Birmingham Engineers Take to the Sky Following £250,000 Investment


Engineers at a Birmingham development engineering consultancy are now able to get a bird’s eye view of their projects following significant investment in the firm’s geomatics division, M-EC Geomatics.

M-EC, one of the UK’s leading consulting development engineers, has invested in staff training and new state of the art equipment to enable the firm to carry out aerial mapping and inspection surveys for its clients, which include some of the UK’s leading housing developers.

£250,000 Investment Takes Surveying and Mapping to New Heights

The significant investment by M-EC has been dedicated to the purchase of the company’s own Geomatics equipment to provide the full data capture service for the provision of underground utility surveys, topographical land and building surveys, aerial surveys, geographical information systems (GIS) and building information modelling (BIM).

This includes the purchase of a DJI Matrice 200 Series Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV/Drone), which will allow M-EC’s engineers to access previously difficult to reach locations, such as rooftops or building exteriors more much safely and map large areas from the air much quicker than before.

Members of M-EC Geomatics have been professionally trained to pilot UAVs and hold the required CAA PfCO (Permissions for Commercial Operation) license meaning M-EC can provide its own commercial UAV pilots.

Daniel Halstead, associate director with M-EC Geomatics said: “We’re now able to provide all data collection and mapping services required by our clients and respond more quickly and cost-effectively. Aerial surveying by UAV is becoming increasingly essential in our work, as is 3D scanning and underground utility mapping.”

“With our investment, we can now interpret the data more efficiently, and using the latest software provides increased speed and greatly enhanced accuracy, meaning clients save time and money. It will also help us to provide additional benefits to our clients. For example, we can now offer monthly ‘Fly-Throughs’ of sites which, when combined with our other new equipment such as our ground penetrating radar, means we can provide a comprehensive data set across the lifespan of a project, giving our clients more detailed information with no additional time spent on site.”

A full spectrum of Surveying & Mapping Solutions

The investment has also allowed M-EC Geomatics to purchase the following equipment: 

Leica GNSS RTK Rover: The world’s fastest Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) Rover provides accurate positioning for land and building surveys and features innovative tilt-compensation technology to allow greater accuracy, even under tree cover and hard-to-reach locations.

Leica RTC360 3D Laser Scanner: The latest 3D scanner from Leica, will enable M-EC to capture buildings and the surrounding environment in 3D point cloud data, meaning clients have access to even greater accuracy of measurements and information from scan data.

Leica DS2000 Utility Detection Radar: The latest in ground penetrating radar technology, the Leica DS2000 Utility Detection Radar will be used by M-EC to find potential underground threats, including non-conductive pipes and fibre optics and to detect utilities on potential development sites.

DJI Matrice 200 Series UAV: The high-performance UAV will enable M-EC to map land from the air, providing M-EC’s clients with accurate information in real time. The UAV can also scan buildings, removing the need to erect scaffolding, and will be used in collaboration with other departments and specialists, providing the sharing of information quickly and accurately.  

Responding to Clients’ Needs

The purchase of this state of the art equipment and software signals M-EC’s commitment to using the latest technology to provide the full spectrum of accurate, reliable and cost-effective surveying and mapping solutions.  The equipment will be used in topographical surveys, measured building surveys, utility mapping, setting out, 3D laser scanning and aerial mapping & inspections.

Edward Mewies, managing director of M-EC commented: “Our significant investment into M-EC Geomatics is focused on the needs of our customers and signals our commitment to further business growth. We have invested in the latest equipment to support our capability in providing our engineers and in turn our clients, with the full data capture service they need to make accurate and informed decisions in the planning of development projects.”

“Having our own equipment provides us with the adaptability to respond to clients’ needs more quickly and will greatly reduce the wait time on developments. I am looking forward to M-EC Geomatics supporting our clients on a wide range of projects over the coming months.”

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