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FACULTY/STAFF BIOS
Erwin Villiger Program Director, GIS
Qassim A. Abdullah
Dr. Qassim Abdullah, chief scientist at EarthData International, LLC, has more than 30 years of combined industrial, research and development, and academic experience in analytical photogrammetry, digital remote sensing, and civil and surveying engineering. Dr. Abdullah has designed and managed strategic programs in remote sensing and photogrammetry for both domestic and international clients.
Among his accomplishments, Dr. Abdullah integrated airborne GPS into conventional aerotriangulation adjustments, refined the integration of inertial navigation systems with GPS technology for position and orientation measurement, and developed precise positioning algorithms and processes for integrated airborne GPS/inertial measurement and LIDAR-data acquisition and development. Currently, Dr. Abdullah is leading EarthData’s initiatives to replace the aerial camera with the CCD digital camera, to replace compilation with LIDAR data for terrain mapping, and to integrate the airborne GPS and inertial navigation systems in providing accurate determination of camera position and orientation. Dr. Abdullah is a dedicated professional who, on-site, ensured the precise performance of the airborne GPS/inertial measurement system for the team who acquired and processed aerial data to produce site maps for the September 2001 rescue and recovery operations at the World Trade Center Ground Zero.
Dr. Abdullah obtained his B.S. in civil engineering in 1976, his master’s degree in 1980, and, in 1984, his doctorate degree in photogrammetry from the University of Washington in Seattle. Dr. Abdullah is affiliated with a number of national and international professional societies, is a published author of technical papers and reports, and is a sought-after professional speaker.
Nadine Alameh Ph.D., Lecturer
Dr. Alameh is the co-President of MobiLaps LLC, a small woman-owned business in Silver Spring, MD, and a leader in the applications of geospatial applications and web services. Dr. Alameh has been an OGC Interoperability Architect since 2001 and is currently collaborating with the FAA on the Aeronautical Information Management (AIM) thread of OGC¹s Web Services testbed (OWS-6). She is also an architect in the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS) Architecture Implementation Pilot overseeing the development of Portals & Application Clients leveraging the GEOSS Common Infrastructure.
Prior to that, Dr. Alameh has served as a Senior Technical Advisor to the NASA Applied Sciences Program in the areas of geospatial interoperability and web-services architecture, and has represented the agency in OGC, ISO, FGDC and GEOSS. Dr. Alameh has long been an active proponent of geospatial standards and web services and their role in the architecture and growth of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
As a strong advocate of geospatial technologies, Dr. Alameh has developed and conducted (in local and international venues) various professional workshops on geospatial interoperability. She has also published a series of articles on that topic in academic and industry journals such as IEEE Internet Computing and Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing. Dr. Alameh is an active participant in several professional organizations such as IEEE, GITA and URISA. She holds two MS degrees and a Ph.D. degree from MIT in the areas of GIS and Web Services.
Marjorie Cole
Marjorie Cole has 25 years professional experience in the systems integration and geospatial interoperability fields. She began as the owner of a consulting business developing systems and networking solutions and progressed into multiple leadership positions within the US Federal agencies and private industry. As a contractor to NASA, Marjorie supported the Geospatial Interoperability Office and presided over the initiatives, pilot projects, working groups, and participation in the Federal Geographic Data Consortium, Office of Management and Budget Federal Enterprise Architectures and Lines of Business, ISO Technical Committee 211, Group on Earth Observation System Of Systems, Open Geospatial Consortium, and interagency collaborations in the domains of geospatial standards development, enterprise and systems architecture development, semantic and ontology advancement, and testbedding and implementation in these areas. Within the private sector Marjorie continues to work in these domains as Co-President of MobiLaps GEO, LLC, while assisting industry to better understand value add and risk reduction in the development participation and functionality implementation of geospatial interoperability and web services.
Owen Evans
Owen Evans began working as an instructor at UMBC in August 2008. He is also currently a solutions engineer for ESRI, the leading GIS technology provider, and previously worked at Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., an environmental engineering consulting firm. Mr. Evans received his Bachelor of Science (1996) and Master of Engineering (1997) degrees in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Mr. Evans teaches Spatial Database and System Design and Advanced Spatial Data Management, both of which are part of the Masters in Professional Studies (MPS) in GIS degree and certificate programs at UMBC’s Shady Grove campus. His professional interests lie in geographic information systems technology, particularly in spatial databases and GI systems architecture.
Joshua Lieberman
Dr. Joshua Lieberman has worked with geospatial information systems for more than 25 years. This began with training, research, and consulting in solid earth and environmental sciences. Later, as VP of information architecture at Syncline, Inc., he worked on the design of the company’s two major geospatial products, MapCiti and MapAccess, as well as leading a series of engagements with the Open Geospatial Consortium and other organizations. These engagements included Open Web Services testbeds, specification development (e.g. Web Map Server, OGC Catalog, Styled Layer Descriptor), and several pilot projects. Presently, VP of Enterprise Architecture at Traverse Technologies, Inc., he has expanded his interests and work to the geospatial semantic web, spatial data infrastructure issues, GeoRSS, and W3C spatial ontologies. He has served as coordinating architect for a number of OGC initiatives such as the OGC Geospatial Semantic Web Interoperability Experiment, CGDI Interoperability Pilot, GEOSS Architecture Implementation Pilot, and OGC Web Services Testbed. Josh chairs two OGC working groups, and participates in a variety of specification activities. Josh also manages to fill his day providing technology development, strategic, and architectural consulting services for a number of governmental and commercial clients interested in geospatial interoperability and sound business practices.
