Tag Archives: utm

A SIMPLE “YES” TO HELPING A COLLEAGUE

A SIMPLE “YES” TO HELPING A COLLEAGUE

Sometimes, the best opportunities begin with a simple message.

Earlier this year, a colleague from Morocco reached out and asked whether I would be willing to support the 7th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Applications (AiA’26) as a member of the International Program Committee.

Of course, I was happy to help.

Academic research has always been built on collaboration. Whether it is reviewing conference papers, evaluating research quality, or sharing ideas, every contribution helps strengthen the scientific community.

This year, I had the privilege of serving on the International Program Committee for AiA’26, contributing to the peer review process alongside researchers from around the world. It is always a rewarding experience to read new ideas, provide constructive feedback, and help ensure that only high-quality research is presented at the conference.

Artificial Intelligence continues to transform many aspects of our lives, making conferences like AiA an important platform for researchers to exchange ideas, build collaborations, and showcase innovative solutions to real-world challenges.

I sincerely thank the organising committee for the invitation and for this certificate of appreciation. I truly appreciate the trust they have placed in me.

I hope this will be the beginning of many more collaborations with colleagues from Morocco and other parts of the world.

After all, science grows stronger when we help one another.

#ArtificialIntelligence #InternationalCollaboration #AcademicService #PeerReview #Morocco

AN IMPORTANT MILESTONE IN A PhD JOURNEY

AN IMPORTANT MILESTONE IN A PhD JOURNEY

Congratulations to my PhD student, Samantha Soo Chin Yee, on successfully passing her PhD Qualification Assessment (QA).

The Qualification Assessment is one of the most important milestones in a PhD journey. It is not simply another presentation. It is a formal assessment where the candidate must convince a panel of examiners that the research is original, scientifically sound, feasible, and has sufficient novelty to continue as a PhD project. Passing the QA means the student has demonstrated the capability to carry out independent doctoral research.

I am especially proud because Samantha achieved this milestone in just her 8th month as a PhD student.

According to the chairman, she answered the examiners’ questions confidently, and the panel acknowledged both the novelty and significance of her research. Better yet, the entire QA session was completed in only 1 hour and 20 minutes, including a 19-minute presentation, which reflects her excellent preparation and clear understanding of her work.

Looking back, it has been an incredible start to her PhD journey. Within her first year, Samantha has already:

Published a paper in the ISPRS Archives indexed in Web of Science.
Collaborated with researchers from Karabük University, Türkiye, and an industry partner from Spain.
Successfully passed her PhD Qualification Assessment.

These achievements did not happen by chance. They are the result of consistent effort, discipline, and a willingness to learn.

Congratulations once again, Samantha. This is only the beginning of your PhD journey, and I look forward to seeing your research continue to grow and make meaningful contributions to the geospatial community.

Keep up the excellent work. The best is yet to come.

#PhD #QualificationAssessment #Research #GeospatialScience #UTM

TRUST ISSUE – DON’T USE GIS DATA BLINDLY

TRUST ISSUE – DON’T USE GIS DATA BLINDLY

Would you trust a map if you didn’t know where it came from?

Imagine downloading a GIS dataset that looks perfect.

It has roads, buildings, rivers, and land parcels. Everything seems ready to use.

But then the questions start.

❓ Who created it?

❓ When was it last updated?

❓ How accurate is it?

❓ Which coordinate system does it use?

❓ Can you trust it for your analysis?

Without metadata, you have no answers.

That’s why metadata is often called “data about data.” It provides the information needed to understand, evaluate, and confidently use a GIS dataset.

Good metadata tells you:

📌 What the dataset contains

📌 Who created it

📌 When it was collected or updated

📌 Where it covers

📌 How it was produced

📌 How accurate it is

📌 How you can access, share, and reuse it

Think of metadata as the instruction manual for your GIS data.

Without it, even the best dataset can become confusing, unreliable, or impossible to use correctly.

Why is metadata important?

✅ Helps you discover the right dataset faster

✅ Allows you to assess data quality and suitability

✅ Makes it easier to integrate data from different sources

✅ Encourages data sharing and reuse

✅ Builds confidence and trust in your analysis

A simple way to remember it:

📍 Data tells you the answer.

📋 Metadata tells you whether you should trust the answer.

The next time you download a GIS dataset, don’t just open the map.

Open the metadata first.

It might be the most valuable information in the entire dataset.

