Byoungho Lee
Also known as Byoung-Ho Lee, 이병호
Byoungho Lee was a Seoul National University electrical engineer whose work connected machine learning with fingerprint imaging and holography. He studied electrical engineering in Seoul and Berkeley, then joined SNU's faculty in 1994. His group worked on display optics, built a wide-angle augmented-reality metalens, and applied deep learning to fingerprint systems later transferred to Korean police. He led Korea's optics and display societies, served as SNU engineering dean, received the 2013 SNU Excellence in Research Award and the 2014 Knight of Holography, and died in 2022.
- Works
- 1,081
- Citations
- 22,560
- h-index
- 73
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.
Timeline
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1964–1993
Electrical engineering studies
Born in Seoul in 1964, Lee attends Daekwang High School and earns electrical-engineering degrees at Seoul National University in 1987 and 1989. He completes a Berkeley PhD in 1993.
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1994
Joining SNU's faculty
In September 1994, Lee joins Seoul National University's Electrical and Computer Engineering faculty, where he works on holography, 3D displays, metasurfaces, and augmented-reality devices.
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2013
An SNU research award
In November 2013, Seoul National University gives him its Excellence in Research Award.
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2014
The Knight of Holography
He receives the HOLOKNIGHT title, The Knight of Holography, in 2014 for his contributions to holography.
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2015–2018
Cavity apertures and AR optics
In 2015, Lee and colleagues present cavity apertures as miniature dynamic color pixels for display and sensing. In 2018, his team develops a see-through metalens to increase viewing angles in augmented-reality glasses.
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2018–2022
Machine learning for fingerprints
In 2018, Lee introduces digital holography and machine learning to capture and separate overlapping fingerprints. By 2022, his deep-learning system removes background noise and separates prints, and his team transfers the technology to the Korean National Police Agency.
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2019–2022
Society presidents and SNU dean
He becomes president of the Optical Society of Korea in 2019 and the Korea Information Display Society in 2021. By 2022, he serves as dean of SNU's College of Engineering.
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2022
His death in 2022
He dies on 7 November 2022 as a professor at Seoul National University.
Sources and credits
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