Fengyan Zhang

Geospatial & Data

Previously a research assistant at the Geoinformation Systems and Geodetic Institute of RWTH Aachen , where I worked with IoT-driven sensor networks for hydraulic-structure monitoring, handling real-time data collection, storage, and visualization (an example of this work can be found here , under the supervision of Prof. Jörg Blankenbach and Dr. Ralf Becker ). Prior to that, I completed my Master’s in Geomatics at TU Delft . My work moves between algorithms and geometry, developing clean, efficient tools for processing complex 2D/3D forms in C++ and Python. For my thesis , I built snapoly , a prototype for snap-rounding polygons through constrained Delaunay triangulation (under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Hugo Ledoux and Dr. Ken Arroyo Ohori within the 3D Geoinformation Group ).

My research interests lie at the intersection of geospatial data, urban and built environments, and their digital representations, e.g. 3D modelling (I would recommend the book Computational modelling of terrains), digital shadows, and digital twins. I am interested in how spatial data, modelling, and digital tools can support a deeper understanding of cities, not only as technical systems, but as layered environments shaped by cultural, historical, and environmental factors. As modern cities and regions are complex, organic systems, they require the collaboration of multiple disciplines to be fully understood.

This space, as I hope, is a calm outpost — part portfolio, part notebook, part observatory. For the things I am building, reading, and trying to understand.