Laura Waller facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Laura Waller
Waller speaks at the Berkeley Institute for Data Science, Data, Society and Inference Seminar in 2015
Born	Laura Ann Waller
Alma mater	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS, MEng, PhD)
Awards	National Science Foundation CAREER Award
Scientific career
Institutions	University of California, Berkeley Berkeley Institute for Data Science Princeton University University of Cambridge
Thesis	Computational phase imaging based on intensity transport (2010)
Doctoral advisor	George Barbastathis

Laura Ann Waller is a brilliant computer scientist and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. She is known for her amazing work in creating new ways to see tiny things, especially inside the brain. In 2017, she received a special award from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to help her build better microscopes. She also won the SPIE Early Career Award in 2018 for her important contributions to science.

Early Life and School

Laura Waller grew up in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She went to a famous school called Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). There, she studied Electronic Engineering and Computer Science. She earned her first degree in 2004 and her master's degree in 2005.

While she was studying, she spent a year at the University of Cambridge in England. This was part of a special program between Cambridge and MIT. Later, in 2010, she earned her PhD. Her research focused on new ways to "see" things using light, especially how light waves change. She was also a part of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) program. When she was at MIT, she played on the women's soccer team and led the student group for The Optical Society.

Her Work and Discoveries

Laura Waller is an expert in something called computational imaging. This means she uses computers to create images, often from data that regular cameras can't capture.

She started working at Princeton University in 2010 as a researcher and teacher. Then, in 2012, she moved to the University of California, Berkeley. At Berkeley, her research team works on exciting projects like:

• Phase imaging: This helps them see things that are usually invisible, like how light bends when it goes through clear objects.
• Super-resolution microscopy: This allows them to see details much smaller than what normal microscopes can show.
• Lensless imaging: This is about taking pictures without using traditional lenses, which can make microscopes smaller and cheaper.

She is also a senior member of the Berkeley Institute for Data Science, where she helps use data to solve big problems.

In 2014, Laura Waller was recognized as a David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellow. She also received an award from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for her work in data-driven discovery. She has a special award from the National Science Foundation that helps her team build new computer programs and tools for imaging.

Her team has also developed smart computer programs, called machine learning techniques, to create 3D images using microscopes. In 2016, she became a tenured professor at Berkeley, which means she has a permanent teaching position. In 2017, she received another important award from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. In January 2018, she won the SPIE Early Career Achievement Award for her work in academics.

Through her inventions in computational imaging, Laura Waller has made many important contributions to medicine and industry. Her group also creates free computer programs that others can use for imaging. In 2018, she was named one of the "MIT EECS Rising Stars."

Awards and Honors

Laura Waller has received many awards for her amazing work:

• 2019: Became a Fellow of The Optical Society
• 2018: Won the SPIE Early Career Achievement Award in Academia
• 2016: Received the Carol D. Soc Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Award for Junior Faculty
• 2016: Won the Best Paper Award at the International Conference on Computational Photography
• 2012: Received The Optical Society Ivan P. Kaminow Outstanding Early Career Professional Prize
• 2021: Awarded The Optical Society of America Adolph Lomb Medal for her important work in computational microscopy and its uses.

See also

In Spanish: Laura Ann Waller para niños