Arlan Hegenbarth and Logan Gall take first place at the 2025 MN GIS/LIS Conference student paper competition

Congratulations to Arlan Hegenbarth and Logan Gall who both won first place in the undergraduate and graduate student paper competition sessions at the 2025 Minnesota GIS/LIS in Duluth in early October! They did an outstanding job representing the University of Minnesota and presenting their innovative research projects.

Arlan Hegenbarth placed first in the undergraduate competition for his presentation, Regionalization for the Confidentiality of Census Microdata. Arlan is a senior double majoring in geography and data science. He has worked with IPUMS International as research assistant for almost 2 years, helping to collect, preserve, harmonize, and disseminate the world's census microdata. His research interests involve connecting the fields of GIS and operations research to support spatial decision making and resource allocation. Arlan’s senior thesis is co-advised by Dr. Steve Manson, Professor of Geography, and Dr. Krishnamurthy Iyer, Associate Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

Logan Gall placed first in the graduate competition for his presentation, Spatiotemporal Analysis of Wi-Fi-based Indoor Localization. He graduated with his MGIS degree last spring and was advised by Eric Shook. Logan earned his undergraduate degree in data science from the University of Minnesota. He has a passion for technology, spatial data science, and applied machine learning. During his graduate studies he served as President of the GIS Student Organization and member of the Drone Club, developed a deep interest for applied technologies, and mentored his fellow students. Logan is now the Associate Director of GeoCommons and teaching faculty in the geography department where he teaches courses in spatial data science, cartography, programming, and digital mapping.

Congratulations to Arlan and Logan!