FIG Commission 5

Matthew Bryan Higgins

Curriculum Vitae Date of birth:  3 December 1960 Nationality:  Australian Status: Married to Jane with 3 children Current Position: Senior Surveyor with the Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Queensland, Australia

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Applied Science, Surveying (With Distinction), Queensland University of Technology, 1983. Three prizes including best academic record.
• Registered and Licensed, Surveyors Board of Queensland, 1985.
• Master of Surveying and Mapping Science, University of Queensland, 1988.
• Presently a PhD Candidate (part time, external) at the University of New South Wales.

Career Highlights

Recognized as Queensland expert on operational, physical and satellite geodesy with extensive experience in Global Positioning Systems (GPS) since 1985:

• Publication in 1987 of parameters for transformation between Australian Geodetic Datum and World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) as used by GPS. The parameters have been widely used in Australia since 1987 until their recent replacement as part of the adoption of the Geocentric Datum of Australia.
• In 1988, completed a Masters Degree specializing in GPS and geodetic datum issues.
• Six month study tour in 1989 of North American organizations with major roles in the development of GPS surveying and geodesy.
• Leader of GPS related research including involvement in development of the first civilian application of GPS Controlled Photogrammetry in Australia which, in 1994, was a winner of the Institution of Surveyors Australia Excellence in Surveying Award.
• Technical Advisor on development of Queensland's Geodetic Infrastructure in support of Australia's move to a geocentric datum and for Height Modernization and including the Queensland 100km GPS Network.
• In 1999, awarded an Australia Day Achievement Medallion.
• Award for Continuing Professional Development from the Institution of Surveyors Australia, Queensland Division in 2000.
• In 2001, led a Pilot Project to develop a GPS Network using Trimble's Virtual Reference Station (VRS) concept. The network supports real-time-kinematic surveying using GPS and Mobile Telephone. This was the first VRS installation outside Europe.
• Elected a Fellow of the Institution of Surveyors Australia in 2001.

Significant Representations

• Queensland representative on the Geodesy Group of the Australia and New Zealand Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM) working on issues such as horizontal and vertical datum, development of standards and practices for surveys (including GPS) and legal traceability of EDME and GPS measurements.
• Member of the Geodesy Sub-Committee of the Australian Academy of Sciences.
• Past Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the US based magazine "GPS World".
• Chair of International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) Commission 5 on Positioning and Measurement for the period 2002 to 2006.
• FIG representative to the UN Action Team on Global Navigation Satellite Systems.
• Chairs the Queensland reference group for Australian GNSS Coordination Committee.

Presentations

• Higgins, M.B., 2002, Australia's Changing Surveying Infrastructure from Marks in the Ground to Virtual Reference Stations, XXII FIG International Congress, International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), Washington, DC, USA, 19-26 April 2002.
• Higgins, M.B., 2002, Commission 5 Activities in the Future: 2002-2006 Work Plan, XXII FIG International Congress, International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), Washington, DC, USA, 19-26 April 2002.
• Higgins, M.B. and N. Talbot, 2001, Centimetres for Everyone: Initial Results from an Australian Virtual Reference Station Network Pilot Project, SatNav 2001, The 5th International Symposium on Satellite Navigation Technology and Applications, Canberra, Australia, 24 - 27 July 2001.
• Higgins, M.B., 2001, An Australian Pilot Project for A Real Time Kinematic GPS Network Using the Virtual Reference Station Concept, FIG Working Week 2001, International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), Seoul, Korea 6 - 11 May 2001.
• Higgins, M.B., 2001, Guidelines for GPS Surveying in Australia, FIG Working Week 2001, International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), Seoul, Korea 6 - 11 May 2001.
• Foster, R.W., M.B. Higgins and J. Ryttersgaard, 2001, Spatial Information Management in the 21st Century, 7th United Nations Regional Cartographic Conference for the Americas, United Nations, New York, USA, 22 - 26 January 2001.
  • Powerpoint Presentation
• Sproule, D.M., A.H.W. Kearsley and M.B. Higgins, 2000, Impact of BRAGS'99 Airborne Gravimetric Data on Geoid Computations in Australia, and Possibilities for Utilisation of Bathymetric Information, Presented at: IAG Conference on Gravity, Geoids and Geodynamics 2000 (GGG2000), Banff, Alberta, 31 July - 4 August, 2000.
• Cross, P.A., M.B. Higgins and R. Lott, 2000, Reference Frames in Practice: The Role of Professional, Scientific, Standards and Commercial Organisations, FIG Working Week 2000, International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), Prague, Czech Republic, 22 - 26 May 2000.
• Higgins, M.B., 2000, Heighting with GPS: Review of Limitations and Possibilities, GIM International, Vol 14, No. 2, February 2000.
• Higgins, M.B., 1999, Positioning and Measurement into the 21st Century, A Keynote Paper at the 6th South East Asian Surveyors Congress, Fremantle, Australia, 1 -6 November 1999.
• Higgins, M.B., 1999, The Use of GPS for the Maintenance and Investigation of Tidal Datum, 6th South East Asian Surveyors Congress, Fremantle, Australia, 1 -6 November 1999.
• Paul A. Cross, P.A., P. B. H. Davies, A. H. Dodson and M. B. Higgins, 1999, Reference Frames In Practice - FIG Working Group 5.5, FIG Working Week 1999, International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), Sun City, South Africa, May 1999.
• Higgins, M.B., 1999, Heighting with GPS: Possibilities and Limitations, In the Proceedings of: Geodesy and Surveying in the Future: The Importance of Heights, Jubilee Seminar: 25 Year of Motorised Levelling, Sponsored by Commission 5 of the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), Gavle, Sweden, March 15-17 1999.
• Higgins, M.B., A.H. Dodson, R. Lott and R. Rodriquez, 1998, Reference Systems and Heighting and the FIG, XXI International Congress of the International Federation of Surveyors, Brighton, United Kingdom, 19-25 July, Reigate Press.
• Higgins, M.B., G.J. Broadbent and R. Martin, 1998, The Use of the Global Positioning System for the Maintenance and Investigation of Tidal Datum: A Case Study in Queensland, Australia, XXI International Congress of the International Federation of Surveyors, Brighton, United Kingdom, 19-25 July, Reigate Press.
• Higgins, M.B., R. Forsberg and A.H.W. Kearsley, 1998, The Effects of Varying Cap Sizes on Geoid Computations: Experiences with FFT and Ring Integration, in: R. Forsberg, M. Feissl, and R. Deitrich (eds), Geodesy on the Move: Gravity, Geoid, Geodynamics and Antartica, IAG Symposia Vol. 119, Springer, Berlin Germany.

Contacts 

Mr. Matt Higgins
Senior Surveyor
Dept of Natural Resources and Mines
Locked Bag 40
Coorparoo Delivery Centre
Brisbane Qld 4151
AUSTRALIA
Tel. + 61 7 3896 3754
Fax + 61 7 3891 5168
E-mail: matt.higgins@nrm.qld.gov.au 

15 May 2002