Dr Gordon Flockhart

Academic Director

Faculty of Engineering

Personal statement

I am Academic Director of the Engineering Academy in the Faculty of Engineering and Principal Teaching Fellow in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering. The Engineering Academy is a widening access programme providing students with an alternative pathway into higher education. I have experience teaching at all levels of higher education from 1st to 5th year undergraduate students and postgraduate taught students and supervision of postgraduate research students.

My area of expertise is photonics and in particular the application of optical sensors for industrial measurement applications. I am Deputy Director of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Applied Photonics - a partnership of 7 universities and the National Physical Laboratory. Optical sensing and instrumentation is increasingly used in advanced technologies and I have the pleasure of introducing the field of photonics to 4th and 5th year undergraduate students.

Office: Centre for Microsystems and Photonics, R219B (Royal College Building)

Expertise

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Area of Expertise

Photoacoustic imaging
Laser ultrasonics
Optical fibre sensors
Low coherence interferometry
Frequency swept interferometry
Fibre Bragg grating fabrication, characterisation and sensing applications
Erbium distributed feedback fibre laser design, fabrication, characterisation and sensing applications
Sensing applications of novel optical fibres
Optical sensing and metrology systems

Prize And Awards

RCUK Academic Fellowship, Centre for Microsystems and Photonics, Dept of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Univeristy of Strathclyde: Recipient; 9/2009

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Publications

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Publications

Tools for synthesising and characterising Bragg grating structures in optical fibres and waveguides: Cranch GA, Flockhart GMH; Journal of Modern Optics Vol 59, pp. 493-526 (2012); https://doi.org/10.1080/09500340.2011.646332
Distributed feedback fiber laser strain sensors: Cranch GA, Flockhart Gordon MH, Kirkendall CK; IEEE Sensors Journal Vol 8, pp. 1161-1172 (2008); https://doi.org/10.1109/JSEN.2008.926876
Two-axis bend measurement with Bragg gratings in multicore optical fiber: Flockhart G M H, MacPherson W N, Barton J S, Jones J D C, Zhang L, Bennion I; Optics Letters Vol 28, pp. 387-389 (2003); https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.28.000387
Differential phase tracking applied to Bragg gratings in multi-core fibre for high accuracy curvature measurement: Flockhart G M H, Cranch G A, Kirkendall C K; Electronics Letters Vol 42, pp. 390-391 (2006); https://doi.org/10.1049/el:20060261
Efficient fiber Bragg grating and fiber Fabry-Pe'rot sensor multiplexing scheme using a broadband pulsed mode-locked laser: Cranch G A, Flockhart G M H, Kirkendall C K; Journal of Lightwave Technology Vol 23, pp. 3798-3807 (2005); https://doi.org/10.1109/JLT.2005.857735
A 'snapshot' of engineering practitioners views of ChatGPT-informing pedagogy in higher education: Murray Mike, MacLachlan Ross, Flockhart Gordon M H, Adams Richard, Magueijo Vitor, Goodfellow Martin, Liaskos Konstantinos, Hasty William, Lauro Veeti; European Journal of Engineering Education (2025); https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2025.2492736

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Teaching

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Teaching

My teaching primarily covers analogue electronics, photonics and the integration of them both. I teach at all levels of our undergraduate degrees. I am responsible for developing the academic programme to provide a successful transition to university for our Engineering Academy programme. I have also developed a new postgraduate class for the Centre for Doctoral Training in Applied Photonics. I also supervise 4th year undergraduate research projects, MSc projects and postgraduate PhD students and EngD research engineers.

I currently contribute to the following classes:

EF015 EEE Engineering Academy
EE318 Engineering Project
EE473 Photonic Systems
EE979 Systems Engineering Project
19496 4th Year Indvidual Projects
EF105 Physics for Engineering
EF102 Engineering Skills
EF300/EF500 STEM Engagement

I have previously taught:

EE107 Small group tutorials
EE269 Electronic and Electrical Principles 2
EE312 Instrumentation and Microcontrollers

Research

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Research Interests

I am a member of the Centre for Microsystems and Photonics and my research investigates the application of photonic technologies for measurement applications. Optical sensing technologies provide a range of different advantages compared to conventional electrical sensors. For some applications, these advantages allow optical sensors to provide a unique solution whereas conventional electrical sensors may not meet the required specification. I enjoy the challenge of developing optical sensing systems where photonics, electronics and software systems are integrated. As a researcher this exposes me to a wide range of technologies and the applications of my research can be quite varied from underwater acoustics to bio-medical applications.

Professional Activities

External Examiner - PhD Thesis: Examiner; 7/11/2022
Qualification Development Specialist: Consultant; 27/9/2022
Qualification Development Specialist: Consultant; 29/3/2022
IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference (I2MTC), 2021: Participant; 17/5/2021
Bridging the gap: an alternative pathway to studying engineering at university: Participant; 2021
Accelerating Research Innovation: Teaching LabVIEW at a Centre of Doctoral Training: Recipient; 2019

More professional activities

Projects

Strathclyde Engineering Scholars - Equal Outcomes for the most disadvantaged: Sypek, Katarzyna (Principal Investigator) Flockhart, Gordon (Co-investigator) Race, Julia (Co-investigator) Thomson, Avril (Co-investigator); 31-Jan-2025 - 23-Jan-2025
EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Industry-Inspired Photonic Imaging, Sensing and Analysis | Gill, Kamalpreet: Lengden, Michael (Principal Investigator) Flockhart, Gordon (Co-investigator) Gill, Kamalpreet (Research Co-investigator); 09-Jan-2023 - 09-Jan-2027
EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Industry-Inspired Photonic Imaging, Sensing and Analysis | Monaghan, Martin: Flockhart, Gordon (Principal Investigator) Michie, Craig (Co-investigator) Monaghan, Martin (Research Co-investigator); 12-Jan-2022 - 12-Jan-2026
EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Industry-Inspired Photonic Imaging, Sensing and Analysis | Martin, Euan: Lengden, Michael (Principal Investigator) Flockhart, Gordon (Co-investigator) Martin, Euan (Research Co-investigator); 12-Jan-2022 - 12-Jan-2026
Strathclyde Engineering Scholars – equal outcomes for the most disadvantaged: Thomson, Avril (Principal Investigator) Flockhart, Gordon (Co-investigator) Race, Julia (Co-investigator) Sypek, Katarzyna (Co-investigator); 07-Jan-2022 - 15-Jan-2024
NPL iCase Studentship - Understanding the Behaviour of Gases in Combustion Processes: Lengden, Michael (Principal Investigator) Flockhart, Gordon (Co-investigator); 01-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2025