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About

Iker Zuriguel is a leading experimental physicist whose research bridges the physics of granular materials, collective behavior, and robotics. His work centers on understanding how confined, interacting particles—from grains to robots—transition from free flow to congestion, a phenomenon with implications for everything from pedestrian dynamics to industrial transport. Zuriguel’s most impactful contribution is the development of the “Vibrot,” a simple device that converts vibration into rotation via friction, a concept with potential applications in ultrasonic motors and machinery design (44 citations). He has also pioneered the study of single-file motion in robot swarms, successfully replicating the fundamental diagram of traffic flow in a robotic system (3 citations). More recently, his research on “Steering self-organisation through confinement” (3 citations) explores how spatial constraints can be used to control emergent patterns in active matter. Zuriguel’s work is notable for its cross-disciplinary reach, connecting granular physics to robotics and biology, and for its elegant experimental designs that reveal universal principles of self-organization. His findings offer practical insights for engineers and scientists studying collective dynamics in natural and artificial systems.