Toothpaste, Custard and Chocolate: Maths gets messy

The May talk will be given by Prof. Helen Wilson of University College London who will be talking about her research into complex fluids.

This talk will look at mathematical modelling of real, complex fluids in flow situations – some with serious commercial applications, and some just for fun. We’ll spend most of the time looking at the chocolate fountain. We’ll experience one of the key day-to-day tools of an applied mathematician: scaling analysis; and we’ll answer the question: why doesn’t the chocolate fall straight down?

Helen is Professor of Applied Mathematics at UCL in London where she is deputy head of the mathematics department. Her research focuses on the flow of complex fluids and materials whose behaviour is somewhere between fluid and solid: the field of rheology. Until recently President of the British Society of Rheology she is also a Council member of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications and served on ALCAB, the government-appointed body which reformed the content of the new A-Level Mathematics. She has two children and no spare time.