So you may know that seventy-five percent
of the oceans coral reefs
are under threat from rising ocean temperatures.
And a lot is known about ocean flows over reefs,
but we still don't have an understanding of
how the flow behaves inside a reef
because we're not able to see
inside reefs or take measurements.
So we're doing some of the first computations
of the ocean flow through a coral reef.
That should help us to formulate some
effective interventions for corals.
One of the guiding principles in our lab is
bio-inspiration.
So that means if there's an engineering problem
involving fluid dynamics that we would like to solve,
we can look to nature and say, okay well
what kind of solutions has nature come up with
for this problem, to try and learn from insects
see how they're doing things
maybe we can do things a little bit better as well.
It gives us a better understanding of how
creatures like insects can accomplish things that
we can accomplish, especially in terms of
perceiving the world around us.
Understanding these kinds of systems
really lets us use the approaches
that they have developed.
One of the things we're hoping that my work will do
is lead to the development of
better or more precise hearing aids in the long run.
Students will leave this lab with a
strong computational foundation
they'll be able to think about a scientific problem
and formulate hypothesis.
They'll learn communication skills, how to explain
their research to others
in a way that's compelling, and that makes sense.
