Current and recent research interests
Since September 1, 2004, I have been working as a lecturer in the Technology unit of the Oxford Institute of Sustainable Development which is based at Oxford Brookes University.
At the moment, I am in a bit of a state of flux and am still trying to find my feet here; hopefully that will change in the near future and I will have a clearer idea of a new direction for my research.
Prior to coming to Brookes, I worked as a postdoctoral research assoicate for the Cambridge-MIT Institute (based in Cambridge University Engineering Department) investigating teaching and learning methods in Engineering and Technology. This is an area of considerable interest to me, and some of the things we discovered will have an impact on any future teaching I might find myself called upon to do. During this time, I became increasingly interested in the concepts of e-learning and blended learning – so it is very gratifying now to find myself somewhere where these teaching modes are well-established very much a part of the student experience!
Before that, I was Research and Development Manager for RolaTube Technology Ltd. (the company who invented the structure on which I did my PhD). I spent a very enjoyable eighteen months there, in which I improved my skills in optimising the layups of composite laminates, learned some number theory, completed my predictive computer program for bistable composites, developed reasonably accurate models for predicting the burst pressure of welded composite pipes made from RolaTubes, and got involved in all kinds of wacky and fun speculative research – from novel sundials to solar sails! I hope to continue to collaborate with RolaTube in the future.
Content and design by
Diana Galletly
Last updated January 2005.