Kyle Feffer
GIS Professional | Master's Student
Brief Biography
My name is Kyle Feffer, and I am a GIS professional currently working as a GIS Manager at Westwood Professional Services in the Land Division. Additionally, I am finalizing a Master's Degree in GIS and Web Map Programming through the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I aim to continue working in the field of geospatial analysis and look to further integrate geocomputation and development into my organization's workflows. By obtaining my post-graduate degree, I hope to lead a team of geospatial developers working on large-scale and multidisciplined projects toward innovative solutions.
Without even knowing it, I found my love for geography at a young age. I distinctly remember a 6th grade field trip where my class visited the Geography Department at Cal State University Northridge's Oviatt Library. I was in awe as I realized how impactful the geographic research performed by the university would be in the real world. This inspired me to participate in my school's Geography Bee where, after a few year of improving, I finally won in my 8th grade year. As I entered high school, I immediately registered for a course in AP Human Geography. It was here where I came to learn the basics of how space and time impacted larger world events as well as received my first introduction into GIS. Though the remainder of my high school schedule was mostly locked in and decided for me, these experiences served as the spark that truly began my interest in formalized geographic study.
It was not until my freshman year of college that I was once again able to look into a subject I remembered so fondly just 4 years earlier. In a desperate attempt to find a major worth pursuing (only after finding out I did not enjoy my pre-engineering coursework), I jumped at the opportunity to take an Introduction to Geography course. It helped me once again find enjoyment in my school work, eventually leading me to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Geography with a minor in Geographic Information Science.
Once I made up my mind on my degree path, I went all in and pursued several local government internships in GIS. In my time working at Hennepin County in Minnesota, I was able to develop my skills both as a professional, and as a geospatial analyst while working on enterprise level projects. I then spent my next summer working for a local municipality, the City of Edina, Minnesota, where I learned all about the use of GIS in public works and infrastructure projects. All of this cumulated in my graduation during the Spring of 2018.
After graduation, I began my full-time, professional career at Westwood Professional Services. While working in the Power Generation Division, I helped plan the construction of massive, multi-million dollar, utility scale wind projects. Much of my work involved preparing teams for field data collection with systems like ESRI's Collector or Survey123. Towards the end of my time at Westwood, I began implementing web applications and dashboards to track the progress of construction. Additionally, these tools were used to monitor the location of field equipment in real time. Though working at Westwood was truly a transformative experience, Minneapolis was not in the long term plans for me. As a result, I moved to the Chicago area and found a position working for Argonne National Laboratory. At Argonne my work focused on resilience and recovery efforts withing the National Preparedness Center (NPAC). As part of this team, I help simulate natural disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes as well as worked heavily in the recovery effort of COVID-19. However, life once again brought about change and I relocated cross-county to Phoenix, AZ where the opportunity to return to Westwood was too tempting to pass up. In my new position as Land GIS Manager, I have been tasked with starting up a brand new GIS team with this division of the company. As I finish up my time at the University of Wisconsin, I hope to take the skills from my coursework with me as I find ways of implementing geospatial computing into our growing Land Division.
Current Personal Projects
Last Updated: August 24, 2021
Now that I am finishing up my degree, I hope to continue to expand my computing knowledge by trying out some machine learning projects. I hope to start by testing out some code to help me predict sporting outcome so that I can dominate my fantasy football league this year!
Last Updated: September 9, 2020
As I continue down my master's degree path, I aim to more effectively establish a web presence through which I can share my work. To start this process, I am working on launching a series of professional social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
From: April 22, 2020
Between working full time and pursuing an advanced degree, my free time is fairly minimal. However, though my degree program I have been introduced to Adobe's Creative Suite and specifcally Photoshop and Illistrator. Though I was introduced to these programs through the lens of cartography, I have begun experimenting with some simple graphic design and digital art.