For those that work in aviation, they understand all too well the difficulties in adjusting to the complex and shifting nature of the industry. However, for rising upcomer, James Hunter Mitchell, the complexities and shifts don’t bother him. In fact, Mitchell thrives in this environment, taking the complicated and seamlessly breaking it down for his clients.
“The one thing I enjoy most about my work is making what can be arduous tasks, uncomplicated when people come to us with a problem,” Mitchell said.
It only makes sense then that Mitchell would be drawn to aviation, an area he took an interest in as a child. His father, Alvin Mitchell’s penchant for aerospace and aviation also was the caveat that piqued Mitchell’s interest as well.
“I always was fascinated about aerospace and aviation. As a young kid, I always was taking these trips to the airport, sitting back with my family, watching the airplanes come in, at what is now San Diego International Airport,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell, who continued to expand his interests in aerospace and aviation, was awarded the Tuskegee Airman Scholarship, after graduating University City High School in 2004.
He dedicates his Airport Business Top 40 Under 40 award to his late mother, Sandra Goins. Ms. Goins made tremendous sacrifices to ensure that Mitchell was afforded the opportunities to receive a quality education, and instilled in him at an early age, that his vision for himself should extend beyond Southeast San Diego. Her selflessness, impeccable work ethic and determination to succeed is what continues to be a driving aspiration of Mitchell. “My goal in life has always and will always be to make my mother proud.”
Mitchell exercises both his interest in aviation and ability to decode the complicated as the Senior GIS Consultant for Jacobsen Daniels (JD).
Mitchell is JD’s lead on-site GIS consultant for the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), where he helped develop web-based mapping platforms for a number of LAWA teams: Commercial Development Group (CDG), Special Projects and the Right-of-Way modernization program. His web applications are used by LAWA for tracking, planning and allocating assets throughout the entire landscape of LAWA’s network of airports.
Mitchell plays a diverse role in supporting the aviation industries move to do more with less by applying GIS to create smarter airports and aviation business lines. His clients consists of every facet of aviation including airline clients, airports across the country and the FAA.
“One thing I pride myself on is being able to do our deliverables, for clients, when it comes to making maps very easy to read and understand. Then taking a step back and making sure that I can get map visuals on a live version for a client, so they have the ability to pan and zoom and reference spatial data easily. That is really what I like to hang my hat on, being able to give them that full live approach in the work that we do,” he said.
Mitchell was a co-presenter for the ESRI international user group virtual conference July 15.
