Zihan Liu

Zihan Liu is a Research Associate and doctoral candidate at the Chair of Cartography and Visual Analytics, Technical University of Munich (TUM), conducting interdisciplinary research at the intersection of urban mobility, visual analytics, and network science. He actively teaches graduate courses in cartography, transportation systems, and spatial visual analytics while supervising multiple theses across geospatial and engineering programs.

Education:

• Doctor of Engineering (Dr.-Ing.) in Cartography and Visual Analytics, Technical University of Munich (2024–present)
• Master of Science (M.Sc.) in International Master of Science Programme in Cartography, Technical University of Munich/Vienna University of Technology/Dresden University of Technology/University of Twente (2021–2023)
• Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) in Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering, Wuhan University (2017–2021)

Research Focus: Liu's work centers on Urban Mobility systems with emphasis on traffic safety analytics for vulnerable road users, active mobility infrastructure evaluation, and pedestrian-vehicle interaction modeling. His methodology integrates Visual Analytics for urban data interpretation and Network/Complexity Science to decode emergent patterns in transportation ecosystems, producing actionable insights for sustainable city planning.

Publication Trends: Recent work demonstrates a trajectory from applied geospatial solutions for transportation (2023 VGI traffic sensor research) toward ethical AI frameworks (2024 hyper-knowledge graphs for AI ethics), reflecting expanding scope from urban mobility to responsible technology development while maintaining core geospatial analytics expertise.

Scientific Recognition:

• ICA Scholarship (2023)
• M.Sc. Cartography Scholarship (2021–2023)
• Outstanding Graduate, Wuhan University (2021)
• Liu Daoyu Creative Study Scholarship (2019, 2020)

Academic Mentorship: Liu co-supervises diverse research projects including bicycle network risk assessment (M. Nouman), parking visualization systems (J. Li), trajectory data quality (Z. Hu), and urban delineation via remote sensing (Z. Zhang), demonstrating cross-disciplinary guidance spanning civil engineering, geodesy, and geospatial science programs with emphasis on real-world urban challenges.

Research Environment: As core member of TUM's Chair of Cartography and Visual Analytics, Liu contributes to flagship initiatives including the Cartography Playground interactive platform, Rolli Map accessibility project, and Geodetic Excursion field programs, operating within a collaborative ecosystem focused on advancing geospatial theory through practical cartographic innovation.