Presidential Fellow Julian Gamboa González and LAPT Team Develop Real-Time Advancements in Optical Engineering
Julian Gamboa González, a PhD candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is leading advancements in optical engineering. A member of Northwestern’s Lab for Atomic and Photonic Technologies (LAPT) under Professor Selim Shahriar, Julian specializes in holographic techniques for capturing and processing data. Julian and his LAPT colleagues recently developed the world’s fastest real-time shift, scale, and rotation-invariant (SSRI) high-definition image correlator, a device that can quickly compare images and measure their similarities.
The core innovation for this device lies in the integration of the Polar Mellin Transform (PMT), which allows the device to recognize images regardless of their orientation or scale. With this new technology, LAPT's device can process images at an unprecedented 720 frames per second—far surpassing the 30 frames per second of older optical systems. This breakthrough was presented at the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance (AMOS) Technologies conference and published in the Journal of the Astronautical Sciences.
Julian’s and LAPT’s recent advancements have significant implications for fields such as space surveillance, medical imaging, and defense applications, where rapid and accurate image analysis is critical.
Julian has been recognized for his contributions to his field. In 2023, he was awarded the Presidential Fellowship—Northwestern’s most prestigious and highly competitive fellowship. Less than 12% of nominated students are appointed to the Fellowship.
Beyond research, Julian is committed to knowledge-sharing and mentorship, believing that curiosity, empathy, and perseverance are key to solving humanity’s most complex challenges.
Congratulations to Julian and the LAPT team for their dedication to advancing research!
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