McNeese People Briefs
Oler will receive a $3,000 cash prize and present his research titled “Implementation of Infinite Height Levee in CaFunWave Using an Immersed Boundary Method.”
Oler developed an innovative method to accurately implement levee and floodgate structures in large-scale hydrodynamic modeling, according to Dr. Ning Zhang, associate professor of mechanical engineering at McNeese and Adam’s research adviser.
“The method can be applied to the modeling of coastal Louisiana where there are complicated levees and floodgate networks usually hindering the accuracy of the results,” said Zhang. The research was funded as a sub-award of the National Science Foundation’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research through the Louisiana State University Center for Computation and Technology.
Zhang said this award spotlights the academic talent in the College of Engineering. “Oler competed against doctoral students from major universities all over the world and won this award,” said Zhang. “We are proud of Adam and he will represent McNeese well.”
Three other papers by McNeese engineering students and faculty have been accepted for the AJK2015 conference, including another paper co-authored by Oler and Zhang, titled “OpenFoam Simulations of Flow Over Flapping Wing Using Parallel Computing”; “Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Heat Transfer Coefficient and Friction Factor in Internal Channels with Micro-fins” by Pramesh Regmi, Pankaj Chandra and Zhang; and “Investigation of the Effects of Wetland Vegetation on Coastal Flood Reduction Using Hydrodynamic Simulations” by Pawan Yadav, Sandesh Thapa, Xiao Han, Cecilia Richmond and Zhang.
A McNeese political science student and two faculty members participated in the 2015 Annual Conference of the Louisiana Political Science Association held at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Michael B. Witherwax, a junior, made a panel presentation – “The Unforseen Consequences of the Arab Spring.” Dr. Ratham Indurthy, Dr. Henry B. Sirgo and Witherwax participated in the ISIS and the Middle East roundtable and Sirgo participated in the Louisiana Budget Crisis roundtable.