Filtered By: Scitech
SciTech

Student spends 500 hours mapping Kazakh hometown


With the help of Google’s Map Maker, a graphic design student at the University of Minnesota managed to map his Kazakh hometown of Shakhtinsk. Kyril Negoda, 23, noted that the entire Kazakhstan —considered the ninth largest country in the world— had very little detail on its online map when he checked on it two years ago. “I just want to know where I’m going when I’m in Kazakhstan. And I wanted to give something back to the country," Negoda said in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio. Using Google Map Maker —where citizen cartographers can edit or add maps— Negoda invested some 500 hours in mapping his hometown. Negoda, who loved maps as a child, initially contributed to the map using his memory as a child, then used satellite imagery and a network of volunteers inside Kazakhstan. The MPR quoted Google geospatial scientist Ed Parsons who said Google’s Map Maker is the natural evolution of Web mapping. “It recognizes that the experts are the people who live there," said Parsons. Meanwhile, Negoda has also turned his attention to the Twin Cities as well, adding to Google Maps the tiniest Minneapolis parks. He also mapped the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota, which used to be just a blob on Google Maps. “You’re never done mapping," he said. — TJD, GMA News

LOADING CONTENT