This course extends fluid mechanic concepts from Unified Engineering to the aerodynamic performance of wings and bodies in sub/supersonic regimes. 16.100 generally has four components: subsonic potential flows, including source/vortex panel methods; viscous flows, including laminar and turbulent boundary layers; aerodynamics of airfoils and wings, including thin airfoil theory, lifting line theory, and panel method/interacting boundary layer methods; and supersonic and hypersonic airfoil theory. Course material varies each year depending upon the focus of the design problem.

Students construct a three-dimensional model of a water catchment basin using everyday objects to create hills, mountains, valleys and water sources. They experiment to see where rain travels and collects, and survey water pathways to see how they can be altered by natural and human-made activities. Students discuss how engineers design structures that impact water collection, and systems that clean and distribute water.

Students explore the densities and viscosities of fluids as they create a colorful 'rainbow' using household liquids. While letting the fluids in the rainbow settle, students conduct 'The Great Viscosity Race,' another short experiment that illustrates the difference between viscosity and density. Later, students record the density rainbow with sketches and/or photography.

This feature, adapted from Interactive NOVA: "Earth," follows the path of energy as it is transferred via the food chain from one type of organism to another.

This subject provides an introduction to fluid mechanics. Students are introduced to and become familiar with all relevant physical properties and fundamental laws governing the behavior of fluids and learn how to solve a variety of problems of interest to civil and environmental engineers. While there is a chance to put skills from Calculus and Differential Equations to use in this subject, the emphasis is on physical understanding of why a fluid behaves the way it does. The aim is to make the students think as a fluid. In addition to relating a working knowledge of fluid mechanics, the subject prepares students for higher-level subjects in fluid dynamics.

Students discover fluid dynamics related to buoyancy through experimentation and optional photography. Using one set of fluids, they make light fluids rise through denser fluids. Using another set, they make dense fluids sink through a lighter fluid. In both cases, they see and record beautiful fluid motion. Activities are also suitable as class demonstrations. The natural beauty of fluid flow opens the door to seeing the beauty of physics in general.

Explores fluid properties, hydrostatics, fluid dynamics, similitude, energy and momentum principles, closed conduit flow, open channel flow, and flow measurement. Includes laboratory exercises in flow measurement, open channel flow, pipe friction, physical modeling, and data collection.

Fundamentals of thermodynamics, chemistry, flow and transport processes as applied to energy systems. Analysis of energy conversion in thermomechanical, thermochemical, electrochemical, and photoelectric processes in existing and future power and transportation systems, with emphasis on efficiency, environmental impact and performance. Systems utilizing fossil fuels, hydrogen, nuclear and renewable resources, over a range of sizes and scales are discussed. Applications include fuel reforming, hydrogen and synthetic fuel production, fuel cells and batteries, combustion, hybrids, catalysis, supercritical and combined cycles, photovoltaics, etc. Different forms of energy storage and transmission. Optimal source utilization and fuel-life cycle analysis.

Students learn about energy flow in food webs, including the roles of the sun, producers, consumers and decomposers in the energy cycle. They model a food web and create diagrams of food webs using their own drawings and/or images from nature or wildlife magazines. Students investigate the links between the sun, plants and animals, building their understanding of the web of nutrient dependency and energy transfer.

Gives the highlights of the projective flow algorithm we used for image registration.

A short introduction to optical flow, with a slant towards how it pertains to the projective flow image registration algorithm we used.

Optimal means the best, but organisms often solve multiple problems so any one problem is not solved best. An optimal function is produced for sugar ingestion rates versus sucrose concentration through butterfly proboscides and pipets by humans. A choice experiment is performed using probing by a butterfly proboscis toward one of two concentrations of sucrose. A non-optimal system is then studied: cylindrical container designs by businesses where surface area (cost) is least when height equals diameter. A frequency distribution of height/radius is constructed for recycled cans, and costs for variation are quantified from changes in surface area from the optimum. Cost variation for sugar intake rates is then measured from the function shape and related to nectar concentration variation.

In this activity, students learn how engineers design faucets. Students will learn about water pressure by building a simple system to model faucets and test the relationship between pressure, area and force. This is a great outdoor activity on a warm day.