Engineering Professor Co-Authors Fourth Edition of Textbook on Hydraulics

An engineering textbook co-authored by Osman Akan, associate dean of Old Dominion University's Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology, has been picked up for use at engineering schools across the United States.

Akan, also a professor of civil and environmental engineering, co-wrote the book, "Fundamentals of Hydraulic Engineering Systems," fourth edition, with Robert Houghtalen, a professor at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind., and Ned Hwang, emeritus professor at the University of Miami. It was published by Pearson/Prentice Hall.

This book provides a fundamental treatment of engineering hydraulics and is primarily intended to serve as a textbook for undergraduate engineering students.

It is currently being used at 40 universities across the country, including highly prestigious engineering schools such as the University of Texas-Austin, University of Washington, Northwestern University, Lehigh University, Rutgers, and Syracuse University.

"It's a testament to the good work of Dr. Akan and his collaborators," said Batten College Dean Oktay Baysal. "This is Dr. Akan's fourth book on hydraulics. He and his collaborators have a unique ability to make this sometimes-difficult material digestible for university students. Hydraulics is also a field with many applications, so the material is valuable for the body of engineering knowledge."

Akan's other books include "Open Channel Hydraulics," and "Urban Stormwater Hydrology," of which he is the sole author, and "Urban Hydrology, Hydraulics and Stormwater Quality," co-written with Houghtalen.

Engineering hydraulics is an extension of fluid mechanics, in which many empirical relationships are applied and simplifying assumptions made to achieve practical engineering solutions.

Many engineering students, even those well versed in basic fluid dynamics, have trouble solving practical problems in hydraulics. "Fundamentals of Hydraulic Engineering Systems" is intended to bridge that gap between basic principles and the techniques applied to the design and analysis of hydraulic engineering systems.