Ernie Tessari

Ernest J. (Ernie) Tessari was born in Warner, Alberta in 1934.

In 1954, he obtained his surveying and drafting diploma from the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art in Calgary and successfully completed two years of civil engineering at the University of Alberta.

Ernie Tessari articled to Albert Tonsoo and obtained his commission as an Alberta Land Surveyor on July 17, 1961. He obtained his Canada Lands Surveyor commission the following year.

Mr. Tessari was active in Alberta Land Surveyors’ Association activities and was president in 1978. He chaired at one time or another most of the committees that existed in the 1970s and 1980s with the exceptions of the Examining, Nominating and Practice committees.

During his career, he was employed by Alberta Transportation surveying highways and other roads. His significant responsibilities (1970 to 1992) included:

• installing and managing the survey control system in Alberta

• significant involvement, province-wide, in the coordination of land-related information systems in government departments and agencies, urban centres and major entities, such as Telus, TransAlta and major oil and exploration companies

• digitizing data and establishing automated mapping for the provincial cadastral system

• providing the digitized base for non-urban provincial mapping

From 1989 to 1992, he was director of the Surveying and Mapping Branch, Information Services Division, Alberta Forestry Lands & Wildlife.

He retired as an Alberta Land Surveyor in 1992.