Leyla Kabuli
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I am a 5th year PhD candidate in the Computational Imaging Lab in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) Department at UC Berkeley, advised by Professor Laura Waller. In the past, I worked as an intern at Meta Reality Labs with Grace Kuo, at Apple with Patrick Gill, and at Zendar with Griffin Foster. I was also an undergraduate student at UC Berkeley, where I received a BS in EECS and a BA in Music, and was named UC Berkeley’s Top Graduating Senior of 2021 and the 150th University Medalist. During my undergraduate studies, I was fortunate to be mentored by Professor Steve Conolly in the Berkeley Imaging Systems Laboratory, and Emma Alexander and Professor Laura Waller in the Computational Imaging Lab.

My research is in computational imaging, at the intersection of information theory, machine learning, and optics. I am supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program and the Berkeley Fellowship. Outside of academics, I enjoy playing piano, cycling, hiking, and skiing.

Research highlights See more

lensless encoder design Designing lensless imaging systems to maximize information captureNew! Leyla A. Kabuli, Henry Pinkard, Eric Markley, Clara S. Hung, Laura Waller
Optica 2026
(website) / (paper) / (arXiv) / (code)
We evaluate and design lensless imaging systems using mutual information estimation. We establish design principles for object-dependent imaging, discover shared properties for information-optimal measurements, and validate our insights by designing encoders and analyzing experimental systems.
contrast holography frog High contrast holography through dual modulationNew! Leyla Kabuli, Oliver Cossairt, Florian Schiffers, Nathan Matsuda, Grace Kuo
Nature Scientific Reports 2025
(paper) / (arXiv)
We propose an architecture for improved image contrast in holographic displays that uses a low-resolution amplitude spatial light modulator and a high-resolution phase spatial light modulator. Dual modulation can improve contrast while maintaining compact form factor.
ConvRML vs. DiffuserCam ConvRML: High-quality lensless imaging with random multi-focal lensletsNew! Leyla A. Kabuli*, Clara S. Hung*, Vasilisa Ponomarenko, Eric Markley, Laura Waller
arXiv
(arXiv)
We present a high-quality lensless imaging system that utilizes a powerful ConvNeXt-based reconstruction architecture to process measurements encoded with a precision-manufactured random multi-focal lenslet phase mask.
information theory Information-driven design of imaging systems Henry Pinkard, Leyla Kabuli, Eric Markley, Tiffany Chien, Jiantao Jiao, Laura Waller
NeurIPS 2025
(website) / (arXiv) / (code)
We present a method to measure and optimize how much information imaging systems capture, applicable to diverse systems ranging from consumer cameras to radio telescopes.
elevation point cloud Automotive elevation mapping with interferometric synthetic aperture radar Leyla A. Kabuli, Griffin Foster
arXiv, IEEE CISA 2024 (Oral)
(arXiv) / (paper)
We use low-cost radar arrays and interferometric synthetic aperture radar techniques to create detailed point clouds for real-time low-latency mapping of complex automotive environments.