Professor Cheon Kim who has worked in the College of Forest Science since 1989 also managed the Graduate School of Applied Information Technology from 2007 and in recognition of his efforts, he received the best academic award called ‘International Friendship Award of Excellence’ in the International Conference on Earth Observations and Societal Impacts (ICEO-SI 2014) that was held on June 22nd – 24th in the National United University, Taiwan by the Taiwan Group on Earth Observations (TGEO).

His contribution to the remote sensing in Asia and space industry has been recognized as Professor Cheon Kim already received the Boon Indrambrya Medal by the royal family of Thailand in 2004 and Achievement Award by the Chinese Academy of Science in 2009 and for the this time, he achieved the glory of winning the International Friendship Award of Excellence while elevating the status of Kookmin University.

The reason of receiving this third international academic award is due to the contribution of Professor Cheon Kim, who successfully served the president of the Korean Society of Remote Sensing, to the establishment of TGEO and conception of the Taiwan Integrated Earth Observation Systems (TIEOS) in 2010. Also as the joint chair of the Environmental Monitoring from Space of East Asia (EMSEA) and advisor of the ICEO-SI that has been held every year since 2011, his efforts for the development of the related industry was highly recognized.

TGEO that granted the award for the first time this year is composed of Taiwanese scientists and public officials of related industries. As part of efforts to address the issue of climate change caused by global warming, it provides ‘TIEOS,’ the communication platform to cope with climate change and natural disaster prevention while serving the important role as database of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) supported by NASA and ESA.