Global Flavour at Maptek South American Users Conference

Maptek, well known for its 3D laser scanning solution, held its South American User Conference in Viña del Mar, Chile, from 12 to 14 December 2012. Understanding our own abilities is an essential first step in developing the business savvy needed to effectively lead others, according to Dr Juan Sebastián Montes at the event.

The professor of competitive strategy and organisational behaviour from the School of Business at the Adolfo Ibáñez University in Chile speaks from experience. He has proved to the world that self-exploration can help individuals to achieve the ultimate goal.

An accomplished mountaineer, Dr Montes has carried out more than 20 expeditions to places such as Patagonia, Yosemite, the Alps and the Himalayas. In 1992 he conquered Mt Everest without the aid of oxygen and via one of the most difficult routes (Kangshung).

If you don’t understand yourself, you cannot develop the insights needed to manage your team and ultimately lead your organisation to succeed, said Dr Montes. The pressures on today’s business are complex - technology, globalisation, stakeholders. All these factors need to be considered to achieve our best, he added.

In his keynote address to more than 100 Maptek customers and staff on Wednesday, Dr Clayton Deutsch, Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta in Canada, proposed guidelines to help professionals selectively adopt new ideas.The amount of information residing in a myriad of books, articles and websites can be overwhelming, said Deutsch. Geologists and mining engineers are constantly exposed to new information, ideas and tips.

Marcelo Arancibia, vice president of Maptek South America said Maptek has been able to deliver innovation to its user community for each of our 15 consecutive conferences hosted in South America.

Topics during the the three-day event ranged across all Maptek products - Vulcan, I-Site, BlastLogic and Eureka - with applications including panel caving, underground stope optimisation, simulation, ring design, HARP block modelling, haulage profile, mine planning and survey. Attendees could also take part in a pre-conference workshop covering the theory and application of the local varying anisotropy technique to geostatistical studies.  

Arancibia said he was glad to have fulfilled the aim of providing a forum that allows Maptek’s customers to network and learn from the best in the industry