Administration

Campus maps to take new direction

Eva Lyon works to update campus maps that reflect new construction of classrooms and research laboratories as the University grows.  | Elizabeth A. Baker/The Daily Cougar

Eva Lyon works to update campus maps that reflect new construction of classrooms and research laboratories as the University grows. | Elizabeth A. Baker/The Daily Cougar

Eva Lyon, a UH Facilities Planning & Construction manager, has dedicated herself to mapping the UH campus for four years.

“Our UH campus map has experienced great changes these years,” Lyon said. “The changes are due to the improvements in technology, the hard work of our department and cooperation with other departments of UH.”

Lyon finished her master’s degree in construction management at UH. She has been working at the University for 14 years, and says she has special connection with UH.

“I am making improvements to UH day by day,” Lyon said. “All that I do, and all that my department does, is rooted in our strong will to serve the UH student community.”

Using computer-assisted design and geographic information systems, Lyon works to create 2D UH campus maps.

To make the map user-friendly, she assigns easy-to-recognize symbols for each building. The Optometry service building for example, has an eye as a symbol, and nature parks with a forest may use a green tree as a symbol.

“We created these signs to make it easier for the students to find each building with different functions on our larger campus. We put the ‘inquiry’ symbol on the map for infrastructure under construction,” Lyon said.

“A great many students don’t even know there is a Hilton Hotel on our campus. It is our responsibility to help students identify these buildings. There are a few buildings sharing the same name, like the E. Cullen Building, which is used by a few departments. We also try to symbolize these buildings in a clearer way. ”

Lyon is currently putting her efforts into creating 3D UH campus map that would help students their destination more easily.

Lyon also teaches Engineering Graphics in College of Technology.

She said teaching helps her improve her ideas in both technological and mapping areas.

The Facility & Planning Construction department has hired undergraduate students and graduate students for recent mapping projects.

Students from a wide variety of disciplines spend around twenty hours during the semester working on different mapping projects.

“Our mapping team is becoming more professional and formal,” said Zhu Chen, a first year Architecture master student.

“The meeting schedule, reports format and management are becoming stricter. Experience really helps us to utilize drafting software like AutoCAD and Revit much better.”

Space Inventory Manager Camille Porter said that the Facilities & Planning Construction department is always looking for more students interested in participating.

“Facilities Planning & Construction program is in need of more students to join in,” Porter said.“Students from engineering, architecture and construction programs could go to the UH career service website (under “Work and Study”) to view the details and requirements to work here.”

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