FlowLab: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Framework for Undergraduate Education

Today, the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software in academia occurs primarily in the context of student projects or research. The potential of CFD as a tool to enhance teaching is largely untapped, despite growing interest in computer tools to assist learning. FlowLab (http://flowlab.fluent.com) is a CFD-based educational software package that will allow students to solve fluid dynamics problems without the long learning curve required by today’s commercial CFD packages. We will provide an update of the FlowLab beta-testing program with over 30 universities worldwide. We outline a process for university collaboration and peer-review procedures in the development of FlowLab exercises for engineering classes in fluid dynamics and heat transfer.