SurveyLab
Innovation
SurveyLab's IKE in action
(Click to enlarge)
IKE is a very timely invention in that it was developed just as GIS systems started to emerge. GIS or Geospatial Information Systems are more than digital maps; GIS can be thought of as a kind of spreadsheet embodying lots of different types of digital information, including images. Google Earth is just one example. It was apparent pretty much right from the outset that IKE was going to have to be GIS compatible. Information collected by IKE can be integrated at the push of a button into a GIS map database via USB or Bluetooth wireless links. In practical terms what this means is that a report that formerly took days or weeks to prepare can now be done at the end of the day with a push of a button.
Achieving this involved writing special software. SurveyLab works closely with other companies and their software writers to make IKE dovetail into other systems and processes. Product development requests from clients are an important part of IKE's continuous development.
IKE invites imitation. SurveyLab has patent applications pending around the world, but Leon says the real protection for the company's IP lies in the sheer ‘under-the-hood’ complexity of the software that glues the device together.
For the first five years of the company's life, Leon was intimately involved in the technical development of IKE. This year, he has taken a step back and assumed the role of company CEO. It's a role he likes. It's all about setting a direction and setting goals, he says. He likens the job to being the conductor of an orchestra. "Conductors don't make any noise but the orchestra would be stuffed without them."
Before doing a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) at Canterbury University, Leon did a BSc in physics at Victoria University. "I had always been interested in radio and electronics and one of my dreams was to become a radio engineer, designing the nitty-gritty of radio systems." It was at Victoria that he had a glimpse of his future. Two things happened that changed the way he thought about his career, Leon says: one was working at company called Marine Air Systems;, and the other was doing a paper called 'The Management of Innovation', which involved learning how to run a startup company.
"Going to the course was fantastic. I saw the practical embodiment of those ideas at Marine Air Systems. I suddenly saw that with a physics degree that I didn't have to go and get a white jacket and live in a lab. I could use science or engineering and create a business which was a much bigger challenge."
Leon mentioned in passing that getting from the science block to attend the innovation course at the commerce faculty involved crossing the busy road that divided the two parts of the Victoria campus as it then was. It seems like an apt metaphor for the SurveyLab story: like many entrepreneurs before him, Leon has successfully bridged the gap between science and commerce.
