Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Systems - Applications Specialist Sault College - Ste. Marie Campus, Canada

By bringing your own expertise to the program, you will hone your skills and fast track your way through placements in health sciences, municipalities and natural resources fields.
This post-graduate certificate program prepares you for a career in geomatics, the integration of geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing. GIS is the computerized analysis of spatially-oriented data and the resulting production of usable products such as maps, tables and layouts.

Our highly interactive, hands-on training approach in our new 3D state-of-the-art computer lab uses the latest software from top GIS and remote sensing vendors. Specific courses provide you, the student, with practical experience in the use of ArcGIS, PCI Geomatica, AutoCAD, MS Access, MS Project and other standard Microsoft products, as well as Visual Basic, Python, and ArcObjects programming languages.

You will learn the fundamentals and theory of GIS with a focus on hands-on training, and you will also investigate the influence of natural phenomena in the interpretation of remotely sensed data. Applications in municipal services, natural resources, business and health are considered. The integration of fieldwork using GPS units into the GIS environment is included. As a student who is sponsored by an employer, you will have an opportunity to work on specific and real world projects. One of the many highlights is that you will participate in a four-week field placement with a potential employer in a location and aspect of GIS that meets the employer`s needs.

Students may have the opportunity to be involved in applied research projects. Please see the Applied Research Centre section for more information relating to the Sault College Applied Research Centre.

Program Outcomes
A graduate of the GIS Program at Sault College will reliably demonstrate the ability to:

• Understand the general concepts of spatial information and the current methodologies used to input, store, manipulate, and retrieve this type of data in a computer based environment;
• Understand the typical data structures, algorithms, and computational problems that are encountered in various GIS technologies;
• Be aware of the variety of sources of spatial data, such as surveying and remote sensing, that feed into a GIS, and the methods by which these data are realized in a GIS system;
• Understand the ways in which GIS technologies can be applied within specific disciplines (see assumption above), and the advantages, changes in method, developmental problems, and restructuring that may Result from the adoption of these technologies;
• Be capable of designing and executing, in a progressive manner, algorithms and programs to handle spatial data and associated hardware devices in a programmatic environment of a GIS;
• Be aware of the issues surrounding the communication of data extracted from a GIS to a variety of potential end users;
• Be capable of generating a plan for the design, implementation, and operation of a proposed GIS systems for a typical industrial client or group, and executing this plan as a demonstration project.