Personal statement
My research focuses on (but is not limited to) soft-hard matter interfaces, including polymer composites and heterogeneous nucleation. I use multiscale simulations to provide insight into material properties and I enjoy collaborating closely with experimentalists. I am driven by curiosity and I am interested in a variety of systems, such as phase behaviour of soy milk coffee mixtures. For more information please visit my personal webpage:
http://personal.strath.ac.uk/karen.johnston/
Expertise
Has expertise in:
- Density functional theory (DFT): electronic structure, adsorption and surface energies, vibrational frequencies etc.
- Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations: structure and dynamics of thin films, liquids, solutions, solids etc.
Prizes and awards
- Strathclyde Team Award
- Recipient
- 2019
More prizes and awards
Qualifications
Member of the Institute of Physics
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Teaching
My teaching philosophy is to provide the best learning environment by challenging students through providing questions related to everyday exampes, that develop student's understanding and problem solving skills.
I am the course organiser and lecturer for CP102 Introduction to Chemical Engineering: Fundamentals, Techniques and Tools, and I supervise CP407 design projects, 18350 MEng projects, and Distance Learning MSc projects.
Research interests
Polymer composites are widely used in industry due to their strength, flexibility and light weight. Although generic properties of polymers at surfaces are well understood the interaction between a particular polymer and filler particle is not. The main challenge in simulating polymer-solid interfaces is the different length and time scales involved. This research bridges the gap between the micro- and mesoscale properties using a hierarchical multiscale approach. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations are used to obtain the detailed quantum interactions at the interface and this information is used to build surface potentials for atomistic and coarse-grained (CG) molecular dynamics simulations.
Professional activities
- MSc thesis defense
- Examiner
- 14/8/2020
- STEP: Writing good multiple choice questions
- Participant
- 4/8/2020
- Faculty of Engineering Industry Engagement Webinar
- Participant
- 4/8/2020
- Hetsys Online Conference
- Participant
- 9/7/2020
- ScotCHEM Polymer and Soft Materials Conference
- Speaker
- 1/7/2020
- Chemical and Process Engineering mini-conference
- Participant
- 18/6/2020
More professional activities
Projects
- CCP5 funded summer project
- Johnston, Karen (Principal Investigator)
- 18-Jan-2020 - 24-Jan-2020
- Catching nucleation in action using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy
- Johnston, Karen (Principal Investigator) Faulds, Karen (Co-investigator) Sefcik, Jan (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2020 - 31-Jan-2023
- RI@S funded summer project
- Johnston, Karen (Principal Investigator) Haw, Mark (Co-investigator) Sefcik, Jan (Co-investigator)
- RI@S funded summer project for Mohammad Talha Dar
- 10-Jan-2019 - 05-Jan-2019
- EPSRC funnded summer project
- Johnston, Karen (Principal Investigator)
- EPSRC summer bursary for Calum Laing
- 03-Jan-2019 - 12-Jan-2019
- Solvay PhD studentship cofunding
- Johnston, Karen (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2018 - 30-Jan-2020
- Catching Nucleation in Action with Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy
- Johnston, Karen (Principal Investigator) Faulds, Karen (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2018 - 01-Jan-2019
More projects
Address
Chemical and Process Engineering
James Weir Building
James Weir Building
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