Guest Lecturer (Aug 2022-Present)

Foundation and Applications of Modelling and Simulation

Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, VNIT, Nagpur

Since most of the students were new to modelling and simulation, the objective of the course was to start from the basics and slowly build up the concepts. The course content was designed accordingly. The lecture schedule was prepared in sync with the academic schedule taking care of the exam periods. The course content and plan were shared with students before the start of the course so that they have a clear picture of the course.

The lecture series started with an introduction to computation and its applications in materials engineering and related domains. Some basic mathematics, like differential equations related to physical phenomena, was introduced in the second lecture. The aim of the first two lectures was to expose them to the field of computation through examples and applications.

The third lecture started with steady-state diffusion and heat transfer problems, and methods like Thomas’ Algorithm to solve them were discussed. In the fourth lecture, Python coding basics were covered so that students have the tool to solve problems using computers. In the fifth lecture, a coding tutorial was conducted to solve and visualize the 1D heat transfer problems with varying complexities in boundary conditions and source terms. This combination of theory and coding classes showed them a complete framework that they could follow to model and simulate a problem. This lecture helped them see the connection between various courses like mathematics and transport phenomena by coding and visualization.

In the sixth lecture, transient heat transfer was covered with explicit and implicit methods of solving the problem and stability of these methods. This was shown through a tutorial in the seventh lecture.

In the eighth lecture, 2D heat transfer and iterative methods like Gauss-Jacobi to solve them were covered. The students were introduced to convergence, norms, residual and errors, etc. A hands-on coding tutorial was conducted to improve the understanding and apply the concepts. Finally, parallels were drawn between the methodology followed in all the previous lectures and commercial software. The lecture concluded with a discussion on future prospects and opportunities.

After every lecture, the recordings as well as the lecture notes were shared with students via Google Classroom. During the duration of the course, three assignments were given to students to help them practice and apply the concepts taught in the course.

At the end of the part one of lecture series, the course completion certificates were awarded to students based on their attendance and assignments. Overall, this course was a great experience for students as well as me.