2020 Fellow

Presented to: Dr. Yang Gao

Citation: For significant contribution to the development, dissemination and commercialization of high-precision GNSS technologies; and for significant educational and training impact on navigation engineers and professionals.

Dr. Yang Gao is an accomplished researcher who has dedicated his career to the development of high-precision GNSS technologies. He contributed to the development of early commercial GPS software and real-time kinematic (RTK) systems, and led a research team with 20 years of sustained contributions to the development and application of precise point positioning technology. Dr. Gao is also widely known for his sustained contributions to technology transfer of high-precision GNSS technologies. His research results have been transferred to GNSS receiver manufacturers, system integrators and service providers, with direct impact on product development.

Dr. Gao is an enthusiastic educator who has trained scores of navigation engineers and professionals who are contributing to GNSS technology and product development in academic and industry sectors around the world. His students won many student paper awards. He has offered numerous lectures and presentations to the industry and academic sectors and received several teaching excellence and graduate education awards.

Dr. Gao’s contributions have been recognized by a number of national and international awards, including the ION’s Thurlow Award, the CIG Intermap Award and the APEGA Research Excellence Award.

Dr. Gao has provided extensive professional services and leadership to industry and academia. He is a member of editorial boards for six international journals, and a Fellow of the International Association of Geodesy, who has played a leadership role as chair of the technical commissions on high-precision GNSS positioning and navigation. He is an active contributor to ION programs. Dr. Gao is a professor in Geomatics Engineering at The University of Calgary. He received his BSc and MSc in Surveying Engineering, both from Wuhan University, and his PhD in Satellite Geodesy from The University of Calgary.