Dr. Stephen J Cowling

Curriculum Vitae

Name: Dr. Stephen J Cowling BSc (Hons) PhD Position: Experimental Officer Date of Birth: 1973-12-03 Place of Birth: Peterborough Address: Department of Chemistry University of York, York. YO10 5DD Telephone: +44 (0)1904 432593 Fax: +44 (0)1904 432592 Email: sc520@york.ac.uk

Experimental Officer

Technical
My current position is experimental officer within the liquid crystal reseach group at York University and involves using the skills I acquired during my post-doctoral position at Hull University. My experience in the liquid crystal field has varied quite considerably since I started back in 1995. Initially I worked solely on design and synthesis of liquid crystals for both ferroelectric/antiferroelectric and nematic applications. This included using a wide range of organic synthetic techniques and equipment such as HPLC, GPC, GLC, DSC and NMR. Since these early days I have gained a wider experience in the field of liquid crystals and acquired considerable experience in polarised optical microscopy for phase identification and techniques for characterization of physical properties. This area has been one of my major roles over the last 3-5 years and I have been responsible for setting up a laboratory dedicated to property characterization of liquid crystals and coaching post-graduate students in the use of this equipment to further their own work. Mixture formulation has an increased importance in liquid crystals and one of my recent projects has incorporated extensive mixture work to produce mixtures of low Dn ferroelectrics for 3-D imaging applications and also high Dn nematic mixtures for telecommunication devices. Another project I have actively been involved with is on the subject of high tilt ferroelectric and antiferroelectric liquid crystals and this has allowed me to learn how to operate and develop my skills in X-ray diffraction and to aid in understanding the interactions of the molecules within the liquid crystal phases. Most recently I have been carrying out a study on the alignment of ordered smectic materials for Merck and I have also been examining the liquid crystal properties of biological systems.

Academic
Over the years my role within the university environment has varied and I have actively supported the chemistry department admissions work by giving introductory talks on the subject of liquid crystals to prospective students and by presenting the subject to schools during school visits and at the Science Week events which were held annually at the University of Hull. I have given presentations on polarised optical microscopy at the annual British Liquid Crystal Society Winter Workshop but during the last 3 years I have been responsible for demonstrating electro-optic characterization of liquid crystals. I have also given introductory demonstrations on polarised optical microscopy for the Display Masters course held at Oxford University. In March 2005 I was elected as a new member of the British Liquid Crystal Society committee.

My experience in the field of liquid crystals has fuelled my desire to learn and understand more about these unique materials. I do not solely wish to isolate myself in one area of the subject; I want to be able to experience other aspects whether they are in chemical, physical or biological areas. I also strive to learn and acquire new skills and techniques.

Skills Acquired

Synthesis
Electro-optic characterisation
Mixture studies / formulation of mixtures (Eutectic mixtures)
DSC/NMR/HPLC/GPC/GLC/IR/UV-vis
X-ray diffraction
Polarised Optical Microscopy
Oral / written presentation
Team work
Computer skills (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Chem Draw)