Robert Weibel -- Biosketch and Functions

Robert Weibel — Biosketch

I obtained an MSc (1985) and a PhD degree (1989, with distinction) in Geography from the University of Zurich, both degrees with a specialization in GIScience. In 1988 I was a Visiting Lecturer at the Department of Geography, SUNY at Buffalo. After two years (1989-1991) as a senior software engineer working for Computervision GIS, Inc. on SYSTEM 9 (the first commercial GIS with object-oriented behavior) I returned to the academic world, first as a Research Associate, then Assistant Professor at the Department of Geography, University of Zurich. Since 10/2000, I am a Full Professor of Geographical Information Science. I've been a Visiting Scientist at Institut Géographique National (IGN) in Paris (1994), the GIScience Center at UC Berkeley (2000), the Centre de Recherche en Géomatique at Université Laval, Québec, Canada (2000), the Finnish Geodetic Institute (FGI, 2007), and the Institute of Geography, University of Edinburgh (2007).

Research Interests

Computational cartography: algorithms for map generalization; methods for cartographic pattern recognition; multiple representation databases (MRDB); generalization web services; visualization for mobile systems (LBS)
Spatio-temporal analysis: Techniques for analysing movement patterns of moving objects
Language and space: spatial analysis for linguistics, area formation in dialectology and typology
GIS for the environment: digital terrain modelling, GIS in protected areas and nature reserves

My Research projects
My Publications

Selected Scientific Committees and Functions

Chair, Department of Geography, University of Zurich, since August 2010
Chair, Commission on Map Generalization, International Cartographic Association (ICA); 1992-2003
General Chair, Conference GIScience 2010, 14-17 September 2010 (www.giscience2010.org)
Chair, European COST Action IC0903 «Knowledge Discovery from Moving Objects (MOVE)»; 05/2009-05/2013
Regional Editor, Europe and Africa, International Journal of Geographical Information Science; since 08/2012
Member, Editorial Board, International Journal of Geographical Information Science; since 10/1993
Member, Editorial Board, ACM Transactions on Spatial Algorithms and Systems (TSAS); since 06/2013
Member, Editorial Board, GeoInformatica; since 02/1996
Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Spatial Information Science (JOSIS) www.josis.org; since 08/2009
Member, Editorial Board, Cartography and Geographic Information Systems; 08/1996 - 07/2000
Member, Editorial Board, Computers, Environment and Urban Systems (CEUS); 01/1999-04/2005
Member, Publications Committee, International Cartographic Association (ICA); since 09/1999
Member, Executive Committee, Swiss Organization for Geoinformation (SOGI); 05/2004 - 04/2006
Chair, Working Group «Aus- und Weiterbildung» (Education and Continuing Education), Swiss Organization for Geoinformation (SOGI); 05/2004 - 04/2006
Member, Executive Committee, Swiss Society of Cartography; 1994-2003
Guest Editor, Special Issue on Map Generalization, Cartography and Geographic Information Systems, 25(4), 1995
Guest Editor, Special Issue on Automated Map Generalization, GeoInformatica, 2(4), 1998
Chair and Co-chair of the international workshop series Workshop on Progress in Automated Map Generalization: Barcelona (1995), Gävle (S, 1997), Ottawa (1999), Beijing (2001), Ottawa (2002), Paris (2003)
Co-chair of Dagstuhl Seminars on Computational Cartography: 1999, 2001, 2008, 2010
Membership on Scientific Program Committees: Geographic Information Science (regularly since 2000); International Symposium on Spatial Data Handling (regularly since 1996); COSIT (Conference on Spatial Theory, regularly since 1995); Auto-Carto (regularly); and various other conferences.