Nora Csanyi May Ph.D., Lecturer
Dr. Nora Csanyi May is a technical lead at Fugro EarthData, Inc. in Frederick, MD. Dr. May received an M.S. degree in Surveying and Geoinformatics Engineering from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary in 2001. She has also earned an M.S. degree and a Ph.D. from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science, The Ohio State University in 2007. Dr. May has several years of research experience as a research associate working on various projects involving LiDAR and digital photogrammetry. Her research interests include surface extraction and modeling, sensor fusion, calibration of multi-sensor systems, including LiDAR boresight calibration, and accuracy assessment for digital imagery and LiDAR. She has been awarded several prestigious awards for her research work, such as the 2005 BAE Systems Award for the best student paper, the 2005 Leica Geosystems Internship Award, the 2006 William A. Fischer Memorial Scholarship, and the 2007 Intergraph Scholarship, presented by ASPRS. She has also received the 2006 GIS-T Student Paper Contest Award presented by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Dr. May has an extensive list of publications in both scientific journals and conference proceedings.
Louis Paladino
Lou Paladino has a BS in Geography from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and an MA in Geographic Information Sciences for Development and Environment from Clark University. Lou has over ten years of mapping and Geographic Information System experience ranging from surveying, Remote Sensing, to Geospatial Analysis. Sample projects include; the Geocover project, macro-scale vulnerability/suitability modeling, and sustainable water availability modeling. Currently, Lou is Senior Geospatial Analyst with SPADAC Inc. where he has worked at tactical and strategic levels supporting intelligence objectives.
Kevin Pomfret
Kevin Pomfret works with a broad-range of businesses, ranging from early-stage companies to public companies, in a variety of industries. He regularly counsels clients on significant business issues, including transactions, equity and debt financings, licensing agreements, joint ventures and employment agreements. He has negotiated numerous mergers and acquisitions involving both private and public companies. Pomfret also assists private equity funds and venture capital funds in making investments and acquisitions.
John Schlee
John Schlee has over 20 years experience in the public and private sectors in GIS development and operations. Mr. Schlee manages the GIS program for the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Montgomery County Planning Department, oversees GIS staff development and training, and is active in state and county geospatial projects.
Mr. Schlee began his career with Prince William County, Virginia, and subsequently worked for a private contracting firm, developing and implementing major GIS projects for the Environmental Protection Agency. Mr. Schlee has taught GIS database seminars at Towson University and presented on a range of practical GIS applications and enterprise solutions.
Mr. Schlee received a B.A. in Geography from UMBC and an MPA from George Mason University. He holds the GISP certification and is a member of the American Association of Geographers.
Carmelle J. Terborgh
Dr. Terborgh received a Ph.D. in geography, specializing in geographic information systems (GISs), from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1999. Additionally, she received a M.A. in Geography from the State University of New York and a B.S in Forestry from the University of Maine. She has over fifteen years of experience working with GIS in the areas of spatial analysis and GIS design, management, and implementation. Dr. Terborgh joined Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI), in 1996, as a GIS consultant/project manager, trainer, and international liaison. Recently, she served as the Senior GeoInformation Consultant to the Information Solutions Group – Corporate Information (ISGCI) team at The World Bank Group in Washington, DC. Currently, she is leads the Global Affairs team at ESRI and is a Federal Account Manager working in the ESRI-Washington, D.C. regional office. She supports the US Foreign Affairs Agencies, International Organizations, and international Non-Governmental Organizations in their use of GIS and serves on the Board of Directors for the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) Association.
Douglas Way
Dr. Douglas Way is Professor Emeritus Ohio State University, and Chief Scientist at MDA Federal, Rockville, Maryland. He has over 40 years of academic, research, and professional experience in applied GIS technologies. Dr. Way has worked on a wide range of topics with particular focus on environmental modeling at macros scales, human and environmental interactions, state stability indicators, and national security and intelligence issues.
Xiuzhu Yang
Wells (Xiuzhu) was a PHD candidate at University of South Carolina with a focus on remote sensing and GIS. He received his M.S. and B.S. from the Department of Geography, East China Normal University. His interest in GIS & remote sensing started in his college years and his career path remains in this area for more than 24 years.
Wells is the chief GIS architect of Lockheed Martin’s ITS-ESE program. Before joining Lockheed, he served as senior GIS professionals for several GIS consulting firms. He has led technical teams to design, develop, and deliver multi-million GIS projects for both federal and local governments. His 19 years of GIS programming experience witnessed a variety of dynamics in the GIS world.
Wells’ project once hit CNN Headlines and other main media. One of his web site designs featured the “Web Site of the Day” of Transportation Communications Newsletter. His another application was showcased at a government press conference. One public work GIS project won URISA Exemplary Systems In Government. Wells was acknowledged as an Alien of Extraordinary Ability by US government.
Paul Young M.A., Lecturer
Paul Young has an M.A. in Geography from the University of Maryland and a B.S. in Geography and Cartography from the University of Akron. While in college, he worked at the U.S. Bureau of the Census Geography Division where he compiled and digitized maps. Since 1986, he has worked for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). He then worked for several years developing new computer systems used for map digitizing, image analysis, and geographic information systems (GIS). He served as the director of the USGS Cartographic Technology Laboratory and supervised the applications research section where employees worked on a wide variety of natural resource and environmental applications and GIS projects.
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