Project and Water News

CI-WATER is proud to congratulate Dr. Fred Ogden on receiving the 2015 Arid Lands Hydraulic Engineering Award from the Environmental and Water Resources Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Fred is a CI-WATER Principle Investigator and the Cline Distinguished Chair of Engineering at the University of Wyoming.

Wyoming EPSCoR, a CI-WATER partner, profiles Dr. Bryan Shuman, a professor of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Wyoming who uses geophysical tools to evaluate the impact of past climate changes on water supplies and forests.

Here at CI-WATER, we hypothesize that Winter Break is extra fun when you add STEM to the equation. Here’s our list of fun activities to try with the kids:

Day 1. Engineer alternative décor inspired by this innovative take on the traditional Christmas tree. 

Day 2. While those cookies are baking, see why “bakers are mad scientists” with this animated vid.

Day 3. Get the kids coding seasonal cheer such as animated snowflakes and yetis.

Day 4. Share some quality You Tube time with these STEM-focused favorites: the physics of how dogs drink, Robotina (sorta) dancing the Nutcracker Suite and the all-time winner of cool engineering music vids.

Day 5. Cozy up with smart TV on UEN-TV and Wyoming PBS. 

Day 6. Share a good science adventure book. (The American Library Association has lists for every age group.)

Day 7. Bust out the chessboards for a family-wide tourney or stop by an online site like this one to solve the problem of the day.

Day 8. Remember science = fun with 10 great experiments for little ones. (Don’t “fizzy candy canes” sound fun?)

Day 9. Party with a podcast like this interview with CI-WATER's own Steve Corbato.

Day 10. Create a science trivia quiz for family near or far to play with this free tool that lets you set up a “Rocket Race.”

Day 11. Build a cool Lego Santa sleigh.

Day 12. Explore the science of warmth as you sit by the fire.

How do you produce a high-resolution, scalable computer model of a watershed that is 288,000 square kilometers with nearly half a million kilometers of streams? It helps if you have the 29th fastest computer in the world and the computer programming talents of the CI-WATER team.

In a recent presentation at the SuperComputing 2014 (SC14) conference, CI-WATER’s Bob Steinke reported on the use of Charm++ in modeling the Upper Colorado Watershed. You can check out his slideshow here.