I am an aspiring engineer interested in computational fluid dynamics. However, I am aware of the relative scarcity of aerospace engineering related positions in industry. Would other, more marketable, areas of engineering also allow me to work in this area or is it exclusive primarily to the aerospace industry? Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thankfully,

Marty Findley

CFD has made its mark in many more industries than you can imagine. Car industry (vehicle aerodynamics), building service engineering (thermal comfort and interior environment), wind engineering, environmental modelling i.e. weather prediction, polloution dispersal in rivers and air, biomedical fluids; blood flow in heart and air flow lung, Food processing, microfluids, seepage in soil & other capillary flows. Infact whereever there is fluid flow, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can be used to get solutions.

(1). This is a simple answer. There are many ways to solve a fluid dynamic and related problem. One can use the empirical formula, or the experimental approach, or the computer simulation. CFD is not the only way to solve a fluid dynamic problem. But somehow people have realized that it is not accurate to use old empirical formula to solve new problems. They also have reached a conclusion that the cost of using the experimental approach is much higher than the CFD approach. So, you see, people are forced to take the CFD approach when they run out of alternatives. (2). In wind tunnel testing, they run the test at night when others are sleeping, because it is cheaper at night when the demand for electricity is low. So, the wide spread use of CFD started in aerospace industry first where the saving is high. This trend gradually spread into the aircraft engine industry. And recently, the auto-industry started using CFD in the design processes. (3). It is hard to link the CFD know-how to the job market. Unless you are hired by a CFD program vendor ( in that case, you will have opportunity to work on different kind of applications), the CFD part of the job is more a function of the particular project involved, unless it has become part of the design process or the job of a functional group.

Thanks for your thoughts folks. I appreciate it.

Hello Everybody

I work for a company mainly producing chemicals. This is a field that is in the process of gaining weight in the cfd-community. So besides the already noted major fields of applications, chemical engineering will be surely something to look into.

Yours andreas birtigh