Professor Nigel Mottram

  • Professor (Mathematics)

Research interests

Research Interests

My research interests are in the mathematical modelling of real-world systems, generally focussing on those that include the dynamics of non-Newtonian fluids. I am particularly interested in anisotropic fluids such as liquid crystals, where viscoelasticity is an important consideration, as is their behaviour under electric fields.

Current projects also include investigations of active fluids, such as bacterium or micro-organism organisation within fluid flows, and biological flow systems, and more generally in the areas of medical and biological systems.

In a wider context I am a member of the British Liquid Crystal Society, the Edinburgh Mathematical Society, and a Fellow of the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications, as well as an active participant in the European Consortium for Mathematics in Industry and the UK Fluids Network. 

I am interested in mathematics applied to real-world problems in a general sense and I welcome enquiries from anyone interested to understand more about mathematical modelling.

I currently have PhD projects available and prospective applicants should email me at nigel.mottram@glasgow.ac.uk.

Typical project areas include the following:

  • Anisotropy in the natural environment: swimming/self-organised organisms, tissue growth, mixing 
  • Order parameter changes in nematic liquid crystals: defects, field induced changes, Q tensor theory
  • Theories of biaxial nematic liquid crytals
  • Surface effects: induced order, bistabilty in anisotropic fluids
  • Disclination line motion: annihilation, formation, effects of electric field and surface interactions
  • Thin films: flow in thin films of anisotropic fluids, painting and spin-coating
  • Use of fractional calculus to represent memory in dynamical systems
  • Physiologically-based Pharmacokinetics and dynamics
  • Blood flow: non-newtonian models of blood flow in microfluidic devices
  • Oxygen transfer: novel medical device modelling for artificial livers



Research Groups


Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2005 | 2003
Number of items: 18.

2020

Bhadwal, A.S., Mottram, N.J. , Saxena, A., Sage, I.C. and Brown, C.V. (2020) Electrically controlled topological micro cargo transportation. Soft Matter, 16(12), pp. 2961-2970. (doi: 10.1039/C9SM01956A) (PMID:32119011)

2019

Cousins, J.R.L., Wilson, S.K., Mottram, N.J. , Wilkes, D. and Weegels, L. (2019) Squeezing a drop of nematic liquid crystal with strong elasticity effects. Physics of Fluids, 31(8), 083107. (doi: 10.1063/1.5110878)

Lesniewska, M., Henrich, O. and Mottram, N. (2019) Microfluidic Flow of Colloid-Liquid Crystal Composite Materials. 5th International Soft Matter Conference (ISMC2019), Edinburgh, UK, 03-07 Jun 2019.

Alqahtani, Z.M., El-Shahed, M. and Mottram, N.J. (2019) Derivative-order-dependent stability and transient behaviour in a predator–prey system of fractional differential equations. Letters in Biomathematics, 6(1), pp. 32-49. (doi: 10.1080/23737867.2019.1656115)

2018

Cousins, J. R.L., Wilson, S. K., Mottram, N. J. , Wilkies, D., Weegels, L. and Lin, K. (2018) A Model for the Formation of Mura During the One-Drop-Filling Process. 25th International Display Workshop 2018, Nagoya, Japan, 12-14 Dec 2018.

Walton, J., Mottram, N.J. and McKay, G. (2018) Nematic liquid crystal director structures in rectangular regions. Physical Review E, 97(2), 022702. (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.97.022702)

2017

McGinty, S. , Hyndman, L., Mottram, N. , McKee, S. and Webb, S. (2017) In-silico Characterisation of the Kirkstall QV900 In-Vitro System for Advanced Cell Culture. In: 5 th International Conference on Computational and Mathematical Biomedical Engineering (CMBE2017), Pittsburgh, PA, USA, 10-12 April 2017, pp. 1174-1177. ISBN 9780956291448

2016

Corson, L.T., Mottram, N.J. , Duffy, B.R., Wilson, S.K., Tsakonas, C. and Brown, C.V. (2016) Dynamic response of a thin sessile drop of conductive liquid to an abruptly applied or removed electric field. Physical Review E, 94(4), 043112. (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.94.043112)

Corson, L.T., Tsakonas, C., Duffy, B.R., Mottram, N.J. , Brown, C.V. and Wilson, S.K. (2016) Electro-Manipulation of Droplets for Microfluidic Applications. In: ECMI 2014, Taormina, Italy, 9-13 Jun 2014, pp. 1073-1080. ISBN 9783319234120 (doi:10.1007/978-3-319-23413-7)

