# Leaf Jiang

> Leaf Jiang is the founder and CEO of NODAR, a Concord, Massachusetts company that turns pairs of ordinary cameras into long-range 3D sensors. After earning three electrical engineering and computer science degrees at MIT and spending 12 years designing lidar systems at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Jiang built NODAR around ultrawide-baseline stereo vision, frame-by-frame auto-calibration, and the conviction that useful autonomy requires sensing that can be manufactured at camera economics.

- **Role:** CEO and Founder at NODAR
- **Organizations:** NODAR, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Leaf Alden Consulting Group, Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, Bell Laboratories, Forbes Technology Council
- **Education:** BS, MEng and PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- **Known for:** Earned BS, MEng and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT., Designed coherent and direct-detection lidar systems for 12 years at MIT Lincoln Laboratory., Credited by NODAR with five patents, 32 academic publications and seven engineering awards.

## Career timeline

- **1998** — Worked as a research associate at Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute during the summer.
- **2002** — Completed doctoral training at MIT and briefly worked there as a postdoctoral associate.
- **2002-2014** — Served on the technical staff at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, designing coherent and direct-detection lidar systems.
- **2014-2015** — Served as Associate Technology Officer at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.
- **2015-2017** — Founded and led Leaf Alden Consulting Group.
- **2017** — Began building NODAR as founder and CEO; the company publicly describes its founding year as 2018.
- **2021** — NODAR launched the Hammerhead 3D vision platform.
- **2022** — NODAR announced a $12 million Series A led by New Enterprise Associates and received a US patent for its non-rigid stereo vision camera system.
- **2023** — NODAR won the Grand Prix ACF and was named Overall Auto Sensor Company of the Year in the AutoTech Breakthrough Awards.
- **2026** — Co-authored research on high-definition 5MP stereo sensing and fisheye stereo error, while publishing field-oriented technical writing through NODAR.

## Achievements

- Earned BS, MEng and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT.
- Designed coherent and direct-detection lidar systems for 12 years at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.
- Credited by NODAR with five patents, 32 academic publications and seven engineering awards.
- Built a ruggedized 15-channel laser Doppler vibrometer for robotic landmine detection.
- Co-founded NODAR and led development of its Hammerhead ultrawide-baseline stereo vision platform.
- Led NODAR through a $12 million Series A financing led by New Enterprise Associates in 2022.
- NODAR won the 2023 Grand Prix ACF and the 2023 AutoTech Breakthrough award for Overall Auto Sensor Company of the Year.
- Co-authored 2026 papers on 5MP stereo vision sensing and fisheye stereo depth and range error.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Published a technical walkthrough of how NODAR builds ultrawide-baseline stereo rigs, using a long-range water-surface project as the case study.
- **2026-06** — Published NODAR field-test findings on stereo vision over water across daylight and darkness.
- **2026-04** — Published a guide to NODAR Viewer, a real-time visualization and control application for Hammerhead data.
- **2026-02** — Co-authored the paper Fisheye Stereo Vision: Depth and Range Error.
- **2026-01** — Co-authored High-Definition 5MP Stereo Vision Sensing for Robotics.

## Links

- Website: https://www.nodarsensor.com/team/leaf-jiang
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leafjiang/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/nodar
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nodarsensor

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/leaf-jiang
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-26