Laura Waller

Laura Waller is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley, where she leads the Computational Imaging Lab. Her research focuses on integrating hardware and software for optical imaging systems, with applications in microscopy, biomedical imaging, and industrial inspection. She is affiliated with the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research Laboratory (BAIR) and the Berkeley Institute of Data Science (BIDS).

• 2010 Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT
• 2005 M.Eng. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT
• 2004 B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT

Her research spans computational imaging, optics, and machine learning, particularly physics-based approaches for designing imaging systems. Key areas include phase imaging, light-field microscopy, and imaging through scattering. She has pioneered DiffuserCam, a lensless imaging system, and developed space-time reconstruction algorithms for dynamic samples. Her work intersects signal processing, biomedical imaging, and inverse problems.

Her recent publications emphasize single-shot 3D imaging, hyperspectral capture, and machine learning-optimized optical design. Notable collaborations include projects with the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab on X-ray and EUV imaging.

• 2024: Max Planck-Humboldt Medals
• 2021: AIMBE Fellow, OSA Adolf Lomb Medal
• 2018: SPIE Early Career Achievement Award
• 2016: Carol D. Soc Mentoring Award
• 2014: NSF CAREER Award, Moore Investigator in Data Driven Discovery, Packard Fellow, Bakar Fellows Spark Award

She mentors graduate students across EECS, Bioengineering, and the Applied Sciences & Technology (AS&T) programs. Her lab has produced alumni who now hold faculty positions at institutions like UT Austin and UCSD.