The School of Geomatics and Urban Spatial Informatics is one of the earliest-established schools at Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture (BUCEA), originating as the teaching and research group for surveying and mapping in 1936. In 1973, a diploma program in Surveying and Mapping Engineering was established and later in 1999 became a department. In 2006, the School was officially established. After 80 years of development, the School has become one of Beijing’s key disciplines with four undergraduate specialties, five master’s degree authorization stations, one doctoral talent training program, and one postdoctoral station, forming a complete system of undergraduate, master, doctoral and postdoctoral talents training. The School was top-ranked among all surveying and mapping disciplines across the country by the Ministry of Education in 2012 and 2017, and was approved as one of the Beijing Advanced Innovation Disciplines in 2019.

There are 55 faculty members in our School, including 14 full professors, and more than 95% of the faculty members have doctoral degrees. We have four undergraduate specialties in urban spatial information: surveying and mapping engineering, geographic information science, geospatial information engineering, and remote sensing science and technology. The School has the Key Laboratory for Urban Geomatics of the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation, the Engineering Research Center of Representative Building and Architectural Heritage Database, Beijing Key Laboratory of Fine Reconstruction and Health Monitoring of Architectural Heritage, and was selected as Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Future Urban Design in 2016.

The School has undertaken a series of major national and municipal projects, varying from the construction of the new and old Ten Famous Buildings to the precise installation surveying of the Beijing Electron Positron Collider linear accelerator, and from earth-observation & remote sensing to smart city management. It has internationally top-level experimental platforms for supporting teaching and scientific research. It has 24 laboratories equipped with Laser Surveying System, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Mobile Mapping Systems and other international leading instruments and equipment. The total value of the equipment is nearly 100 million yuan.

Surveying and Mapping Engineering

The Department of Surveying and Mapping Engineering, starting as the Survey Teaching and Research Section in 2001, was established in 2006. At present, there are surveying and mapping engineering specialty and surveying and mapping engineering (intelligent navigation experimental class). Surveying and Mapping Engineering is a national first-class major construction site, a certified specialty, a featured specialty in Beijing, and a brand specialty in Beijing. There are 21 full-time teachers, including 3 professors, 10 associate professors and eight lecturers. Among the teachers, one is honored with the title of National Young Talents, and one is the Beijing Young and Middle-aged Backbone Teacher. The faculty members have published more than 20 monographs and textbooks. And one course of the department has been rated as one of the best courses in Beijing. Relying on the three research features of urban mapping, navigation and location services, and health monitoring of super-large special-shaped buildings (structures), the department has undertaken more than 20 national and provincial/ministerial scientific research projects, won more than 10 provincial and ministerial academic awards and 5 provincial and ministerial teaching awards in the past five years. Our students have won more than 50 national, provincial and ministerial awards in academic or skills competitions. Till now we have educated more than 4,000 outstanding graduates for the country and the capital, and they have become the backbone of the capital city construction and management.

Geographic Information Science

The Department of Geographic Information Science is developed from a research office which was set up in 2001. In 2006, the Department of Geographic Information Engineering was established, which was renamed the Department of Geographic Information Science in 2012. Accordingly, we established the undergraduate programs of Geographic Information System, Geographic Information Science, and Geospatial Information Engineering in 2000, 2012 and 2019, respectively.

In the Department of Geographic Information Science, there are 18 full-time faculty members, including 7 professors, 7 associate professors and 4 lecturers, all of whom hold PhD degrees. Among the faculty members, there are one Beijing Famous Teacher, one Provincial- and Ministerial-level Science and Technology Leading Talent, and one Science and Technology Innovation Talent.

More than 20 monographs and textbooks have been published by our faculty members, including one Beijing Excellent Textbook. We also have one National Teaching Platform. Supported by the research platform featured with urban refined management and intelligent perception, digital architectural heritage, traffic big data, and 3D geographic information system, the Department of Geographic Information Science has undertaken more than 30 national, provincial and ministerial scientific research projects, and won more than 10 provincial and ministerial awards in the last five years.

The undergraduate and graduate students in the Department have won nearly 20 national, provincial and ministerial awards. Around 1,000 students have been serving in the field of geographic information science/engineering as well as smart city management since graduation.

Remote Sensing Science and Technology

Facing the economic and social development needs of the capital and surrounding urban agglomerations, the specialty of Remote Sensing Science and Technology cultivates senior technical backbone and leading talents with social responsibility, innovative spirit, practical ability and international vision in the field of urban and rural construction. The training mode with the characteristics of "City + Architecture" is formed. The training system takes the professional certification of engineering education as the standard, attaches importance to improving students' practical ability, trains the four-level ability of "foundation, core capability, development, and innovation", and establishes the system featuring the four major curriculum modules of "remote sensing, photogrammetry, big data and artificial intelligence, and urban application". The new trend, new technology and new achievements of the remote sensing field are introduced into the teaching activities, and the teaching content is updated dynamically. At present, there are 16 full-time teachers of Remote Sensing Science and Technology Specialty, including 4 professors, 7 associate professors and 5 lectures, all of whom hold doctoral degrees. We are highly competitive in such research fields as high-resolution remote sensing urban elements extraction and environmental monitoring, fine reconstruction of architectural heritage, and building/structure health monitoring.

Surveying and Mapping Engineering

Geospatial information engineering

Remote Sensing Science and Technology