The Penn State Berks Fluid Discovery Lab will present “Gallery of Fluid Motion” exhibit in the Freyberger Gallery from noon to 5 p.m., Monday, Dec. 5, through Friday, Dec. 9, with a reception to follow from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 9. These events are free and open to the public.
The exhibition will feature a visual display of the aesthetic and science of modern fluid mechanics to educate people on the connection between art and science. Flow visualization is the process of making the physics of fluid-like gases and liquids visible. The images in the exhibition were selected from the Penn State Berks students’ work in the college’s Flow Visualization course.
According to Azar Eslam-Panah, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Penn State Berks and founder of the college’s Fluid Discovery Lab, “The exhibit is a visual record of the aesthetic and science of contemporary fluid mechanics, to be shared both with fellow researchers and the general public. Flow visualization is for everybody: If you have paid attention to the patterns while stirring milk into coffee, stared at the curl of a rising tendril of smoke, or mixed corn starch and water together in the kitchen sink, you have participated in flow visualization.”
Students enrolled in the PHOTO 321N – Flow Visualization course will also have a poster presentation from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 7, in the first-floor lobby of the Gaige Technology and Business Building. For more information on this study, email Azar Eslam-Panah at AUE10@psu.edu.
About the Fluid Discovery Lab
In March 2017, Penn State Berks unveiled its new Fluid Discovery Lab, a state-of-the-art engineering laboratory in the Gaige Technology and Business Innovation Building, and the only open-access laboratory dedicated to the study of fluid dynamics in the Penn State system.
Designed and constructed under the guidance of Eslam-Panah, the lab provides an opportunity for students to conduct undergraduate research and perform experiments, reinforcing classroom theory through practical application in fluid dynamics. Eslam-Panah’s research focuses on the physics of flows using a range of experimental techniques that can be extrapolated into engineering applications. Her research interests include unsteady aerodynamics of biologically inspired air and underwater vehicles and fluid dynamics in human bodies.
