Modeling Mayhem

When investigating events that pose a danger to humans, mathematic models can provide a solution. The Heat Transfer Along the Human Arm in Electric Arch Phenomenon: Mathematical Modeling with Advanced Engineering Apps Creative Inquiry project is led by Dr. Irina Viktorova and Sofya Alekseeva in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences. The team creates mathematical models of everyday occurrences such as electric currents and stress on artificial joints.

Though this team’s research is in mathematics, it addresses safety. One area of research is the movement of heat transfer and electricity through a human arm. Modeling these processes can potentially mitigate injuries to those who work with electricity. “The electric arc is not investigated—it really is very dangerous, of course—and cannot be predicted, which is why there are a lot of casualties,” Viktorova said about the inspiration for the project. Another area of interest for the Creative Inquiry team is testing viscoelasticity, or the behavior of materials with both elastic and fluid properties, in polymers and biomedical devices to model stress on the devices when in the human body.

Although most of the students are not mathematical sciences majors, they see the benefits of participating in this Creative Inquiry project. This project is particularly interesting to computer science and various engineering majors. “This is just a good basis for all STEM fields, or at least all STEM fields that would be dealing with mathematics and processes,” Chase Rochester, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, said.