Have this in mind when you look at neat datasets, “it’s too good to be true” 😊

#GIS #Metadata #Geospatial #SpatialData #GISLearning

6 GIS CONCEPTS YOU SHOULD NEVER CONFUSE

6 GIS CONCEPTS YOU SHOULD NEVER CONFUSE

Projection. Datum. Coordinate System. Georeferencing. Join. Spatial Join.

They are some of the most commonly used terms in GIS, yet they are also some of the most misunderstood. 🤔

While they may sound similar, each serves a completely different purpose in a geospatial workflow.

📍 Projection transforms the curved Earth into a flat map.

🌍 Datum defines the Earth model used for positioning.

📐 Coordinate System provides the framework for measuring locations.

🗺️ Georeferencing aligns maps and images to real-world coordinates.

🔗 Join connects data using a shared attribute or ID.

📌 Spatial Join connects data based on geographic location.

Understanding the difference between these concepts can save you from common GIS mistakes such as misplaced data, incorrect measurements, failed analyses, and inaccurate maps.

A simple way to remember them:

✅ Projection = How the Earth is displayed

✅ Datum = The Earth model behind the coordinates

✅ Coordinate System = How locations are measured

✅ Georeferencing = Putting data in the correct place

✅ Join = Match by attribute

✅ Spatial Join = Match by location

The better we understand these fundamentals, the more reliable our maps, analyses, and decisions become.

Which of these six concepts was the most confusing when you first started learning GIS?

#GIS #Geospatial #SpatialAnalysis #Mapping #GISLearning

ANOTHER AFTERNOON, ANOTHER PROPOSAL DEFENCE SESSION 🎓

ANOTHER AFTERNOON, ANOTHER PROPOSAL DEFENCE SESSION 🎓

I had the opportunity to serve as the Chairman for a MPhil Proposal Defence session involving Azalea Kamellia Binti Abdullah, whose research focuses on:

“Systematic Calibration of Satellite Precipitation Estimates for Drought Measurement.”

One thing that made this session particularly interesting was that the candidate comes from industry. It is always encouraging to see professionals from industry pursuing advanced research and bringing real-world challenges into academia.

Research on satellite-based precipitation estimation and drought monitoring is becoming increasingly important, especially as climate variability and extreme weather events continue to impact water resources, agriculture, and environmental management. Bridging remote sensing technology with practical decision-making is an area with significant potential and impact.

The session was joined by:

Prof. Madya Sr Dr. Muhammad Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman
Dr. Mohd Rizaludin Mahmoud

Alhamdulillah, everything went smoothly. The candidate presented her work confidently, the discussions were constructive, and the feedback provided will undoubtedly help strengthen the research moving forward.

Congratulations to Azalea on reaching this important milestone. Wishing you all the best as you continue your MPhil journey.

One thing I always enjoy about these sessions is seeing the exchange of ideas between academia and industry. When both worlds come together, research becomes not only academically rigorous but also practically relevant.

#ProposalDefence #PhDJourney #RemoteSensing #DroughtMonitoring #AcademicLife

THE SHAPEFILE SECRET EVERY GIS USER SHOULD KNOW

THE SHAPEFILE SECRET EVERY GIS USER SHOULD KNOW

Many GIS beginners assume a shapefile is a single file. It is not. 👀

A shapefile is actually a collection of files that work together to store geographic data and its associated information.

📍 .shp stores the geometry (points, lines, and polygons)
📍 .shx provides an index for fast access to features
📍 .dbf stores the attribute data linked to each feature
📍 .prj defines the coordinate reference system (CRS)
📍 .cpg manages character encoding
📍 .sbn / .sbx improve spatial query performance

✅ Minimum files required for a valid shapefile dataset:
.shp + .shx + .dbf

Without these three core files, most GIS software will not be able to properly read the dataset.

💡 Pro tip: When sharing shapefiles, always send the entire folder or compress all related files into a ZIP archive. Sending only the .shp file is one of the most common GIS mistakes.

Understanding these file components is a small detail that can prevent big headaches in your GIS workflow.

Have you ever received a shapefile that would not open because some files were missing?

#GIS #Geospatial #Shapefile #SpatialData #GISLearning

H-INDEX 20: A MILESTONE I NEVER EXPECTED

H-INDEX 20: A MILESTONE I NEVER EXPECTED

Today, while checking my Google Scholar profile, I noticed something that made me pause for a moment.

My H-index has reached 20.

To be honest, when I first started my academic journey, I never imagined I would get here. I believe at the moment I have the highest H-index in my department for GIS field of study.

