Modeling & Simulation in Physics: ZHAW Aviatik Course

[Moossameli]

The importance of modeling and simulation for understanding physics is a central question of didactics. System dynamics is a promising method to achieve this goal. This method is applied at the Zurich University for Applied Sciences (ZHAW, http://www.systemdesign.ch/index.php?title=Physik_und_Systemwissenschaft_in_Aviatik_2014 ). Does anyone know of other physics courses, involving more modeling and simulation than in Winterthur?

 

[Medicol]

Plenty, countless of them. Many areas in physics can be considered, such as fluid dynamics, quantum computing, nanotechnology, data analysis in biophysics, etc.
I have been working with quite a lot of medical software applications that need mathematical modeling and simulation (e.g circulatory system, human immune system, HIV-HBV infection, species interactions, food chain and network, gene expression network, protein structure prediction and modeling etc)

Please share your background and be specific about the application you are working with that you need any advice or help.

 

[Moossameli]

I'm looking for another course with just as much modeling and simulation as in "Physics and Systems Science in Aviation". The background is a bet of Prof. Maurer, that there is no other physics course (first year Bachelor) in which is made more modeling and simulation than in "Physics and Systems Science in Aviation" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-kg1jcUHSQ

 

[FactChecker]

That sounds like a silly bet. If you want to see some complicated models and simulation, look at biomechanical engineering. Basic fluid flow is a mixture of fluids with different compressibility and viscosity, and chunks of squishy, sticky cells. I have seen decades of aero and control laws, but basic bioengineering was eye opening.

 

[timthereaper]

I'm not sure if there is because it seems the entire course is based around simulations being the primary teaching tool. The whole course seems to be structured around students building simulations to learn system dynamics better. It's a very interesting didactic concept, but I don't think most other university courses will teach the concepts in that same way. However, that's not to say you can't do the simulations yourself if you were to take the course from another university. For example, students in control systems often use MATLAB and Simulink to model dynamic systems.

 

[FactChecker]

If you go outside of the physics realm, there are Operations Research courses that are all modeling and simulation -- an entire series of courses. But the entire bet seems like a "mine is bigger than everyone elses" type bet.