Ejiro Umaka
Physics Department

Brookhaven National Laboratory
Physics Department
Bldg. 510C
P.O. Box 5000
Upton, NY 11973-5000
(631) 344-3627
eumaka1@bnl.gov
I am a Research Associate in experimental high-energy nuclear physics, specializing in jet measurements and collective flow observables in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. My research spans detector construction and calibration (sPHENIX HCAL, ZDC, and sEPD), global reconstruction and analysis leadership, and the development of next-generation streaming workflows for the future ePIC detector at the EIC.
Research | Education | Appointments | Awards | Video
Research Activities
Current Activities:
- sPHENIX experiment: Advancing the study of jet quenching and flow observables to probe the quark–gluon plasma. Lead efforts in global reconstruction and analysis coordination.
- ePIC experiment: Developing the streaming workflow testbed to enable next-generation real-time data processing.
Education
- M.S & Ph.D in High Energy Nuclear Physics, University of Houston, Houston TX, 2020
- B.S. in Biology & Physics, University of Houston, Houston TX, 2014
Professional Appointments
Professional Appointments & Service:
- Detector Working Group Lead / Zero Degree Calorimeter (ZDC) Expert, sPHENIX (2023-2025)
- Committee member: sPHENIX Publication Board, sPHENIX By-laws Committee (2022–2025).
- Elected leadership: Co-chair, sPHENIX Juniors (2022–2024); Co-chair, ALICE Juniors Committee (2020).
Awards & Recognition
- Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2025), awarded collectively to ALICE Collaboration for advancing understanding of QCD matter.
- Certificate of Congressional Recognition (2025), presented by office of Rep. Nick LaLota (NY-01) for representing BNL at the National Lab Research SLAM..
- 1st Place, BNL Research SLAM (2024) for public presentation of my research on sPHENIX
- sPHENIX Hero Award (2023), for key contributions to detector calibration and operations.
-
CEU23 Mentors Award (APS/PSJ, 2023), recognizing outstanding mentoring of undergraduate researchers.
Featured Video
Ejiro Umaka - "Jetting through the Big Bang's quark soup"
April 4, 2025
Ejiro Umaka, BNL - "Jetting through the Big Bang's quark soup" | National Lab Research SLAM
Featured: Research SLAM presentation on probing the quark–gluon plasma with jets.

Brookhaven National Laboratory
Physics Department
Bldg. 510C
P.O. Box 5000
Upton, NY 11973-5000
(631) 344-3627
eumaka1@bnl.gov