Prof. Dr. Thomas H. Kolbe

Academic Career and Research Areas

The research field of Professor Kolbe (b. 1968) is the development of methods for the spatial, temporal and semantic modeling, storage, analysis and visualization of the environment. Key areas are virtual 3D city and landscape models, city system modeling, smart cities, 3D geodatabases, 3D geoinformation systems, GIS & simulations and indoor navigation. Professor Kolbe is the initiator and co-author of the international standard CityGML for semantic 3D city and landscape models.

Professor Kolbe studied computer science at the University Dortmund between 1988 and 1993. After completing his studies he worked as a research assistant at the Institute for Computer Science III at the University of Bonn and the Institute for Environmental Sciences at the University of Vechta until 1999. He was awarded his doctoral degree in 1999. From 1999 he was a research assistant, and later a senior research assistant, at the Institute for Cartography and Geoinformation at the University of Bonn. Between 2006 and 2012 he held the Chair of the Department of Geoinformation Technology at TU Berlin. Since 2012 he has been president of the German Society for Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Geoinformation (DGPF) and a professor at TUM.