My name is Charles and I joined thinkWhere as a Consultant in May 2018. I was tasked with developing some new QGIS training in advance of the exciting release of QGIS 3. QGIS 3 was a significant step for the progress in open source desktop GIS, and there were a number of new features, including:
- Built-in 3D visualisation
- Multiple map views
- GeoPackage support
- Reporting
- Improved editing tools
- Data Source Manager
3D Visualisations in QGIS 3.4
This also included many additions for user convenience, such as live layer styling, search options, and improved processing, and the visibility of various settings.
Data Source Manager in QGIS 3.4
I already had lots of experience using QGIS. This stood me in good stead to combine the key functionality of the software, with the new and exciting additions of QGIS 3. I also came from a background where QGIS was being applied day-to-day in a number of renewable energy projects, which gave me a good understanding of how people are using QGIS, and an idea on the key topics to include on a QGIS training course.
New search bar for QGIS 3
thinkWhere has always had a strong presence in delivering QGIS support and training, so it was essential to continue the provision of high quality training for new and existing GIS users. The aim was to allow as many people as possible to learn how to use QGIS and get familiar with all the new functionality. We decided that a 2 day QGIS Beginner course and a 1 day QGIS Advanced course would be the best way to achieve this.
QGIS Beginner Training Exercise
We also decided that all the training data would be free-to-use open data, allowing anyone attending any training to use the data outside the course. The courses also include a range of different spatial data sets, including humanitarian, infrastructure, environmental, planning, and social data, allowing users to apply the new QGIS functionality to a variety of different real-life situations.
Since developing the new courses, myself and my training colleagues have delivered QGIS Beginner, QGIS Advanced and QGIS Fast Track training courses to around 90 delegates from numerous sectors. These include local and national government, academia, forestry, transport and International NGO’s to name few.
We deliver training here at thinkWhere HQ in CodeBase Stirling, in CodeBase Edinburgh and are now offering courses in Newcastle. Delegate feedback to date has been excellent, with an average overall rating of 4.7/5. To see our list of advertised courses, dates, locations and details of early bird and bulk buy discounts see our training page.
“…you did an excellent job of covering a massive subject, selecting appropriate content for a diverse audience and also, very importantly, fully answering specific questions that individuals had. It’s the best training I’ve had for a long time” – QGIS Beginner delegate, Edinburgh, March 2019
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Charles Thompson
Charles is a member of the thinkWhere Operations Team, and provides GIS training, support and technical advice to a broad and diverse range of public sector and commercial organisations. Charles previously worked within the renewable energy industry, where he specialised in using GIS software to analyse spatial data and produce cartographic output for large energy projects.
