About

Hello world!

I am Tom Wayson, a JavaScript engineer building mapping applications at Esri using the ArcGIS Platform and JavaScript frameworks like Ember.js.

My Work as a Web GIS Developer

Source Code

The best place to see current examples of the kind of projects that I am working on is my GitHub Profile.

Resume

I’m not currently in the market for a job. I love working for Esri, but if you think you might like to join us or are looking to network, you can reach me on LinkedIn.

My LinkedIn profile includes a somewhat up to date work history, project descriptions, and recommendations from colleagues and clients. If you’re interested in the technical nuts and bolts, or a more current reflection of my work experience, it’s probably best to check out my GitHub profile.

My Education and Background in GIS, and Remote Sensing and Computer Science

In 1998 I graduated from UCLA with a bachelors degree in Geography. My course work was focused on geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, and geology. At the time, UCLA did not offer a GIST minor, but I’m sure the courses that I took would add up to one.  After exhausting every undergraduate GIS and remote sensing course offered by the university, I asked Professor Larry Smith if I could join his graduate level seminars in remote sensing. Prof Smith also oversaw my undergraduate research project (like a mini-thesis) where I used satellite radar data to detect changes in glacial boundaries.

Prof Smith asked me to return to UCLA and to do graduate research work for him on a project to use LIDAR data to study changes in river flood plains. While there I taught undergraduate GIS courses in ArcView and ArcINFO.

Since even my first GIS job at GreenInfo Network my focus has been primarily on programming, specifically web programming, rather than GIS analysis and mapping. That is why in 2003 I decided to enroll in night school to get a Career Certificate in Computer Programming from Santa Monica College. The courses in C, Java, and .Net built upon the fundamental understanding of programming that I had gotten from the C++ courses I had taken at UCLA, and helped me build better web GIS applications at my work.

About Me

I am also a family man with interests in a few things beyond the realm of GIS and web technologies, including hiking, running, and biking.

Thank you for dropping by. If you’ve gotten this far down the page and you still have questions, feel free to contact me here.  I look forward to hearing from you!