Interested in Mathematical Modelling? How Can You Specialize in Energy Systems?

[aurao2003]

Hi
I will like some advice. I intend to know more about mathematical modelling. Can anyone recommend any useful books, websites of software? How does one develop an interest in it? I will like to specialise in the modelling of energy systems and not sure how to do it. Please advise

 

[DrummingAtom]

I was interested in this too for a while. A somewhat helpful thread is:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=244836&highlight=modeling

 

[hadsed]

You can get books on numerical analysis, algorithms, etc. There's a really good book called numerical recipes:art of scientific computing, but it's a little bit expensive and you can find other books for cheaper.

 

[aurao2003]

You can get books on numerical analysis, algorithms, etc. There's a really good book called numerical recipes:art of scientific computing, but it's a little bit expensive and you can find other books for cheaper.

Thanks. What mathematics is relevant as a foundation? I was thinking differential equations or numerical methods.

 

[hadsed]

Could be anything, it depends on what you're doing. I'd say linear algebra and differential equations (partials and ordinary) are really useful. Combinatorics would be useful as well, and graph theory though I'm not as educated in these types of maths and I'm not sure of all the uses for them.

 

[aurao2003]

Could be anything, it depends on what you're doing. I'd say linear algebra and differential equations (partials and ordinary) are really useful. Combinatorics would be useful as well, and graph theory though I'm not as educated in these types of maths and I'm not sure of all the uses for them.

Cool. I will start on Differential Equations. I am still battling A levels at the moment. Afterwards I will look into Linear Algebra. I intend to do an engineering degree and attended a workshop with a company called Cosmol Physics. They use modelling to simulate different kind of scenarios and products. I really enjoyed. But the training is very expensive. So, I was thinking I could start on the maths. Then expose myself to Matlab. The modelling of products and systems seems interesting every time I open the IET or IEEE magazine. I hope to work in modelling energy systems.

 

[hadsed]

If you're really into modeling things you should look into applied mathematics. Of course if you're interested in engineering, that will give you better employment prospects right out of undergrad level, but if you're truly interested in mathematical modeling you might want to go on to a Ph.D. After that, you can work in a lot of different fields. But you could probably major in something like electrical engineering and still get a doctorate in math if you wanted to. Or maybe computer engineering/science. Depends if you have interests in a particular area or if you just want to model things numerically in any field, because that will increase your prospects somewhat, though again that'd be harder without a Ph.D.

 

[aurao2003]

If you're really into modeling things you should look into applied mathematics. Of course if you're interested in engineering, that will give you better employment prospects right out of undergrad level, but if you're truly interested in mathematical modeling you might want to go on to a Ph.D. After that, you can work in a lot of different fields. But you could probably major in something like electrical engineering and still get a doctorate in math if you wanted to. Or maybe computer engineering/science. Depends if you have interests in a particular area or if you just want to model things numerically in any field, because that will increase your prospects somewhat, though again that'd be harder without a Ph.D.

Is there any applied mathematics you can recommend? I intend to major in an Electrical Engineering degree. And just as you suggested a Ph.D in mathematical models of energy systems. At least, that's the plan for now. I am interested in fluid mechanics. The london underground has the eternal problem of excessive temperatures in the summer. I will look to study it and see what can be modeled. Side by side, I will like to study the heat absorption of materials. I feel the problem might be tackled from that direction.

 

[hadsed]

I'm not too certain about the engineering applications of applied math. I know about computational fluid dynamics, which is quite fascinating I think. I haven't looked into applications of it in depth so hopefully someone with more experience in engineering can give us some insight. I would think, however, that you would be extremely useful in the aerospace industry, so maybe you'll want to think about mechanical engineering for your undergraduate. I know of a few physicists who worked in fluid dynamics that are employed in aerospace industry, but again I can't comment on the specifics and hopefully someone else can shed some light on this.