Employee Spotlight: Deb Miller

Name: Deb Miller

Hometown: Vancouver, B.C.

Ubisense Location: Denver, CO

Ubisense Department: Geospatial

Education: Master’s Degree in Computer Science; Master’s Diploma in Cognitive Science

How long have you been with Ubisense and what is your background?

Deb: I started with Ubisense in 2004, but have been in GIS now for 15 years. I originally started with GeoData Solutions, which was one of the first Smallworld consulting companies in the U.S. After that, I ran a small consulting company before finally joining Ubisense.

In university, I specialized in Artificial Intelligence, and during my master’s degree, I developed a neural net to control lighting in a house. It was actually installed in my professor’s experimental house, and to test it, I had to walk around and flap my arms to set off the motion detectors.

What’s a typical day like for you?
Deb: Currently I’m working on a major installation of Smallworld GIS and PowerOn Outage Management at a north west utility.

What is the most significant trend you’ve seen in your field?
Deb: GIS has followed the same trend as technology in general: Geospatial solutions have been getting faster, better, more affordable, and more accessible. GIS solutions used to exist only on expensive IBM mainframes; now they’re embedded everywhere, in every phone and tablet computer. MyWorld pushes that trend even further, bringing enterprise GIS solutions to any web-enabled device. It’s a pretty exciting time to be in the industry.

How did you become interested in GIS?

Deb: When I finished my master’s degree – and gave up my career as an arm flapper – I ended up in GIS almost by accident. Russ Chandler, a friend, was starting GeoData and offered me a position. I planned to stay a couple of years, but got hooked on Smallworld and never looked back. I was fortunate to start on some very interesting work; for example, I became the chief architect of the PowerOn network model, which provided some major design and mathematical challenges.

What was your very first job?
Deb: My first job, in high school and first year in college, was a librarian for a children’s library. When I wasn’t shelving books or studying, I got a chance to read some serious classics; my favorite: Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are.

What do you enjoy doing in your time off?
Deb: I like to spend time outdoors – mostly hiking and biking; especially winter hiking. I enjoy travel and spent a year in Europe, the middle east, and North Africa. I was also fortunate to be able to spend 4 months in South America, mainly camping and hiking in the national parks and wilderness areas of Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile.

What is your favorite city?

Deb: It’s really tough to choose just one city, so I’ll name a few: Florence, Italy (art and food), Goreme, Turkey (amazing rock formations and friendliest people), Chachas, Peru (this small village is so remote it has no roads or electricity, and can only reached by a grueling all-day trek down a steep canyon, and back up the other side).