system/database administrator, some days I'm a tech support analyst, some days I'm a Python developer, and some days I'm a project manager/consultant.
What things or experiences in IESA do/did you value the most?
I value the robust exposure and education that I received. Environmental studies and environmental science courses gave me a great high-level view of issues related to environmental preservation and conservation and the associated challenges. The GIS and remote sensing courses that I took did a great job preparing me for my career, and I found that I had a leg up technically once I landed my first job.
What advice would you give a current IESA student?
Lean in! IESA does a great job of providing students with opportunities to take on as much as they want. Seek out volunteer work and internships so you can get some real-world experience and make connections. Your professors and faculty members can help with this (I know they helped me tremendously). Lastly, if you're looking for a solid career in GIS, your learning isn't going to stop once you graduate, so do your best to set yourself up with a strong foundation to build upon.
What strengths would you most value if hiring a recent graduate?
From my experience, aside from foundational knowledge, hands-on experience with relational database management systems and/or web-based GIS would are in high demand. If I was looking to hire a recent graduate, I would love to see hands on experience with ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise or experience working with enterprise geodatabases and version control.