The European Association of Aerial Surveying Industries (EAASI) is pleased to announce Dr. Weixiao Gao as the winner of the EAASI Outstanding Thesis Award 2025 for his PhD dissertation “Semantic Understanding of Urban Scenes from Textured Meshes”, completed at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft).
The EAASI Outstanding Thesis Award recognizes exceptional academic research that advances the use and understanding of crewed aerial survey data. This annual award recognizes innovative work of strong scientific merit and practical relevance to the aerial surveying industry.
Dr. Gao’s research makes a major contribution to the semantic understanding of urban textured meshes—which are generated through photogrammetric pipelines from multiview aerial images—by addressing key challenges in data interpretation, interactive annotation, and 3D model reconstruction. His work established a benchmark dataset and developed new algorithms that enable the automated production of lightweight, semantically rich 3D city models. By bridging computer vision, photogrammetry, and geoinformation, his thesis provides tangible benefits to geospatial data users, including improved efficiency, reduced costs, and higher precision as well as topological correctness in digital city reconstruction.
The 2025 evaluation panel — composed of Uwe Bacher, Seppe Cassettari, Javier Matesanz, Jan Skaloud, and Lena Halounová — assessed the submitted works according to predefined criteria and scoring. Dr. Gao’s thesis received the highest overall evaluation, reflecting its strong scientific contribution and potential value for the aerial surveying industry.
Reflecting on the award, Dr. Gao said:
“Receiving the EAASI Outstanding Thesis Award is a great honor, validating our work in transforming aerial survey data into intelligent 3D city models. This recognition underscores how the semantic understanding of textured meshes creates tangible business value—reducing manual annotation costs and enabling the scalable, automated production of LoD3 city models. Looking ahead, I am committed to advancing urban spatial intelligence, progressing from automated understanding to predictive modeling and decision support. This award inspires me to continue bridging academic research with industrial applications, shaping the future of aerial surveying through intelligent geospatial solutions.”
Originally from Jinzhong City, China, Dr. Gao holds dual Master’s degrees in Geoinformation Science from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and in Geodesy and Geoinformation Science from Technische Universität Berlin. He joined TU Delft’s 3D Geoinformation Group in 2017, where he recently completed his PhD and now continues as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Urban Digital Twins project.
Marcos Martínez-Fernández, EAASI Secretary-General, emphasized the strategic importance of fostering academic collaboration:
“This recognition is part of the continuous work of the EAASI University and Students Engagement Committee, which for the past three years has been building bridges between our industry and the academic world,” he stated. “Connecting with students, researchers, and universities is essential to ensure the future growth and innovation of the aerial surveying profession.”
For more information about the EAASI Outstanding Thesis Award and past recipients, visit www.eaasi.eu.