McKee, S., Dougall, E. A. and Mottram, N. J. (2016) Analytic solutions of a simple advection-diffusion model of an oxygen transfer device. Journal of Mathematics in Industry, 6, 3. (doi: 10.1186/s13362-016-0019-3)

Mottram, N.J. , McKay, G., Brown, C.V., Russell, C.T., Sage, I.C. and Tsakonas, C. (2016) Flow-induced delayed Freedericksz transition. Physical Review E, 93(3), 030701(R). (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.93.030701)

Ritos, K., Borg, M. K., Mottram, N. J. and Reese, J. M. (2016) Electric fields can control the transport of water in carbon nanotubes. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 374(2060), 20150025. (doi: 10.1098/rsta.2015.0025) (PMID:26712640) (PMCID:PMC4696074)

2014

Corson, L.T., Tsakonas, C., Duffy, B.R., Mottram, N.J. , Sage, I.C., Brown, C.V. and Wilson, S.K. (2014) Deformation of a nearly hemispherical conducting drop due to an electric field: theory and experiment. Physics of Fluids, 26(12), 122106. (doi: 10.1063/1.4903223)

2013

Mottram, N.J. , Pinto, J.T. and McKay, G. (2013) Decoupling of the Ericksen-Leslie equations. Liquid Crystals, 40(6), pp. 787-798. (doi: 10.1080/02678292.2013.783134)

2012

Davidson, A.J. and Mottram, N. (2012) Conformal mapping techniques for the modelling of liquid crystal devices. European Journal of Applied Mathematics, 23(1), pp. 99-119. (doi: 10.1017/S0956792510000380)

da Costa, F.P., Grinfeld, M., Langer, M., Mottram, N.J. and Pinto, J.T. (2012) Kickback in nematic liquid crystals. Quarterly of Applied Mathematics, 70, pp. 99-110. (doi: 10.1090/S0033-569X-2011-01265-5)

2005

Miroshnychenko, D., Hill, N.A. , Mottram, N.J. and Lydon, J.E. (2005) Evolution from A 2 defect to 1/2 defects in a cylindrical geometry. Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, 437(1), pp. 1495-1511. (doi: 10.1080/15421400590955334)

2003

McKay, G., MacKenzie, K.R. and Mottram, N.J. (2003) Competing polarization effects in a homeotropically aligned smectic liquid crystal. In: 9th International Conference on Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals, FLC 2003, Dublin, Ireland, 24-29 Aug 2003, (doi:10.1080/00150190490509854)

This list was generated on Thu Jul 9 02:50:35 2020 BST.
Jump to: Articles | Conference or Workshop Item | Conference Proceedings
Number of items: 18.

Articles

Bhadwal, A.S., Mottram, N.J. , Saxena, A., Sage, I.C. and Brown, C.V. (2020) Electrically controlled topological micro cargo transportation. Soft Matter, 16(12), pp. 2961-2970. (doi: 10.1039/C9SM01956A) (PMID:32119011)

Cousins, J.R.L., Wilson, S.K., Mottram, N.J. , Wilkes, D. and Weegels, L. (2019) Squeezing a drop of nematic liquid crystal with strong elasticity effects. Physics of Fluids, 31(8), 083107. (doi: 10.1063/1.5110878)

Alqahtani, Z.M., El-Shahed, M. and Mottram, N.J. (2019) Derivative-order-dependent stability and transient behaviour in a predator–prey system of fractional differential equations. Letters in Biomathematics, 6(1), pp. 32-49. (doi: 10.1080/23737867.2019.1656115)

Walton, J., Mottram, N.J. and McKay, G. (2018) Nematic liquid crystal director structures in rectangular regions. Physical Review E, 97(2), 022702. (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.97.022702)

Corson, L.T., Mottram, N.J. , Duffy, B.R., Wilson, S.K., Tsakonas, C. and Brown, C.V. (2016) Dynamic response of a thin sessile drop of conductive liquid to an abruptly applied or removed electric field. Physical Review E, 94(4), 043112. (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.94.043112)

McKee, S., Dougall, E. A. and Mottram, N. J. (2016) Analytic solutions of a simple advection-diffusion model of an oxygen transfer device. Journal of Mathematics in Industry, 6, 3. (doi: 10.1186/s13362-016-0019-3)

