Engineering Mechanics: Simulating 3-D Models with OpenFOAM

Abstract:
Application problems that capture students’ interest and represent “real world” situations such as the crash of the Malaysian Airline Flight MH-370 are seldom explored within the high school classroom. Science, technology, engineering and math fields (STEM) have many situations where knowledge of 3-D modeling and coding is needed to simulate the physics of the “real world.” Computer-generated 3-D models using open-source programs such as OpenFoam have a great potential for use, exploration, and development in the 9th - 12th mathematics classrooms. Through exploration, students can visualize and virtually interact with the geometry of simple and complex models and the physical law constraints of those models in “real world” situations.

Research Poster - SanMiguel_Williamson
Research Abstract - SanMiguel_Williamson

Science

"Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge." - Carl Sagan

Technology

"The real problem is not whether machines think, but whether men do." -B. F. Skinner

Engineering

"Engineering stimulates the mind. Kids get bored easily. They have got to get out and get their hands dirty: make things, dismantle things, fix things. When the schools can offer that, you'll have an engineer for life." -Bruce Dickinson

Mathematics

"Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas." -Albert Einstein