To round out the full Kettering fluid mechanics experience, each student was given the option to choose a special topic to test that they could tie back to fluid mechanics. Due to the open-ended nature of this project, a wide variety of concepts could be chosen. This project was chosen to focus on the biological side of fluid mechanics, specifically human blood viscosity. The nature of blood viscosity and its connection to various medical conditions proved an interesting topic to test and further understand.

This project involved the initial extraction of blood and the use of blood during experimentation; however, it quickly became apparent that moving forward with blood would not be viable. Liquid egg whites were later used as a blood substitute for testing. The tests performed were an effort to study how the viscosity of blood changes if the human body experiences some level of environmental change, stress, and/or diet changes. The data collected revealed that many everyday activities have an impact on the viscosity of blood. This would mean that an individual's risk of having a medical condition can fluctuate throughout the day relatively easily, thus proving the validity of the topic chosen for study in this project.

Fluid mechanics represents the culmination of decades of human thought and experimentation of the world around us. As an idea, it can be applied to many avenues of life, for which many people take it for granted. Understanding the fluidity of nature and, subsequently, life compels the human condition to push for innovation. In an increasingly technological world, people only seem to focus on what an understanding of fluid mechanics can do for technology. The more people strive to create complex machinery that far surpasses what the human body is capable of, the more they forget to look back into themselves at a fundamental biological level. Understanding the connection between fluid mechanics and our bodies is fundamental to humanity’s progress as a species. Additionally, the uniqueness of this topic and its wide array of applications proved to be an extremely interesting topic for study. This project aimed to dive into an understanding of the very liquid essence of humanity - human blood.

Regarding environmental concerns, blood viscosity in unhealthy people has proven to be higher. The thicker the blood, the more likely coagulation and clotting are to occur. It’s important to study how the viscosity of blood will change when exposed to various parameters, as this type of research could save the lives of people who are at risk of high blood viscosity. Chemicals and medicine could be developed specifically focused on blood viscosity because of said research. Additionally, it would not be limited to drug use but could expand to include technological advancements in medical blood/non-Newtowian fluid technology. The more humanity pushes to connect the concepts of blood and fluid mechanics, the more capable they will be of saving more people.

The ultimate goal of this project is to study the effects of different effects on blood given parameters a person may experience in their everyday lives. The idea is to have these parameters - independent variables - be ones that a person’s body would experience in a normal situation. Based on prior research, it is known that the viscosity of blood will change when experiencing different parameters; however, what is not exactly known is to what degree. This project aims to get a rough idea of the level of viscosity change and whether some parameters have an impact at all, given the limited timeframe/resources available. Additionally, this project aims to further an understanding of blood at a microscopic level, what happens to it during coagulation, and how it will interact with bodily organs. This will be done through online research and deep discussions of the uniqueness of blood as well as how these ideas tie back to fluid mechanics.

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