Hi,

My name is Qianli Ma or you may simply know me as Kyle. I’m a Research Software Scientist/Engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Previously I was a postdoc at ORNL focused on studying ordered and disordered quantum materials. I did my PhD in physics at McMaster University working with Prof. Bruce Gaulin.

My current research focuses on understanding complex exchange interactions and associated ground states in Shastry-Sutherland materials by fitting inelastic neutron spectrum with SU(N) spin wave models. I’m also developing machine learning frameworks and non-gradient based optimization methods with the goal to extract physical Hamiltonians from inelastic neutron data. However, de-convolve instrument resolution is a problem to tackle.

On my software engineering side, I’m the author of the CrysFieldExplorer which has been gaining popularity in the condensed matter research community. I also contribute to the development of a few open source neutron analysis softwares deployed to the national labs around the world such as Mantid, Shiver etc. I’m fluent in Python, C++ and a few other human languages.

In my spare time, you can find me playing soccer, walking my dog Birdy or simply jogging down the road. To learn more about me, please check out my Linkedin and Google Scholar profile.