Shawn W. Walker

Shawn W. Walker is a Professor at Louisiana State University's Department of Mathematics and Center for Computation & Technology (CCT). His research focuses on Geometric Partial Differential Equations (PDEs), Numerical Analysis, and Finite Element Methods (FEM), with applications to liquid crystals and material science. He has developed the FELICITY toolbox, a MATLAB/C++ framework for solving PDEs on unstructured grids.

Key research interests include modeling liquid crystal behavior, geometric evolution problems, surface FEM, and optimal control of PDEs. His work on the Ericksen model and Landau-de Gennes equations has advanced numerical methods for simulating liquid crystal equilibrium states and defects. Grants from the National Science Foundation (DMS-1115636, DMS-1418994, etc.) support his research.

Recent publications explore cholesteric phases, optimal control of liquid crystal models, and surface-based finite element methods for plate equations. The FELICITY toolbox enables robust simulations of complex geometries and multiphysics systems, with applications in engineering and materials science.