Mark Smith, PLS, has joined Ayres as its newest survey project manager in the Burlington, North Carolina, office. With an impressive career spanning over four decades, Smith offers a wealth of expertise, strong leadership skills, and a proven track record of excellence in land surveying and project management.

Smith’s journey in land surveying began in 1982 with the U.S. Army, where he conducted critical surveying operations across the United States and West Germany. Using conventional survey equipment and advanced directional gyro systems, Smith established precise coordinates for fire bases, field artillery, air defense systems, and missile systems.

Smith’s expertise extends beyond traditional land surveying. He has extensive experience in geomatics, fiber engineering, utility coordination, and subsurface utility engineering, ensuring project health across scope, schedule, budget, and resources. He has supervised field crews and CADD technicians on diverse land development projects, including residential, retail, education, and manufacturing initiatives, as well as staking for multilevel structures. His leadership also encompasses administering annexation, zoning, and subdivision submittals for mixed-use developments.

A skilled educator, Smith has taught undergraduate courses including advanced surveying and surveying law. His technical proficiency includes operating AutoCAD and conducting fieldwork with both conventional and robotic surveying equipment.

As an entrepreneur, Smith owned and operated a private land surveying company, where he completed title insurance surveys for private landowners and topographic design surveys for developers and municipalities. His hands-on approach to quality control, new business development, contract management, hiring, and scheduling has consistently delivered outstanding results.

Joey Fuller, PLS, supervisor of survey in North Carolina, had this to say about Smith: “Mark has over 40 years of experience, which will make him a vital asset who can not only coordinate new work to support our Geospatial Division’s growth initiatives in North Carolina, but also mentor existing and new staff.”

Smith holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from St. Andrews Presbyterian College and an Associate of Applied Science in survey technology from Sandhills Community College in North Carolina.