Two professors from the University of Iowa presented a technical presentation of their research to interested SWE members.
Dr. John J. Sunderland discussed new medical scanning technology in 3D to determine what’s going on in the body in a more exact location than MRIs or X-rays have been able to determine before. He explained how the specifically formulated compounds have to be specially prepared for the patient’s test to run, and takes a short amount of time to scan, with results that help determine problems occurring in almost all places in the body, including the brain. He showed a memorable time-scale of a patient who was diagnosed with early signs of Alzheimer’s way ahead of any other tests, versus when the Alzheimer’s showed physical signs on the patient’s body. The professor showed diagrams of the actual machine that makes the compounds, explained in a technical manner descriptive enough for the engineering mind, and was still able to answer questions from one of the member’s younger children in attendance as well.
After a short break for refreshments, Dr. Larry J. Weber, from the Hydromechanics research center, presented his current research. He first described the research center, where his international group of students tackle fluid mechanical problems, including the Navy’s need for their submarines to have a lower sonar signature through the reduction of the number of bubbles made, and finding new ways to prepare Iowans for flooding through river flow and rainwater data on their website. He explained about how their ‘future flooding preparation’ is based on how much rainfall has occurred in the past years, and what the statistics are of flooding in a certain amount of years in the future. This, he mentioned, is helpful for planning on buying a new house in a new area, and how likely you are of needing flood insurance, among other things. Most of the questions from participants included discussion of flooding history and farmer’s use of irrigation tactics. Other questions were about the research center and its operations.
After a short break for refreshments, Dr. Larry J. Weber, from the Hydromechanics research center, presented his current research. He first described the research center, where his international group of students tackle fluid mechanical problems, including the Navy’s need for their submarines to have a lower sonar signature through the reduction of the number of bubbles made, and finding new ways to prepare Iowans for flooding through river flow and rainwater data on their website. He explained about how their ‘future flooding preparation’ is based on how much rainfall has occurred in the past years, and what the statistics are of flooding in a certain amount of years in the future. This, he mentioned, is helpful for planning on buying a new house in a new area, and how likely you are of needing flood insurance, among other things. Most of the questions from participants included discussion of flooding history and farmer’s use of irrigation tactics. Other questions were about the research center and its operations.
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