Summary
Stanley Huang, a recent mechanical engineering graduate of the University of Rochester, has joined Circle Optics as a Mechanical Engineering Intern. His background spans mechanical engineering, optics and space related systems, including an L3Harris sponsored senior project focused on a secondary mirror support structure for a large optical telescope. At Circle Optics, Huang is now applying that interdisciplinary experience to the development and ruggedization of panoramic imaging systems while learning alongside the company’s engineering team.
Rochester has long been recognized for its strength in optics, photonics and imaging, supported by universities, research institutions and companies that continue to develop talent and translate technical knowledge into commercial innovation. Circle Optics is part of that ecosystem, drawing on the region’s engineering heritage while creating opportunities for emerging engineers to apply what they have learned in the development of new panoramic imaging systems.
That connection continues with Stanley Huang, a recent mechanical engineering graduate of the University of Rochester who has joined Circle Optics as a mechanical engineering intern.
Huang first became familiar with Circle Optics approximately two years ago through the company’s engagement with students. He attended Circle Optics student events and remained connected with the team while completing his degree. What initially caught his attention was the interdisciplinary nature of the technology.
“As a mechanical engineering student with an optics background, I was really interested in the fact that the work combined mechanical design with optics and imaging,” Huang said. “The technology and the problems the team was trying to solve really stayed in my mind.”
Circle Optics’ relationship with the University of Rochester extends beyond Huang. Founder Zak Niazi and several members of the Circle Optics team are University of Rochester graduates, reflecting a broader connection between the company and Rochester’s technical education ecosystem. For Circle Optics, bringing students and recent graduates into the company is one way to strengthen that ecosystem while giving emerging engineers experience working directly on technologies moving from development toward deployment.
Huang said the interdisciplinary nature of his University of Rochester education prepared him particularly well for that environment. During his studies, he worked across mechanical engineering, optics and related technical disciplines, including projects involving space telescope structures.
“The University of Rochester gave me opportunities to work on projects that crossed different engineering areas,” Huang said. “Now I am interested in seeing how those skills translate into decisions being made on an actual product.”
That translation from education to applied engineering is already underway.
At Circle Optics, Huang is working with Staff Mechanical Systems Engineer Carlos Terrero and other members of the engineering team. One of his first assignments involves supporting the ruggedization of a Pegasus imaging system being prepared for field deployment. The work requires consideration of environmental conditions including heat, rain and dust and how the system can operate reliably over extended periods.
For Huang, the assignment provides exactly the type of practical engineering experience he hoped to gain.
“I am looking forward to working on an actual product and learning from Carlos, the project managers and the engineers around me,” he said. “There is so much experience on the team, and there is a lot I can learn from that.”
“Stanley made a strong impression on me even before his internship began. He was already reaching out, asking questions, and taking the initiative to learn about the technical challenges he would be working on. Since joining us, he has hit the ground running and has quickly become involved in several critical projects. I’ve been especially impressed by how readily he takes on new challenges and how well he executes whatever we put in front of him. His strong background in mechanical engineering and optics makes him a great fit for our team, and I’m excited to continue working with him and seeing what we can accomplishes,” comments Staff Mechanical Systems Engineer Carlos Terrero.
Huang grew up in Taiwan and developed an interest in science and engineering at an early age. He remembers being introduced to astronomy during a solar eclipse in kindergarten and becoming increasingly interested in understanding how physical systems worked.
That interest quickly became hands on.
As an elementary school student, Huang participated in a mousetrap powered vehicle competition and wondered whether adding a balloon could provide an additional source of propulsion. Rather than simply answering the question, his science teacher encouraged him to experiment. Huang spent additional time in the laboratory testing the idea and trying to understand whether the concept would work.
That experience helped establish a pattern that continued throughout his education: curiosity followed by experimentation.
His interest in engineering and space also grew through watching NASA missions, including the final Space Shuttle flight in 2011. Huang became interested not only in the spacecraft itself but in the larger systems required to make the mission possible.
When he began considering universities in the United States, the University of Rochester appealed to him because of its interdisciplinary engineering environment. After arriving in Rochester, he also discovered the depth of the region’s optics and photonics community. For his senior mechanical engineering project at the University of Rochester, Huang worked on an L3Harris sponsored team designing a secondary mirror support structure for a large optical telescope. The team explored how additive manufacturing and lattice based design could reduce manufacturing complexity while maintaining the stiffness, precision and structural stability required of an optical system.
“I did not realize before coming here how important Rochester was in optics and optical engineering,” Huang said. “Now I am at Circle Optics, where I can apply my mechanical engineering background while continuing to learn about optics and imaging.”
That progression represents something important for Circle Optics as the company continues to grow. Innovation depends not only on technology but on developing people who can work across disciplines, learn from experienced engineers and contribute to increasingly complex product development challenges.
Huang sees the internship as an opportunity to strengthen his engineering judgment while contributing wherever he can.
“I am fresh out of school, so I want to bring the engineering skills I have developed while also learning from the experience of the team,” he said. “There are a lot of projects happening, and I want to help move them forward while learning from the team and becoming a better engineer myself.”
For Circle Optics, Huang’s arrival is another example of how Rochester’s educational and technology ecosystems reinforce one another. Universities develop technical talent. Companies provide an environment where that knowledge can be tested, expanded and applied. The result is a stronger local capability in optics, photonics, imaging and advanced engineering.
Huang has been working toward that opportunity for several years.
Looking back at the curiosity that first drew him toward science and engineering in Taiwan, he said, “I think my younger self would be really proud of where I am right now.”
Circle Optics is pleased to welcome Stanley Huang to Team Circle.
