Surveying engineering students work on dam project Assistant Professor of Surveying Engineering Dimitrios Bolkas, right, shows Gerald Rusek the components of the drone in preparation for its flight. Image: Penn State Surveying engineering students work on dam project April 30, 2021 LEHMAN, Pa. — A team of students in Penn State Wilkes-Barre’s surveying engineering program has had the opportunity to pair their learning with a project at the Francis E. Walter Dam in Bear Creek Township. Hannah Corson, Greg Ellsworth, Nicholas Lawler and Gerald Rusek III, juniors majoring in surveying engineering, worked with Assistant Professor of Surveying Engineering Dimitrios Bolkas on a project to monitor the dam using laser scanning and drones. The goal of the project is to test different point cloud methods, terrestrial laser scanning and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) photogrammetry for dam monitoring. Assistant Teaching Professor of Electrical Engineering Technology Timothy Sichler is assisting the group with their data acquisition.