The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying presented its 2025 Surveying Education Award and the $25,000 grand prize in the four-year program category to the surveying engineering program at Penn State Wilkes-Barre.
DALLAS, Pa. — Penn State Wilkes-Barre has received the highest award from a national surveying organization, recognizing the outstanding quality of the surveying engineering program at the campus.
The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), a nonprofit organization made up of engineering and surveying licensing boards, presented its 2025 Surveying Education Award and the $25,000 grand prize in the four-year program category to the surveying engineering program at Penn State Wilkes-Barre.
The award jury praised Penn State Wilkes-Barre’s program for its clear vision for online expansion and strong outreach efforts.
“The NCEES Engineering and Surveying Education Awards recognize programs that have a broad and robust curriculum and best reflect NCEES’ mission to advance licensure in both fields in order to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of the public. The awards are intended to encourage programs to engage their students with other professionals, introduce them to new technology and promote licensure,” NCEES officials said.
Dimitrios Bolkas, associate professor of surveying engineering, said this is the first time the program has received the award. He noted that the organization’s representatives asked thorough questions about the program as well as its curriculum, faculty, instruments and software used in the program, student support for NCEES exams, real-life student projects, outreach and recruiting, and more.
“This award is a great honor for our program, and a confirmation of the great work that we have been doing in the last few years,” he said. “We couldn't have done it without the excellent support of our chancellors and the surveying professionals who always support us in every way they can.”
The funds will be used toward developing courses for the hybrid program that Penn State Wilkes-Barre is developing.
“The hybrid extension of our program is a new chapter for us, and we hope to reach out to students in every corner of our state and in the United States, providing quality education in surveying engineering and geospatial technologies,” Bolkas said.
NCEES, founded in 1920, helps its member licensing boards carry out their duties to regulate the professions of engineering and surveying. It develops best-practice models for state licensure laws and regulations and promotes uniformity among the states. The organization develops and administers the exams used for engineering and surveying licensure throughout the country. It also provides services to help licensed engineers and surveyors practice their professions in other U.S. states and territories.
