Meet LLNL: Signal and Imaging Engineer K. Aditya Mohan

LLNL signal and imaging engineer Aditya Mohan is driven by a simple but ambitious goal: to view the world through as many different wavelengths as possible.

“I have a dream to bring together all the different ways of seeing an object, from X-rays to visible light to microwaves, to learn everything there is to know about its structure and properties,” he said. “A leaf is green because it reflects green light. Millimeter waves can detect items inside a shipping box. X-rays can see through soft tissue and show your bones. Different wavelengths show different things about the same object.”

As a staff engineer in the Computational Engineering Division, Mohan is working to realize that dream by contributing his expertise and passion for imaging to a wide range of projects at LLNL.

He is the principal investigator for a Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project titled “Quantitative Megavolt X-ray Computed Tomography,” focused on developing techniques for imaging large structures and dense materials that are difficult to examine with conventional X-rays.

“Using high-energy penetrating radiation allows us to non-destructively image deep inside objects in three dimensions,” he explained.

He also contributes to LLNL’s Additive Manufacturing Lab (AML) and Nondestructive Characterization Institute (NCI). With the AML, Mohan develops algorithms for volumetric additive manufacturing (VAM), a 3D-printing technology that uses projected light to rapidly build solid objects from resin. For the NCI, he focuses on algorithms to better identify the elemental composition and density of objects using X-rays.

“Switching gears from one project to another is challenging, but I love what I do,” he said.

Mohan is also an advocate for signal and image sciences, recently joining LLNL’s Center for Advanced Signal and Image Sciences (CASIS) council as an R&D liaison. He helped the team organize the 30th annual CASIS workshop from June 24-25 at the University of California Livermore Collaboration Center (UCLCC), which had record participation. He is excited to build on this momentum with more events throughout the year.

“I’m looking forward to continuing to bring together the signal and image sciences community,” he said. “My goal is to facilitate networking that fosters new proposals and collaborations.”

Mohan joined LLNL in 2017 as a postdoctoral researcher and later became a full-time staff engineer. He earned his bachelor’s degree in electronics and communications engineering from the National Institute of Technology Karnataka in India, along with a master’s degree and Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Purdue University.

Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters (ages 2 and 5), running, listening to economics podcasts and gardening at his home in Tracy. He and his wife split the gardening responsibilities accordingly: “She is the visionary architect, and I do the digging and planting,” he joked.

When asked for career or life advice that has made an impact on him, Aditya shared the following quote from Indian monk and philosopher, Swami Vivekananda: “We are what our thoughts have made us, so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.”

–Sierra Wanden