TSPS Alamo Chapter 11

06/16/2026

Greetings Chapter 11 - please join us this coming Thursday the 18th at noon at the usual spot Blanco BBQ to hear our guest speaker William (Bill) Merten, RPLS, LSLS.

Topic: "Surveys Gone Wrong: The ones you want to see but never want to do"

Mr. Merten has 49 years of experience in land surveying, over 41 years as a Registered Professional Land Surveyor and 30 years as a Licensed State Land Surveyor in Texas. He has been registered in multiple states (Missouri, Illinois, Louisiana, Florida and Texas) and is a recognized expert with state land surveys along with river and coastal boundaries. Mr. Merten has worked throughout the State of Texas and has performed numerous Upland, Gradient Boundary and Coastal Boundary Surveys. Mr. Merten has also served as an expert witness on a number of boundary cases.

05/18/2026

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tspsdallaschapter5_alta-plano-texas-activity-7460761620705828865-ykR7?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAKndaoBzrbDOZxHEQqdttpZUs-I3f14x2Q

🚨REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN🚨 Join TSPS Chapter 5 for a 2-day hybrid seminar featuring recognized speakers, real-world discussions, updates, boundary law insight, and more! And if you're a TSPS Chapter 5 member...you can attend for FREE 👀 📅 June 26–27, 2026 📍 Hybrid Event | In-Pe...

05/18/2026

Greetings Chapter 11 - please join us at the usual Blanco BBQ at 13259 Blanco Road in beautiful San Antonio this coming Thursday the 21st at noon to hear our guest speaker Gino Macias speak about Business Development for Surveying. Darryl Zercher will give an update on the upcoming fishing tournament in July. See y'all there!

04/20/2026

Greetings folks: registration is open for the fishing tournament!

04/09/2026

Greetings TSPS Chapter 11- Please join us at Blanco BBQ for our third-Thursday general meeting next week (April 16th). We will provide board updates, ask input, and sharpen our Surveyor’s Report skills courtesy of Dorothy Taylor, RPLS 6295.

Some key takeaways from Dorothy’s presentation:
- Writing a Surveyors Report is not difficult. The harder part is know when to write a Surveyors Report.
- A Surveyor’s Report can explain situations to save you from dreaded explanatory phone calls while you’re fishing on the bay.
-Trying to beat budgets? A Surveyor’s Report can provide explanations to clients and save you from costly back and forth communication.
- If your reasoning and special situations only reside in your head, then you can never take a day off without the risk of leaving the people uninformed. If you save all that information in a Surveyor’s Report, then you can simply hand over the report and walk away.

02/06/2026

Greetings TSPS Chapter 11,
Please join us at noon, Thursday, February 26, 2026, at Blanco BBQ. We will meet with a very special guest, Dr. Henry Griffith from Northwest Vista College (NVC).

Dr. Henry Griffith is a key figure at Northwest Vista College (part of the Alamo Colleges District), serving as Dean for Academics over STEM and workforce programs, Henry focuses heavily on AI and Data Science initiatives, leads grant-funded research, and works to bridge community college students into advanced research opportunities in tech. He's known for innovative programs like the DS/AI 2.0 program, securing funding from Google, and preparing students for AI-driven careers. Prior to joining NVC, Griffith served as Chair of Engineering and Computing at San Antonio College.

Under the new School of Emerging Technologies, Northwest Vista College is planning to add a Surveying and Mapping program!
Let’s help them!
Please come early to grab a lunch and be ready for our program to begin at noon.
Please be ready to provide industry input:
• Job availability of prospective graduates.
• Typical job titles and salaries for prospective graduates.
• Skills to teach prospective students.
• Industry interest in professor roles.
Grab a friend or two and we’ll see you at Blanco BBQ!

02/03/2026

It’s time to kick off registration for the 2026 TSPS Chapter 11 Hook Line and Surveyor fishing tournament. This year the tournament will be held on Saturday July 18, 2026 at the Fulton Convention Center and it will be the 21st anniversary of the event. Over the next few months, the committee will be in full planning mode to make this a special event for everyone participating.

We cannot host this event and provide the educational scholarships we do without the generosity of our sponsors and participants. Get signed up and let’s make this another recorded breaking event.
We will be in the same location as last year. If you have been to past tournaments, this is the large building that is on the same grounds as the pavilion that we had previous tournaments at. It is also just across the street from the Irish Pub. The format will be the same as last year.

If you are planning on a guided team, now is the time to get with your favorite guide and start making plans.
Last, but not least in any way, if you are considering being a sponsor, please visit the registration website and click on register as a sponsor. This tournament is not possible without your continued generous support for the future surveyors of our great state.
Please click the link below to access the registration site for all the details.

https://llts.profishingtournaments.com/

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Thanks, Darryl Zercher

01/15/2026

Greetings Chapter 11 - no lunch meeting this month, but we would like to share a request for help with the Skills USA Competition, see below:

11/18/2025

Greetings Chapter 11 - we will have our regularly scheduled lunch meeting this Thursday the 20th at the usual venue, Blanco BBQ at 13259 Blanco Road. This month we are glad to host Dr. Carlos Montoya, who will be speaking on “Aerial Mapping Technologies for Transportation”

Carlos Montoya, Ph.D. has 13 years of engineering, aerial mapping, and project management experience with a focus on transportation and geotechnical engineering, LiDAR, photogrammetry, and mobile mapping. As a Senior Project Manager in Aerial Mapping, he focuses on client solutions to support the transportation and energy markets.

Carlos graduated from Ohio State University with a Doctorate of Philosophy in Civil Engineering and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Geotechnical and Transportation Engineering. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Catholic University of Honduras. Carlos has managed engineering and aerial surveying projects for the design, construction, and maintenance of civil infrastructure all over the United States and Latin America, where he implemented innovative LiDAR data acquisition techniques including. He has also implemented advanced AI techniques and presented his research findings at several national and international conferences.

Carlos’ favorite core value is People. He believes people are the most important asset as they directly determine the customer experience. Carlos grew up in Honduras and came to the United States in 2009 to pursue his graduate studies with a competitive fellowship awarded to him by the International Road Federation (IRF). Carlos currently resides in Texas with his wife and three children, where they are active with their church community programs aimed to strengthen the parent/child relationship and further the child’s development in spiritual, physical, mental, and social areas.

11/13/2025

Greetings Chapter 11 - it's time again to meet, eat beef, swap surveying stories, and enjoy the camaraderie of our local geomatics community this Christmas. See below, the cost per person is $35, payable at the QR code on the flyer. Please r.s.v.p. as soon as possible so we can get an accurate headcount.

See y'all at Chama Gaucha at 18318 Sonterra Place (corner of Loop 1604 westbound) Monday at 7 pm on the 15th of December. Once again, many thanks to our generous sponsors!