Incorporating hydraulic design software into an introductory fluid mechanics course through virtualized, internet-delivered software applications

Abstract

Students utilized a 'virtualized' (i.e., server-hosted, locally-controlled) hydraulic design package (i.e., Bentley WaterGEMS) to conduct an in-class demonstration and out-of-class assignment to support their learning of three fluid mechanics course topics: The hydrostatic equation, energy loss in pipes, and pipe network optimization. Introducing a sophisticated hydraulic design package to students early in their learning, such as during a fluid mechanics course where content typically leans towards 'core knowledge' topics rather than application and/or design, can support teaching of fundamental concepts by enabling students to rapidly solve many different problems and develop a 'feel' for how equations behave. Likewise, students develop a sense of accomplishment and vision for what will later come as they learn how to operate industry-standard design software. Avoiding most of the inconvenience and confusion associated with having to locally-install software, a virtualized software package functions and appears the same as if the application were instead operating in a stand-Alone mode on a lab or personal computer. Additionally, since virtualization clients exist for multiple operating systems (e.g., Mac, Linux), access is enabled for students using otherwise unsupported operating systems. Thus, through virtualization it becomes easy for an instructor to incorporate a short in-class activity, or assign a few problems to be solved on the computer, without the lengthy preparations that would ordinarily be required. In this paper one approach to software virtualization will be described in the context of a software-utilizing learning activity that was conducted by junior-level undergraduate engineering students enrolled in a fluid mechanics course. Feedback from students indicates an enthusiastic response to both early incorporation of a software package into study of fluid mechanics and virtualization as a means of delivering software availability. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2013.