astronomy

Shaowen Wang

Shaowen Wang is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Shaowen Wang rather than just read about it. In short: Shaowen Wang is a geographic information scientist, geographer, and computer scientist. He is a professor in the Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science and the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).

Key takeaways

Shaowen Wang belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Shaowen Wang to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Shaowen Wang from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Shaowen Wang is a geographic information scientist, geographer, and computer scientist. He is a professor in the Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science and the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Wang's research focuses on integrating geographic information systems and spatial analysis with high-performance computing to address complex geospatial problems and sustainability challenges, particularly through the development of CyberGIS (cyber geographic information science and systems). Wang was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2021 and a Fellow of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) in 2022. Since 2013, Wang has served as the founding director of the CyberGIS Center for Advanced Digital and Spatial Studies and is the Principal Investigator of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Institute for Geospatial Understanding through an Integrative Discovery Environment (I-GUIDE).

Early life and education Wang was born in 1973 and raised in the northern region of Shanxi Province, China. He attended Tianjin University, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering in 1995. He subsequently earned a Master of Science in geography from Peking University in 1998. Wang then moved to the United States for graduate studies at the University of Iowa, completing a Master of Computer Science in 2002 and a Ph.D. in geography in 2004. His doctoral dissertation, supervised by Marc P. Armstrong , focused on computational geography.

Research and career Wang joined the faculty of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2007. Between 2010 and 2017, Wang was the associate director of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) for CyberGIS. During that time, he led the development of ROGER, a supercomputer optimized for geospatial data-intensive sciences. Wang served as Head of the Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science at UIUC from 2017 to 2023. He holds the position of Associate Dean for Natural and Mathematical Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at UIUC. As principal investigator, Wang has directed over $30 million research awards and grants. His work has been supported by industry partners and a variety of U.S. government agencies, including the NSF, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Community service and leadership Wang served as the President of the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) from 2016 to 2017 and as the President of the International Association of Chinese Professionals in Geographic Information Science (CPGIS) from 2013 to 2014. From 2015 to 2020, Wang was a member of the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Honors and awards 2024: Fellow, University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) 2022: Fellow, American Association of Geographers (AAG) 2022: AAG Distinguished Scholarship Honors 2021: Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2021: Getis-Ord Lecture in Spatial Analysis, the 60th Anniversary Meeting of the Western Regional Science Association 2019: Borchert Lecture, the University of Minnesota 2009: NSF CAREER Award

Selected publications Wang has published over 200 peer-reviewed works. Wang, S.; Armstrong, M. P. (2009). "A Theoretical Approach to the Use of Cyberinfrastructure in Geographical Analysis". International Journal of Geographical Information Science. 23 (2): 169–193. doi:10.1080/13658810802422071 (inactive 19 July 2026).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2026 (link) Wang, S. (2010). "A CyberGIS Framework for the Synthesis of Cyberinfrastructure, GIS, and Spatial Analysis". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 100 (3): 535–557. Bibcode:2010AAAG..100..535W. doi:10.1080/00045601003791243. Wang, S.; Goodchild, M. F., eds. (2019). CyberGIS for Geospatial Discovery and Innovation. Springer. ISBN 978-9402415292.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Shaowen Wang

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Shaowen Wang claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Shaowen Wang before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Shaowen Wang ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Shaowen Wang

In research: Shaowen Wang appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Shaowen Wang in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Shaowen Wang is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1973 births, American geographers, Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Shaowen Wang outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Shaowen Wang in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Shaowen Wang means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Shaowen Wang out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shaowen Wang in simple terms?

Why does Shaowen Wang matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Shaowen Wang?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Shaowen Wang.