While CFD is widely used for university research and student projects, use of CFD in the undergraduate engineering curriculum remains a relative rarity. Fluent proposes to change this with the release of our new product, Fluent/FlowLab™,a customized CFD tool for teaching that uses parameterized templates and focuses on fundamental physics. The new product provides instructors with CFD teaching modules that fit into the undergraduate curriculum in the form of a "virtual fluids laboratory." FlowLab makes its debut this summer with a beta release to an academic advisory group who will test the product in the classroom during the fall semester.

"The potential for using CFD to enhance teaching is enormous," notes Richard LaRoche, Fluent's business manager for the FlowLab product. "FlowLab helps to reinforce fundamental concepts in fluid flow and heat transfer, at the same time that it adds an element of real-world application and interest. It will also expose students to the concepts of CFD analysis and help them enter the job market with an understanding of how to use CFD analysis. Best of all, students can get started with ease, since FlowLab virtually eliminates the learning curve that exists with traditional CFD."

Fluent/FlowLab showing the velocity vectors and convergence history of a sudden pipe expansion

Interested? Visit http://flowlab.fluent.com to find out more about FlowLab and the potential of CFD to impact engineering education.

FluentNEWS