PRESS

Woolpert Expands Geospatial Services by Acquiring Geomatics Data Solutions

GDS brings coastal, marine and bathymetric surveying expertise, enriching Woolpert’s lidar capabilities.

DAYTON, Ohio (May 22, 2019) — Woolpert has acquired Geomatics Data Solutions (GDS), a marine and terrestrial survey data firm, to expand and deepen its geospatial service offerings. GDS has 10 years of experience collecting, processing and performing quality control of hydrographic lidar, topographic lidar, acoustic survey data and traditional land-based survey data.

With this acquisition, Woolpert is establishing a Maritime Solutions market within its Geospatial sector. The market complements the sector’s Government Solutions and National Security markets and expands and supports Woolpert’s ability to comprehensively serve its geospatial clients.

Woolpert Geospatial Sector Leader Joseph Seppi said the high-quality bathymetric lidar and acoustic hydrographic services that GDS expertly provides, combined with Woolpert’s industry-leading aerial and terrestrial lidar capabilities, allow Woolpert to provide fully integrated lidar data services to clients around the world.

“We are now able to provide highly accurate elevation data from land to the near coastal environment to underwater, seamlessly merging that data to address vital worldwide issues like coastal resiliency, sea-level rise and hundreds of other economic, environmental and social concerns,” Seppi said. “We have Woolpert Vice President John Gerhard, a Certified Photogrammetrist with decades of geospatial experience, leading our Maritime Solutions market. John is highly respected in the lidar industry and an ideal fit for this groundbreaking role.”

“Geomatics Data Solutions and I are very excited to be on board with Woolpert,” said GDS Owner Ben Hocker, a Certified Hydrographer and Professional Land Surveyor in Alaska, Oregon and Washington states. “GDS’s exceptional team of bathymetric lidar specialists and hydrographers have grown together over the past few years to be a highly adaptable and creative group. We are looking forward to applying our hydrographic expertise to the new opportunities that are unfolding as a result of this union. By bringing together our two firms, we can tackle more projects in more geographies with the same quality and attention to detail that are key to our core values.”

GDS Owner Dushan Arumugam, a Certified Hydrographer, added that he was looking forward to joining the Woolpert team and expanding the firm’s hydrographic capabilities to new markets.

“The additional resources available to us will make it easier to serve our clients faster,” Arumugam said. “In particular, we should be able to undertake multiple projects simultaneously for the Canadian Hydrographic Service.”

Woolpert President and CEO Scott Cattran said this acquisition is in line with the firm’s long-term plan to strategically expand and strengthen the firm’s architecture, engineering and geospatial (AEG) capabilities and geographies. The Ohio-based company acquired Waller, Todd & Sadler Architects in Virginia Beach, Va., in January. GDS has offices outside Portland, Ore., and in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

“We are excited to welcome the strong, talented and innovative individuals from GDS who share our culture of providing quality data and exceptional customer service,” Cattran said. “This year marks our 50^th anniversary of delivering industry-leading geospatial services, and this impactful, targeted acquisition is an excellent way to celebrate that milestone.”

About Woolpert
Woolpert is committed to a vision to become the premier architecture, engineering and geospatial (AEG) firm, and one of the best companies in the country. It’s a vision we’ve been fine-tuning for decades. It guides our decisions and investments, provides our clients with optimal solutions, and offers our employees unrivaled opportunities. Woolpert is recognized as a Great Place to Work by its employees and is America’s fastest growing AEG firm. With more than a century of experience, close to 1,000 employees and 30 offices, Woolpert supports public, private, federal, and military clients nationally and around the globe. For more information, visit woolpert.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Geomatics Data Solutions Inc.
With a core group of principals each having over 20 years of experience in the collection, processing and quality control of hydrographic lidar, topographic lidar, acoustic survey data and traditional land-based survey techniques, Geomatics Data Solutions (www.geomaticsdatasolutions.com) provides high-quality data collection, processing and consultant survey services for two main business lines: airborne lidar bathymetry and vessel-based hydrographic surveys using multibeam and other acoustic sensors.