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Ian Spielman

Adjunct Professor

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a photo of a smiling man with a beard

Contact Information

UMD

Email:
ian.spielman@nist.gov
Office:

University of Maryland
2153 PSC Building
College Park, MD 20742

Office Phone:
(301) 975-8664

University of Maryland

Email:
spielman@umd.edu

Additional Info

CV:
Spielman%20Vita.pdf

Research Groups

Recent Publications

Recent News

  • Brown ink on a tan background shows water flowing into a pool and forming swirling patterns.

    Mysteriously Mundane Turbulence Revealed in 2D Superfluid

    April 18, 2025

    A new experiment let JQI researchers get an unprecedented look at the currents hiding in a superfluid. The technique they developed allows them to measure the fluid velocity at specific locations in a superfluid, opening new opportunities to investigate the dynamics of superfluids, including how they experience turbulence.

  • A man in a blue t-shirt stands on a balcony with trees in the background.

    Leaning into Lidar

    September 16, 2024

    What Swarnav Banik’s does might just be the future of transportation. Since 2022, he’s been working on sensing technology for the next generation of autonomous vehicles. In his work, Banik develops next-generation sensors that use lidar—light detection and ranging—technology to help autonomous vehicles “see” objects on the road ahead and safely avoid them. He first worked as a senior photonics engineer at Aurora Innovation, a company that’s developing self-driving systems for semitrucks and other commercial vehicles; now he’s at Aeva, a Silicon Valley firm developing sensing and perception tools for driverless cars and industrial automation.

  • Data in the form of a rainbow laid out around a central point next to a whorl of hair on a baby's head.

    Researchers Comb Atoms into a Novel Swirl

    March 3, 2021

    When you brush your hair in the morning, there’s a pretty good chance you’re not thinking about quantum physics. But the way your hair swirls as you brush is actually related to some features of the quantum world. Important properties of quantum particles are described by topology—a field of mathematics that classifies objects according to how many holes they have. This is not merely a question of fashion. In physical materials, topology can determine many interesting properties. Now, a team of JQI researchers has engineered a new kind of topological matter—one with a single whorl—by breaking free from the constraints of crystalline solids. They managed to do this by grooming their atomic states into a whorl situated in an abstract, infinite plane, rather than a coconut or donut shape.