A Complete Redesign of Freshmen Engineering Course

This interactive session will provide the audience with a full description of the redesign of the freshmen engineering course at Fairfield University. In addition, participants will be led through several of the active learning experiences similar to those used in the course, thus having the opportunity to experience the class first hand. The session will cover: the history of the class, the backward design process used to revitalize the course, the linkages made between course outcomes, course goals, accreditation requirements, and the University’s core pathways, and, finally, it will conclude with results and feedback on how effective the redesign was. Participants will also get to have some time for small and large group reflection on what was learned

Adaptive volume penalization for ocean modeling

The development of various volume penalization techniques for use in modeling topographical features in the ocean is the focus of this paper. Due to the complicated geometry inherent in ocean boundaries, the stair-step representation used in the majority of current global ocean circulation models causes accuracy and numerical stability problems. Brinkman penalization is the basis for the methods developed here and is a numerical technique used to enforce no-slip boundary conditions through the addition of a term to the governing equations. The second aspect to this proposed approach is that all governing equations are solved on a nonuniform, adaptive grid through the use of the adaptive wavelet collocation method. This method solves the governing equations on temporally and spatially varying meshes, which allows higher effective resolution to be obtained with less computational cost. When penalization methods are coupled with the adaptive wavelet collocation method, the flow near the boundary can be well-resolved. It is especially useful for simulations of boundary currents and tsunamis, where flow near the boundary is important. This paper will give a thorough analysis of these methods applied to the shallow water equations, as well as some preliminary work applying these methods to volume penalization for bathymetry representation for use in either the nonhydrostatic or hydrostatic primitive equations

Adaptive Wavelet Collocation Method on the Shallow Water Model

This paper presents an integrated approach for modeling several ocean test problems on adaptive grids using novel boundary techniques. The adaptive wavelet collocation method solves the governing equations on temporally and spatially varying meshes, which allows higher effective resolution to be obtained with less computational cost. It is a general method for the solving a large class of partial differential equations, but is applied to the shallow water equations here. In addition to developing wavelet-based computational models, this work also uses an extension of the Brinkman penalization method to represent irregular and non-uniform continental boundaries. This technique is used to enforce no slip boundary conditions through the addition of a term to the field equations. When coupled with the adaptive wavelet collocation method, the flow near the boundary can be well resolved. It is especially useful for simulations of boundary currents and tsunamis, where flow and the boundary is important, thus, those are the test cases presented here

Adaptive Wavelet-Based Ocean Circulation Modeling

Ocean modeling is a crucial component in understanding our climate system. The advancement of the numerical methods used for ocean modeling is the focus of this dissertation. In this work, an integrated approach for modeling common ocean test problems, western boundary currents, and tsunamis on adaptive grids using novel boundary techniques is considered. The use of the adaptive wavelet collocation method is explored for these ocean problems. This method solves the governing equations on temporally and spatially varying meshes, which allows higher effective resolution to be obtained with less computational cost. In addition to developing wavelet-based computational models, this work also sets out to improve the representation of continental topology and bottom bathymetry through several extensions of the Brinkman volume penalization methods. Due to the complicated geometry inherent in ocean boundaries, the stair-step representation used in the majority of current global ocean circulation models causes accuracy and numerical stability problems. Brinkman penalization is a numerical technique used to enforce no slip boundary conditions through the addition of a term to the governing equations. When coupled with the adaptive wavelet collocation method, the flow near the boundary can be well resolved. It is especially useful for simulations of boundary currents and tsunamis, where flow near the boundary is important. This thesis can be viewed as a proof of concept. The general foundation is established for future, more specific, applications

The effect of numerical parameters on eddies in oceanic overflows: A laboratory and numerical study

Overflows in the ocean occur when dense water flows down a continental slope into less dense ambient water. It is important to study idealized and small-scale models, which allow for confidence and control of parameters. The work presented here is a direct qualitative and quantitative comparison between physical laboratory experiments and lab-scale numerical simulations. Physical parameters are varied, including the Coriolis parameter, the inflow density, and the inflow volumetric flow rate. Laboratory experiments are conducted using a rotating square tank and high-resolution camera mounted on the table in the rotating reference frame. Video results are digitized in order to compare directly to numerical simulations. The MIT General Circulation Model (MITgcm), a three-dimensional ocean model, is used for the direct numerical simulations corresponding to the specific laboratory experiments. It was found that the MITgcm was not a good match to laboratory experiments when physical parameters fell within the high eddy activity regime. However, a more extensive resolution study is needed to understand this fully. The MITgcm simulations did provide a good qualitative and quantitative match to laboratory experiments run in a low eddy activity regime. In all cases, the MITgcm simulations had more eddy activity than the laboratory experiments

Rainwater Harvesting for Campus Student Center: A Sustainable, Community-Orientated Senior Design Project

A team of three mechanical engineering senior undergraduate students and one faculty member designed and installed a rainwater harvesting system in the University’s student center. After an extensive analysis of the piping system, the team was able to use existing rain leaders and piping to move all the rainwater from the third floor patio to a mechanical room located on the first level of the building. In the mechanical room, the piping system was redesigned to route the collected water into a large storage tank. From the tank, the rainwater was pumped into the irrigation line and used to water a large portion of the campus lawns and greenery. In addition, the system incorporated an overflow feature, a drainage line, a new pump, a flow meter to track water usage (which was previously never tracked at the University), a design where regular flushing of the system is automatic, and a maintenance plan. The harvested rainwater could also potentially be used to fill up the University watering trucks to water the flowers, shrubs, and greenery that covers the 200-acre campus. Students found that this community-based project opened their eyes to sustainability, the environment, and was rewarding work