ENVIRONMENTAL FLUID MECHANICS | |||||||||||||||
University of Texas at Austin, Department of Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering | |||||||||||||||
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Who am I? I'm Ben R. Hodges, an associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. My full academic c.v. is here. ... cool picture of recent work Some field data taken in Corpus Christi Bay where a gravity current exits from Oso Bay. The data was taken with a Eureka Manta probe. More info is on the < project page > and the < field page >. This work was done with the collaboration and financial support of the Texas Water Development Board. Interpreting and modeling data such as these are key aspects of my research. ... what part of the EFM elephant have I grabbed? My interests are in the fundamentals of fluid dynamics in the natural environment. My most recent focus is in environmental fluid mechanics for lake, river and estuary flows, with an emphasis on hydrodynamics and transport processes that influence water quality. I have principally been involved in development and application of numerical models (i.e. computational fluid dynamics), but have also worked in the laboratory (my M.S. research and teaching), and am currently building a field research program. ... what is one thing that characterizes my work? As a post-doc at the Centre for Water Research (CWR), University of Western Australia, I was the principle author of the CWR Estuary and Lake Computer Model (CWR ELCOM). This is presently being used by a number of research teams throughout the world. <more info> ... what is that movie in the upper left-hand corner? This is a model of an internal wave in an enclosed basin that has evolved into a propagating bore. The initial condition was a simple cosine displacement of the density interface. ... what are common mistakes in scientific/engineering writing? Good science and good engineering requires good writing. Until you clearly communicate your solution, the problem is not solved. My students sometimes cringe when they get my comments on their writing. As I found myself often repeating the same stylistic points (such as - a good sentence only has one 'and'), I put together a brief list of key problems. Unfortunately, students constantly create new and clever ways to abuse the English language, so the not-so-brief list keeps growing. The latest version is < here >. ... what cool stuff is going on? My research group is expanding into field work with the recent purchase of a Self-Contained Autonomous Microstructure Profiler (aka SCAMP). We're trying to get a better understanding of how salinity stratification in Corpus Christi Bay leads to hypoxia (low oxygen) near the bottom. .. and who am I not? Googling yourself provides an interesting perspective on life. Meet some of the other Ben Hodges.
Go <here> for my list of links Go <here> for my research papers |
Research Experiences for Undergraduates Call for Papers on Free Surface Flows - US National Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics |
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©2006 Ben R. Hodges | last updated September 25, 2006 |
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