Mottram, N.J. , McKay, G., Brown, C.V., Russell, C.T., Sage, I.C. and Tsakonas, C. (2016) Flow-induced delayed Freedericksz transition. Physical Review E, 93(3), 030701(R). (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.93.030701)

Ritos, K., Borg, M. K., Mottram, N. J. and Reese, J. M. (2016) Electric fields can control the transport of water in carbon nanotubes. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 374(2060), 20150025. (doi: 10.1098/rsta.2015.0025) (PMID:26712640) (PMCID:PMC4696074)

Corson, L.T., Tsakonas, C., Duffy, B.R., Mottram, N.J. , Sage, I.C., Brown, C.V. and Wilson, S.K. (2014) Deformation of a nearly hemispherical conducting drop due to an electric field: theory and experiment. Physics of Fluids, 26(12), 122106. (doi: 10.1063/1.4903223)

Mottram, N.J. , Pinto, J.T. and McKay, G. (2013) Decoupling of the Ericksen-Leslie equations. Liquid Crystals, 40(6), pp. 787-798. (doi: 10.1080/02678292.2013.783134)

Davidson, A.J. and Mottram, N. (2012) Conformal mapping techniques for the modelling of liquid crystal devices. European Journal of Applied Mathematics, 23(1), pp. 99-119. (doi: 10.1017/S0956792510000380)

da Costa, F.P., Grinfeld, M., Langer, M., Mottram, N.J. and Pinto, J.T. (2012) Kickback in nematic liquid crystals. Quarterly of Applied Mathematics, 70, pp. 99-110. (doi: 10.1090/S0033-569X-2011-01265-5)

Miroshnychenko, D., Hill, N.A. , Mottram, N.J. and Lydon, J.E. (2005) Evolution from A 2 defect to 1/2 defects in a cylindrical geometry. Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, 437(1), pp. 1495-1511. (doi: 10.1080/15421400590955334)

Conference or Workshop Item

Lesniewska, M., Henrich, O. and Mottram, N. (2019) Microfluidic Flow of Colloid-Liquid Crystal Composite Materials. 5th International Soft Matter Conference (ISMC2019), Edinburgh, UK, 03-07 Jun 2019.

Cousins, J. R.L., Wilson, S. K., Mottram, N. J. , Wilkies, D., Weegels, L. and Lin, K. (2018) A Model for the Formation of Mura During the One-Drop-Filling Process. 25th International Display Workshop 2018, Nagoya, Japan, 12-14 Dec 2018.

Conference Proceedings

McGinty, S. , Hyndman, L., Mottram, N. , McKee, S. and Webb, S. (2017) In-silico Characterisation of the Kirkstall QV900 In-Vitro System for Advanced Cell Culture. In: 5 th International Conference on Computational and Mathematical Biomedical Engineering (CMBE2017), Pittsburgh, PA, USA, 10-12 April 2017, pp. 1174-1177. ISBN 9780956291448

Corson, L.T., Tsakonas, C., Duffy, B.R., Mottram, N.J. , Brown, C.V. and Wilson, S.K. (2016) Electro-Manipulation of Droplets for Microfluidic Applications. In: ECMI 2014, Taormina, Italy, 9-13 Jun 2014, pp. 1073-1080. ISBN 9783319234120 (doi:10.1007/978-3-319-23413-7)

McKay, G., MacKenzie, K.R. and Mottram, N.J. (2003) Competing polarization effects in a homeotropically aligned smectic liquid crystal. In: 9th International Conference on Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals, FLC 2003, Dublin, Ireland, 24-29 Aug 2003, (doi:10.1080/00150190490509854)

This list was generated on Thu Jul 9 02:50:35 2020 BST.

Grants

2020-2023 - EPSRC grant EP/T012501/1: Control of free-surface flow morphologies in anisotropic liquids

with Profs Stephen Wilson (Strathclyde) and Carl Brown (Nottingham Trent)

Project Partners: e-Vision Smart Optics; FlexEnable Limited; Merck KGaA; OpSec Security Ltd         


Teaching

I teach, or have taught, various courses - at undergraduate, masters and postgraduate level, and to mathematicians, phsyicists, engineers, chemists and environmental scientists.

Over the last few years I have become increasingly interested in the effects of online teaching methods in mathematics, including the use of lecture capture. I have developed online resources that can enhance standard lecture classes, but I have also created a number of completely online maths modules, designed for distance learning and to assist in widening participation, particularly through the Graduate Apprenticeship programme.



School of Mathematics and Statistics, Glasgow, G12 8QQ