CFD Side Projects
Hey there,
It’s Robin from CFD Engine & in a break from the (new) norm, this email is not a collection of three things. Instead, I wanted to find out if you had any CFD side projects? Something on your own account, probably in your own time & most likely, not for profit.
I know that many of you make your living from CFD & I can understand if you don’t need meshes, residuals, code or colourful plots on your own time.
But I also know that a fair few of you are reading this because you have an interest in CFD that’s nothing to do with your current job.
Some of you are looking to level-up (or keep current) for a future job.
Some of you are developers, writing your own solvers, methods & contributing back to open-source projects 🙏
And some of you have a hobby/obsession that would benefit from a spot of CFD. I’m looking at you sailplane people, you amateur racers, you hypermilers, you rocketeers & especially you inventors – I see you.
It looks like fun & I’m a little bit jealous.
I don’t think I’ve done any extra-curricular CFD since my PhD days. I wasted many CPU hours failing to simulate a 2D lava lamp, plus there were attempts to model pouring a pint of beer, a project which never got much beyond the research phase 😉
So, no CFD fun for me.
Work Fun
That’s not to say you can’t have fun with CFD at work. I’ve always liked the sound of Google’s “20 percent time” – the idea that you can dedicate a portion of your working hours to exploring ideas with no immediate pay-off, but that might turn into something, down the track.
An opportunity to play with CFD at work, as opposed to doing serious R&D.
I used to do this in a previous job – albeit unsanctioned 🤫 It was where I found that I was pretty good at (& enjoyed) building CFD processes & then making them better – more-or-less what I do for other people now.
I should probably carve out some of that 20-percent time now. It’s not easy as a solo operator, but I should definitely do it. If not for fun, then for the learning.
I should take something outside my comfort zone & see what I can do. No agenda, no chasing the next big thing – just for the learning.
Maybe I’ll start with an old idea I had for a nifty little pizza oven?
Over to you
Has your interest in CFD permeated your hobbies? What are you working on in your own time? What’s that not-(yet)-for-profit CFD project that you’re doing for kicks-&-giggles? I’d love to hear about it, drop me a note so I can share in your CFD fun.
Similarly, do you have something like Google’s “20-percent time” at work? Do you have a culture of informal R&D or are there strict policies against that sort of thing? I know it works, but I’m guessing it’s super-rare – let me know your experiences.
If you prefer your fun not CFD-flavoured, then I respect that too.
I’d like to say that I’m off to simulate that pizza oven, but I’ll probably just end up doing yard work. Then again, I wonder if that leaf blower could do with an “upgrade” 🤔
Until next week, stay safe,
