Materials, Mechanics, and Flight: Birds, an Engineer¿s Delight

2-2-5 units · Undergraduate

Examines how birds work from an engineering perspective and how engineers design materials, lightweight structures, and aircraft using concepts learned from birds. Topics include: materials science of feathers, and how engineers design materials for structural color, thermal insulation, and water repellency; how feathers can create or suppress sound, and how engineers reduce the sound produced by wind turbine blades by mimicking barn owl flight feathers; mechanics of bird bones, structural weight reduction, and its applications to lightweight structures; how birds fly, how the Wright brothers studied bird flight to design their plane, and how modern aircraft fly. Design project allows students to explore different fields of engineering. Preference given to first-year students.