Professionally I am a University graduate in Urban and Regional Planning
specialized in computer aided mapping and Geographic
Information Systems (GIS).
From 1990 until 1997 I was working for the INGECON company (International Geographic
Consultants). My activities were related to computer aided navigation
maps creation for aeronautical companies (airlines and aviation authorities).
From 1997 until 2010 I was a civil servant for the municipality of Ede. I first was employed
as specialist for spatial data modeling and GIS processing (50%) and consultant for
information technology and information management (50%). Later I worked full time as
consultant for information technology and information management.
Since 2010 I am selfemployed consultant for information technology and information management
or local governments.
See my Curriculum Vitae (Professional Resume)
for more details.
My interest in my family name dates from 1972 at which time an exhibition was held of the paintings of one of my ancestors: Rudolphus Lauwerier (1797-1883). First I concentrated on my own family, but gradually ALL families world wide with a name related to the original French name "Laurier" were incorporated in the study. Nowadays more than 1000 people bearing the family name are stored in my database (in addition to all the other people which are related but carry other names..).
My study has shown that the original name has been changed to the following names. It should be noted that the names containing "orie" are versions which originate from the French pronounciation (like "Loa-r-ee-jay"). The ones with a "w" originate from the Dutch pronounciation (like "Low-a-reer" with the "ow" pronounced as in "Howard").
From 1984 until 2011 I was a member of the Dutch Genealogical Society (NGV).