Feldman Land Surveyors Breaks Ground with Second Graders

Admittedly, since the firm was founded three generations ago, Feldman has had plenty of expert eyes benefit from a visit to our offices. But recently we were honored to host two of our first-ever experienced monster fighters!

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In August, a second grader from Mason Rice Elementary School was shown our website by his mother. He enjoys playing Minecraft, a computer game that involves building virtual structures to protect against the attack of destructive monsters. As players progress in the game, they can work together to create imaginative 3D features and even build entire cities. So it wasn’t surprising that the second grader was immediately interested in our website, especially with our stories and images related to 3D imaging real world structures like the Paul Revere House and Boston Public Library.

Seeing his interest, his parents arranged for him and a classmate to visit our firm for an afternoon. Jehiel Rosario, Steve Wilkes and Justin Geddis showed the students the software we use every day, which is based on 3D laser scans and allows us to produce Revit models that give everyone from architects to engineers the data they need to do their jobs.

Throughout the course of their visit, the students were able to see Feldman’s involvement on projects such as Logan Airport and Filene’s basement Downtown Crossing, as well as historic preservation work in Milton, MA.

When asked for his thoughts about the impromptu visit, the firm’s president Michael Feldman said, “I’m hopeful this kind of activity will show children at an early age that what we do is not only extremely important to the built environment, but it’s fun and even a bit creative!”

So when the proverbial what did you do over your summer vacation rolls around, a couple of students can now report they found creative ways to keep both virtual and real cities safe and standing for generations to come. Not bad for second grade!

Feldman Land Surveyor among the top 10 small businesses of the year!

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We are pleased to announce that Feldman Land Surveyors was selected by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce to be among the winners of the 30th annual Small Business of the Year Awards.

This year’s awards is Greater Boston’s top ten small, high-growth businesses, and recognizes these companies to be the best in class small business within the greater Boston area.

We are thrilled to be chosen for this award and we are joining the other winners in celebrating the 30th anniversary of our Small Business of the Year Awards and the impact that those small businesses are having on our economy and great community.

The 2014 Small Business of the Year Awards breakfast will be held on Thursday, October 9, at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. Click here for more details and to register for the awards breakfast.

Building Great Memories From Boston’s Run To Remember

The 10th running of Boston’s Run to Remember is in the record books. On Sunday, May 25th, over 10,000 participants took part in either the five-mile or half marathon course.

For anyone not in the know, the unique local event, co-sponsored by the Boston Police Department and the Boston Police Runner’s Club, is held in honor of the more than 300 of the Bay State’s law enforcement officers who have been killed in the line of duty.

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Here at Feldman Land Surveyors, our own Senior Vice President, Karl McCarthy, PLS, was one of the thousands of half marathon participants. He was kind enough to share his impressions of the run, as well as his personal path to long distance running.

What’s important to note is that Karl hasn’t always been a long distance runner. In fact, he’s a reformed golfer and former sprinter who started getting back into shape using the company’s recently completed gym. He confesses that when he first committed to an exercise regimen, he ran every other day… and hated it!

Karl stuck with it, though. Soon he was running outside for longer distances at an ever-increasing pace. It didn’t take long before he entered his first 5K with no greater goal than to finish the course.

He did just that and eventually started training for half marathons. Now he tracks his split times daily, just like any real competitor would. And he gets his extra fix of endorphins on long weekend training runs.

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But when this year’s Run to Remember suffered a Mass Pike-style runners’ jam at the course’s start, most competitors saw their hopes of personal best times dashed. Ever the optimist, Karl took it all in stride and went on to have a wonderful run anyway. Though he was prepared to run faster, he was moved by all the armed guards and police cruisers lining the route.

He crossed the finish line holding his daughter’s hand. She ran the race with him, and by the looks on their faces, this Run to Remember was not just about honoring those lost in the line of duty. It was also about building great memories doing something good with somebody you care about.

Stay tuned, because when the topic of marathons comes up, Karl just gets quiet and laces up his running shoes.

National Historic Preservation Month. Using Laser Technology as a Preservation Tool.

Each May, Boston celebrates the historic preservation efforts that bring thousands of visitors to our city and make it a beautiful place to live. This years’s calendar of events has been titled, “Buildings & Grounds.” The celebrations included a long list of events that are created to bring extra attention to the best historic tours in Boston.

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In addition, you can tour neighborhoods with the preservation planners who know them best, go behind the scenes on preservation and archeology projects, and explore with guides who take on characters like Frederick Law Olmsted.

As part of the event, Michael Feldman, president of Feldman Land Surveyors, will give a presentation on his company’s use of three-dimensional laser scans of historic sites and share his company’s techniques while showing examples of recent work. He will discuss how these renderings play a crucial role in modern renovations of historic sites and greatly improve historic preservation.

The presentation will take place at The Metropolitan Waterworks Museum, 2450 Beacon St., Chestnut Hill.  For more information about the event click here or contact Lauren Kaufmann at (617) 277-0065.

3D Shamrocks: Laser Scanning the James Michael Curley House

For anyone familiar with Boston’s larger-than-life, four-time mayor James Michael Curley, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that in 2014 he’s still managing to unite people to do great things for their city. In this case, Boston Globe correspondent John Dyer set off a grand chain of events back in January when he wrote about Feldman Land Surveyors’ pro-bono work in his article, 3D Scans Add a New Dimension to Preservation.

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The article sparked the imaginations of Christopher Gleason and Jody Gordon, both humanities professors at Wentworth Institute of Technology. The two were so inspired by Dyer’s words that they contacted Feldman Land Surveyors with a unique and interesting question. Would the James Michael Curley house qualify as a subject for Feldman’s Scanning Historic Boston program?

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Gleason and Gordon, who were about to instruct a new course focusing on digitally archiving and curating Curley’s life, realized a non-destructive 3D laser scan of the mayor’s house would be a fascinating addition to their collaborative collection and assembly of relevant data. No to mention that any virtual museum of the Curley’s life simply had to include the shamrock-shuttered house he called home for more than forty years.

Once their request reached Feldman’s offices, the rest—as they say—is history.

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Michael Feldman, the firm’s CEO and third generation president, saw the potential in the Curley project right away. “Feldman’s pro-bono work isn’t about merely collecting data. It’s about keeping Boston’s architectural treasures alive. So when our laser scans and the technology we use to collect them can be used in an educational setting, it matches the reason we started Scanning Historic Boston in the first place.”

Somewhere the spirit of James Michael Curley must be smiling down on this campaign, as well as working on a speech to fan all the renewed interest in his house with the 3D shamrocks!