Attended Online Training Session on Precision in Practice: PowerLab and LabChart Workshop from ADInstruments

Monday 19 January 2026

This online training session was a good step towards Power Lab hardware and software - a valuable product from AD Instruments. 

FEST Faculty 22 January 2026

Thursday 22 January 2026

Today, the first rain of the winter at Karachi. The faculty was photographed at 2:30 pm. Thanking the Photographer, Mr. Khawar, Ms. Ayesha, and the Driver - for a good memory. Things can be accomplished with will, as demonstrated by a wonderful team, witnessed. Thanks

Recreation Journey to Kemari Manora Beach

Wednesday 21st January 2026

"Kemari Manora Beach refers to visiting Manora Beach, a popular seaside spot in Karachi, Pakistan, by taking a short, scenic boat ride from Kemari Port, which offers regular ferries and private boat options for a trip to the island with its calm waters, lighthouse, and local attractions, making it a favorite family outing from the mainland."

OpenFoam Configuration WSL Ubuntu

Monday 12th January 2026

After installation of WSL and Ubuntu, the next step is to install and configure OpenFoam. A few steps may be optional if you have already gone through. 

Step 1. From the OpenFoam wiki

# Add the repository

curl -s https://dl.openfoam.com/add-debian-repo.sh | sudo bash

# Update the repository information

sudo apt-get update

# Install preferred package

sudo apt-get install openfoam2512-default

Step 2. PATH

~$ nano ~/.bashrc

# Add the following line at the end

. /usr/lib/openfoam/openfoam2512/etc/bashrc

# verify by the command echo $PATH

Step 3. Copy tutorials to run folder 

# Source /usr/lib/openfoam/openfoam2512

# Destination /home/tiger/OpenFOAM/tiger-v2512/run

Lessons learned

1. The default login was root

2. During reinstall from MS Store, new user was created 

3. Included cd command at the end (~$ nano ~/.bashrc) for /home/tiger as working directory

4. Need to create the run and preceding directory structure as mentioned in the $PATH

OpenFOAM: forwardStep

Friday 26 December 2025

This is about the tutorial forwardStep in OpenFOAM. Geometry defined in Fig. 1 and the tree structure in Fig. 2.

Fig. 1. Geometry

Fig. 2. Tree structure

Need to execute the following commands:

blockMesh        // To create the mesh

checkMesh       // To check the mesh ok

touch foam.foam

sonicFoam        // To simulate

foamToVTK     

paraview foam.foam &

Cloud Computing: An Overview

Sunday 21 December 2025

As the Fall 2025 semester final examinations are approaching, we are now concluding our graduate-level course on Cloud Computing. An overview image shows the topics that are part of the course. The course is designed to cover the basics (knowledge) and aims to develop essential skills toward a readiness to work with cloud services, especially from top vendors like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. In my opinion, the course is a first step towards a vast era of IT-enabled business.

Ref. Textbook

The Cloud Computing Book: The Future of Computing Explained 1st Edition by Douglas Comer,  Chapman and Hall/CRC, (July 1, 2021),‎ 288 pages, ISBN-10: 0367706806, ISBN-13: 978-0367706807

Gmsh to Create elbow.msh and Use it in OpenFOAM Tutorial

Friday 05 December 2025

It is interesting to think about and create the elbow geometry in Gmsh for the 2D elbow mesh. Figure 1 shows the drawing [1]. 

Fig. 1. The drawing of the elbow [1]

// elbow_new.geo

Point(1) = {0, 4.54, 0, 1.0}; Point(2) = {32, 4.54, 0, 1.0};

Point(3) = {52.54, 20.54, 0, 1.0}; Point(4) = {52.54, 0, 0, 1.0};

Point(5) = {56.54, 0, 0, 1.0}; Point(6) = {56.54, 20.54, 0, 1.0};

Point(7) = {64, 36.54, 0, 1.0}; Point(8) = {64, 68.54, 0, 1.0};

Point(9) = {48, 68.54, 0, 1.0}; Point(10) = {48, 36.54, 0, 1.0};

Point(11) = {32, 20.54, 0, 1.0}; Point(12) = {0, 20.54, 0, 1.0};

Line(1) = {1, 2}; // Line(2) = {3, 4}; Line(3) = {5, 6};

Line(4) = {7, 8}; Line(5) = {8, 9}; Line(6) = {9, 10};

Line(7) = {11, 12}; Line(8) = {1, 12}; Line(9) = {4, 5};

//

Point(13) = {32, 36.54, 0, 1.0};

Circle(10) = {11, 13, 10}; Circle(11) = {2, 13, 7};

//

Line(2) = {3, 4}; Line(3) = {5, 6};

Coherence;

//

Delete {

  Point{13}; Curve{11}; Curve{14}; Point{14}; Point{17}; Curve{16}; 

}

//

Curve Loop(1) = {15, 12, 9, 13, 17, 4, 5, 6, -10, 7, -8, 1};

Plane Surface(1) = {1};

//

Extrude {0, 0, 1} {

  Surface{1}; 

}

//

Physical Surface("velocity-inlet-5", 42) = {12};

Physical Surface("velocity-inlet-6", 43) = {4};

Physical Surface("pressure-outlet-7", 44) = {8};

Physical Surface("wall-4", 45) = {9, 10, 3, 5, 2, 11, 13};

Physical Surface("wall-8", 46) = {6, 7};

Physical Surface("frontAndBackPlanes", 47) = {14, 1};

Physical Volume("elbow-new", 49) = {1};

// uniform triangular 

mesh_size = 2.0;

Mesh.RecombineAll = 0; // 0 for triangles, 1 for quads

Mesh.Algorithm = 6; // 6 for triangles, 8 for quads

Mesh.CharacteristicLengthMin = mesh_size;

Mesh.CharacteristicLengthMax = mesh_size;

Mesh.CharacteristicLengthExtendFromBoundary = 0;

//

Mesh 3;

Fig. 2. The 2D elbow mesh created in Gmsh

Exported from Gmsh as elbow_new.msh, See Fig. 3, with option 'Save parameteric coordinates.'

Fig. 3. Mesh exported from Gmsh to use in OpenFoam

Files copied from the elbow tutorial to a new folder elbow_new created for this purpose. 

Fig. 4. Tree structure of the elbow_new folder

Execute the commands gmshToFoam elbow_new.msh and checkMesh. Ensure the Mesh OK and a new folder polyMesh in the constant folder.

Fig. 5. Converting mesh from Gmsh format to OpenFOAM

Execute the commands icoFoam and then foamToVTK. To visualize the simulation execute the command paraview foam.foam &. To create the foam.foam use the command touch foam.foam.

Fig. 6. Visualize the simulation

As a final step, select Plot over Time from Filter / Data Analysis and click on Apply. Need to make a few changes in the Properties for the plot. 

Fig. 7. Plot over Time

[1] https://www.tfd.chalmers.se/~hani/kurser/TMEX02_2007/Gambit/tg02.htm

Learning Point

• For p and U in folder 0, use type slip; for frontAndBackPlanes