Water sports come in all size and shape (e.g. sailing, rowing, surfing, windsurfing, boat-/jet-skiing, etc.). They, however, share in common a pivotal dependence of their performances towards the aerodynamic and/or hydrodynamics of their respective apparel / devices (e.g. sail, hull, paddles). The latter are constantly evolving and improving, yet more research is needed to optimize their aero and/or hydrodynamics characteristics (e.g. to increase their lift and/or reduce their drag). This requires developing advanced computational and experimental frameworks, to overcome the current gaps in terms of fundamental knowledge and theoretical approaches that are traditionally applied.

In that regard, this UROP project will consist in exploring the fluid (i.e. aero and/or hydro) dynamics pertaining to one or several water sports, which will be chosen on purpose. The research activities will consist in exploring the background literature, establishing the required theoretical foundations upon which implementing computational and/or experimental means/protocols, which will be developed and then validated using well-established benchmark cases before they are applied to practical sport apparatuses.

Notably, this project is as ambitious as challenging. Therefore only passionate, proactive and fully-committed students are expected to apply. In return, this project will offer them a wealth of research experience.