We are pleased to announce that Prof. Gun-Yeal Lee will join the School of Electrical Engineering at KAIST as a new faculty member, effective September 14, 2026.
Prof. Gun-Yeal Lee is a prominent researcher in the fields of nanophotonics and computational optics, having conducted pioneering research in metasurface-based AR displays and real-time nanoscale quantitative phase imaging. Through his post-doctoral research at Seoul National University and Stanford University, his academic contributions have been widely recognized with prestigious honors, including the NRF Postdoctoral Fellowship and the SPIE Education Scholarship. He has established a world-class research profile with lead authorships in top-tier journals such as Nature and Nature Communications.
His primary research areas encompass nanophotonic devices and metasurface design, optical imaging systems and 3D/AR/VR displays, as well as AI-driven computational imaging and physics-informed AI, bridging the gap between optical hardware systems and computational algorithms.
At KAIST, his future research and education will center on intelligent photonic devices and hardware platforms that interface humans, computers, and physical environments through light—specifically focusing on display interfaces for human-computer interaction (HCI) and computer-quantum matter interfaces for next-generation quantum processors.
For more details on Professor Lee’s research, please visit #his homepage. Students interested in joining the lab may contact him via email at gunyeal@stanford.edu.
[Education]
- Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Seoul National University, 2021
- B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Seoul National University, 2015
- Professional Experience
- Sep. 2022 – Aug. 2026: Postdoctoral Researcher, Stanford University
- Sep. 2021 – Aug. 2022: Postdoctoral Researcher, Seoul National University
[Major Publications]
- “Full-colour 3D holographic augmented-reality displays with metasurface waveguides,” Nature, 2024.
- “Neural phase microscopy with metasurface optics for real-time and nanoscale quantitative phase imaging,” Nature Communications, 2026.
- “Metasurface eyepiece for augmented reality,” Nature Communications, 2018.
[Vision]
- Develop intelligent photonic devices and systems that use light to connect humans, computers, and physical systems.
- By combining nanophotonics, optical systems, and AI, our group will create advanced photonic platforms that transform how we see, interact with, and compute with the world.
[Research Plan]
- Photonic interfaces for human-computer interaction (Lightweight and immersive AR)
- Photonic interfaces for computer-quantum matter interaction (Next-generation quantum processors)
[Assigned Course]
- Augmented and Virtual Reality
- Computational Optics and Photonics
- Other wave-related courses
