Professor Steve Elston

In the College I currently take tutorials for a range of subjects in the first year and core course of the Engineering degree. These include most of the first year electricity and electronics, and also the first year electrical and mechanical materials. For the core course I teach some of the mathematics, all of the electricity and electronics and also the mechanical properties of materials. In the Engineering Department I give lectures on complex numbers and introductory lectures on electricity and magnetism. I also give some specialist lectures on imaging and displays.

My present research interests are mainly in the field of novel liquid crystal materials and applications, within which I undertake both theoretical and experimental work. The theoretical work has three main strands: (i) the applications of liquid crystal continuum theory to novel liquid crystal phases; (ii) the interactions between order and elasticity in liquid crystalline systems; (iii) advanced optics of liquid crystal displays. Experimental work undertaken includes the study of alignment and switching processes in novel liquid crystal phases, and also the applications of liquid crystalline materials in both display technology and surface sensing systems.