The simulation course: An innovative way of teaching computational science in aeronautics

Abstract

This article describes an innovative methodology for teaching an undergraduate course on Computational Science, with a particular emphasis in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), and the experiences derived from its implementation. The main activities taking place during this course are: development by students of a training project on a topic in materials science, development of a larger CFD project, and an introduction to a CFD commercial package. Projects are carried out by groups of students and are assigned from a set of different available possibilities. Project development consists in the implementation in code of the corresponding mathematical models and a graphical interface which permits the visualization of the results derived from the numerical resolution of the models. The main innovative aspects of the methodology are the use of Project Based Learning combined with the participation of lecturers from different areas of expertise. Other innovative issues include the opportunity for students to practice skills such as report writing, doing oral presentations, the use of English (a foreign language for them) and the use of Linux as the development environment. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.