Feasibility of Vertical Wind Tunnel for use in a Project Based Learning Environment

Abstract:

Vertical Wind Tunnels are a potential cost-effective tool for that could be easily integrated into educational platforms. Wind Tunnels can help teach students critical aspects of engineering and design, facilitated through project-based learning environments. This is important because creating a cost-effective wind tunnel can help eliminate budgetary constraints and provide a tangible experience to students from high school to Universities. This idea of a Vertical Wind Tunnel will be set to be integrated in future classes in the Fall 2020 semester at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Vertical Wind Tunnels may be used for data collection through measurements taken from either a manometer, or an anemometer. This research can possibly help aid in future knowledge of Bernoulli’s Principle, Reynolds Number, non-dimensional coefficients, and many more aeronautical concepts. This work can be used to outreach to students and hopefully aid in the future of education in and out of the classroom. This project can be condensed to produce a Teacher’s Manual and disseminated to different communities to stress the importance of the lessons that could be discovered when utilizing a Vertical Wind Tunnel as the framework for a project-based learning environment.