Some people may say that an H-index of 20 is not particularly high. In certain disciplines, it might even be considered modest. But for me, and for the field that I work in, it is a meaningful milestone.

The research areas I have been involved in, we were once considered highly specialised and niche. The community was relatively small, and naturally, there were not many researchers working on similar topics.

Sometimes it felt like being a minority within an already small minority.

Publishing was not always easy. Finding collaborators was not always easy. Convincing others of the value of certain research directions was not always easy.

But we kept going.

Over the years, I have been fortunate to work with many wonderful students, colleagues, collaborators, and mentors. Every paper, citation, discussion, supervision session, conference presentation, and research project contributed to this journey.

So this milestone does not belong to me alone.

It belongs to everyone who has contributed, collaborated, cited our work, challenged our ideas, and helped shape the research community that exists today.

What makes me happiest is not the number itself.

It is seeing how much the community has grown.

Topics that once attracted only a handful of researchers are now receiving increasing attention. New ideas are emerging, new collaborations are being formed, and the research landscape has become far more vibrant and exciting than when I first entered the field.

I am grateful to have witnessed that growth and even more grateful to have played a small part in it.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey.

Now, back to work. There are still many interesting questions waiting to be explored.

#ResearchJourney #GoogleScholar #HIndex20 #Geoinformatics #AcademicLife

PUBLICATION CHAIR FOR RSTIP 2026

PUBLICATION CHAIR FOR RSTIP 2026

I have been appointed as the Publication Chair for the 3rd International Conference on Remote Sensing Technology and Image Processing (RSTIP 2026), which will be held in Harbin, China, from 25-27 December 2026.

RSTIP has established itself as an international platform for researchers, academics, and industry professionals to exchange ideas and showcase advancements in remote sensing technology, geospatial science, GIS, image processing, and related disciplines. The conference provides valuable opportunities for collaboration and knowledge sharing among experts from around the world.

As Publication Chair, I will be responsible for overseeing the conference publication process, supporting the peer-review workflow, and ensuring that accepted papers meet the high scholarly standards expected of an international scientific conference. This role also involves working closely with the organizing committee, reviewers, and authors to facilitate the dissemination of quality research contributions to the global research community.

Having spent many years engaged in research, teaching, supervision, and scholarly publishing within the geospatial and remote sensing domains, I am particularly pleased to contribute to a conference whose themes closely align with my academic and professional interests. The appointment reflects an opportunity to further support research excellence and foster international collaboration within these rapidly evolving fields.

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the conference organizers for their trust and confidence in entrusting me with this responsibility. I look forward to working with colleagues and researchers worldwide to help make RSTIP 2026 a successful and impactful event.

I warmly welcome researchers, practitioners, and students interested in remote sensing, geospatial technologies, and image processing to participate in RSTIP 2026 and contribute to this exciting international forum.

https://www.rstip.org

#RSTIP2026

#RemoteSensing

#GeospatialScience

#AcademicLeadership

#ScholarlyPublishing

THE COVER IS READY!

THE COVER IS READY!

Just got the cover design for my book!

GeoAI & IoT Foundations: Models, Architectures, and Platforms for Urban-Scale Intelligence explores how GeoAI and IoT can be integrated to power intelligent urban systems and smart city applications. I’m also honoured to have this work published by Springer.

Seeing it finally come together feels surreal. Can’t wait to hold the finished copy in my hands. Absolutely loving this cover and counting down the days until it’s officially out!

#BookCover #GeoAI #IoT #AcademicPublishing #Springer #Research #AuthorLife #ComingSoon

WFH HAS ITS PROS AND CONS

WFH HAS ITS PROS AND CONS

Working from home (WFH) definitely has its advantages.

Sometimes, it gives the quiet space needed to focus deeply on research, writing, analysis, and all the “deep work” that usually requires uninterrupted concentration.

But at the same time, there is also the other side of academic life.

Sometimes students are stuck.

Sometimes they need guidance, reassurance, or just someone to discuss their research problems with. And honestly, it is hard to just leave them struggling alone.

So today, instead of staying at home, we met at a coffee shop outside campus for a quick research discussion session.

In the end, the issues were settled, the students were smiling again, and everyone got to eat good food too.

Academic life is not only about papers and deadlines.

Sometimes it is simply about being present when students need help the most.

#AcademicLife #WFH #PostgraduateLife #ResearchMentoring #CoffeeAndResearch