Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute
Dr. Lavrentovich, professor of Physics at Kent State University, and collaborators publish an article in Science.
![Chiral ground states of ferroelectric liquid crystals Chiral ground states of ferroelectric liquid crystals](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/greenferro.png?VersionId=4LGzoDtAYxgXCJNZ6UNdlnphafQkFVzT&itok=T2oES1HS)
Dr. Lavrentovich, professor of Physics at Kent State University, and collaborators publish an article in Science.
![The Liquid Crystal and Materials Sciences Building serves as home to Kent State’s Liquid Crystal Institute. The Liquid Crystal and Materials Sciences Building serves as home to Kent State’s Liquid Crystal Institute.](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/article/LCI.jpg?VersionId=msJqZFyuqb0SDBtI18s7g9IMXZTUqCt_&h=ec98a0f6&itok=oAEiF1yX)
![Kent State Assistant Professor Marianne Prevot shows a safety senor she is developing. Kent State Assistant Professor Marianne Prevot shows a safety senor she is developing.](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/Marianne%20Prevot%20with%20sensor.jpg?VersionId=sn7GJ7BID8K5hquxXYwZWZnsHKolQq.T&itok=-34gUTIT)
Small sensors about the size of a postage stamp could one day save the lives of firefighters, soldiers and other workers who face the threat of toxic gases or vapors on the job.
![Image of a man in a safety vest flying a small drone](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/article/drone.jpg?VersionId=Dh.QQAYh4mAuTU8tPzyBk2DRtBzYchgP&h=2a216b11&itok=5tGStbpT)
![An image of a purple line drawing of a brain on a black background](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/article/brain-g6acb44a9c_1280.jpg?VersionId=S0MOkSJqnAshZiuN1KOpVyHLa6yX8QAH&h=61e9da5b&itok=IQQkKAkY)
![Four men are holding a large check from Ohio History Connection](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/article/Recording%20the%20History%20of%20the%20Liquid%20Crystal%20Institute%20With%20Ohio%20History%20Fund%20Grant_photo.jpg?VersionId=0tO4C9U5VH56npvTEO0kjBbvuFuO22Vk&h=4a7d1ed4&itok=BgMpn5ve)
The development of liquid crystal technology in Northeast Ohio - and specifically at Kent State University - is an important part of the region’s and university’s legacies and ongoing global impact.
![Image of professor Fouad and a student working in the lab](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/article/04182016_KentStateEastLiverpool_160over90_0021%20%281%29.jpg?VersionId=A8YqZ.4z3v8nrxm9tsgGAbzCR3Q8ja8.&h=4a7d1ed4&itok=8-Q596Pf)
Farid Fouad, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Kent State East Liverpool, was awarded a three-year, $74,954 research grant as part of a subaward on a larger grant that his collaborators at Cleveland State University received.
![Image showing models related to research on Chirality](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/article/Untitled%20design%20%2811%29_0.png?VersionId=vn0.wCweAeKe2ZqOwo2kbi.jK2DTWC0T&h=4a7d1ed4&itok=IgLqihOP)
Chirality, or the absence of mirror symmetry in a molecule, is a complex topic that Material Sciences Professor Torsten Hegmann is determined to know more about. Hegmann, director of the Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, and other Kent State collaborators led an international collaborative research project with contributions from a global team whose paper about the efficacy of chirality transfer in Science Advances may provide insights to make better materials or pharmaceuticals.