KMUTT Geospatial Engineering and Innovation Center
King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi
126 Pracha Uthit Road, 10140 Bangkok
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WHAT IS KGEO?
- An independent center within the Institute of Field Robotics (FIBO)
- Leverages the expertise of KMUTT’s world-class faculty and researchers from computer engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, robotics, environmental engineering, and other relevant fields
- Addresses urgent issues with a spatial component
- Floods
- Drought
- Agricultural yield
- Industrial siting
- Coastal erosion
- Land subsidence
- Forest conservation
- Infrastructure development
- Epidemic forecasting
- develops practical tools and techniques to solve real world problems
- Conducts cutting edge research to advance scientific knowledge in geospatially-related domains
WHAT IS GEOSPATIAL ENGINEERING?
We define geospatial engineering very broadly. Geospatial engineering products may include: remote sensing image analysis algorithms and software, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and computer mapping; location-based mobile applications; Global Positional System (GPS) and other satellite-based location services; hardware such as sensors and sensor networks, exploration robots, autonomous vehicles (both aerial and aquatic), and even small satellites; mathematical or other models that predict spatially distributed phenomena; processes that facilitate the gathering or dissemination of spatial data.
RATIONALE
Geospatial information gathering and analysis are essential for the economic and social development of Thailand. The country’s ongoing water management issues provide a prominent example. Predicting and responding to floods is extremely difficult without accurate knowledge about waterways, water gates, and dykes; the volume and flow rate at different points in the hydrological network; land elevation and the location of obstacles; the spatial pattern of precipitation; and so on. Other government activities needing geospatial data include health services delivery, pollution monitoring, law and import/export enforcement, fisheries, forestry, and mineral exploitation.
Thai businesses rely on geospatial data. Retail companies use demographics and infrastructure projections to decide where to site new outlets. Property businesses look at land prices, zoning, transportation, elevation, and many other location-specific factors in planning new condominiums or housing estates. Agroindustry requires near-real-time spatial information to predict yields, identify disease or pest infestations, and implement fertilizer or irrigation regimens. Manufacturing industries choose locations based on a wide variety of spatially distributed characteristics including availability of water, the presence of skilled labor, and resistance to flooding. Advertising and media companies increasingly turn to location-based mobile applications to deliver content appropriate to a particular spatial context.
In fact, spatial information is required for decision-making in almost every domain, from agriculture to tourism, health care delivery to transportation. Furthermore, due to advances in technology, every year brings an increase in the volume and types of spatial data available, and a decrease in the cost of computers needed to process that data.
Although Thailand has been a regional leader in the generation of spatial data and the use of geoinformatics (computer-based analysis of spatial data) since the early nineteen eighties, when the country built the first remote sensing satellite receiving center in Southeast Asia, neither the government nor the private sector has all the expertise required to fully integrate spatial information processing into their activities. Much of the potential benefit from spatial data analysis remains unrealized.
VISION
kGeo will create an innovative research and development community at KMUTT which will help Thai government organizations, businesses and society to realize the full benefits of geospatial knowledge by designing, building and deploying robust solutions to real world geospatial problems.
MISSION
In service to our vision, kGeo has the following missions:
- Design and execute projects that solve significant problems and create measurable value for our clients. These projects may involve knowledge innovation, knowledge application, or both
- Support and coordinate the efforts of faculty and researchers within KMUTT who have interests in or activities related to geospatial knowledge and/or tools
- Build capacity of students in various areas of geospatial engineering, to enable them to contribute to industry, academia, and society at large
- Establish the reputation of KMUTT as a center of excellence in geospatial engineering
- Development and testing of analytic and predictive models with a spatial component
- Development of educational tools and materials related to geospatial topics
ACTIVITIES
Projects and Consulting: kGeo undertakes projects with a geospatial knowledge component for government agencies, commercial companies or non-governmental organizations, developing software, hardware and process tools to solve real-world problems. We also provide expert consulting on geoinformatics and geoscience on a per-day basis to outside organizations.
Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Through its projects, kGeo provides support for masters and PhD students working on geospatially-related projects. It also organizes geoinformatics courses and seminars for KMUTT students.
Communication and Collaboration: kGeo runs an annual seminar to facilitate the exchange of knowledge among KMUTT faculty and researchers working on problems with a geospatial component.
Tools Repository: kGeo maintains an online repository of software tools, hardware designs and analysis processes which will be of value to others. Users can browse and download tools and documentation, and request information and support.