Development of German-Ukrainian cooperations for education and research in photogrammetry and laser scanning

Abstract

Since 2011 an intensive international cooperation has been in place between the Institute for Applied Photogrammetry and Geoinformatics (IAPG) at the Jade University of Applied Sciences in Oldenburg, Germany, and various Ukrainian universities. Following an initial contact by Prof. Gottfried Konecny, the first visit was organized, and was followed by many more. In subsequent years an intensive cooperation was established particularly with the National University for Construction and Architecture (KNUCA) in Kiev. In addition to architects and civil engineers, KNUCA also trains geodesists, geo-information scientists and landscape planners. The cooperation today includes the reciprocal exchange of scientists and students, research projects, courses and cooperation at many other levels. In addition, a commercial company has been established, SPM3D LLC, which now employs more than 14 engineers in the field of 3D acquisition, point cloud processing and modeling. This article summarizes the history of the cooperation and presents the results of associated student projects. In addition, results of joint work on the development of a virtual laser scanner are presented, part of a German-Ukrainian initiative to digitize teaching.