The research in Dr. Jim Gleeson's laboratory can be broadly described as the study of the out-of-equilibrium behavior of complex fluids. Complex fluids, simply put, are liquids whose macroscopic physical characteristics are qualitatively different from those of ordinary, familiar liquids, such as water. For example, a liquid containing a polymer often has a resistance to flow that decreases with the rate of flow; a liquid crystal exhibits different bulk electrical and optical properties depending on the arrangement of its molecules.