France Internship 2025 – Strasbourg Project

In Spring 2025, two undergraduate researchers from WRL, Pranav Sreenivasa and Poornabodh Kulkarni, completed a 3 month international internship at Polytech Nancy, France, supported by La Fondation Dassault Systèmes. They were accompanied in the first week by their faculty mentor, Dr. Geetha Kuntoji, Assistant Professor, BMSCE.

The project, titled “Simulations of Ruptures and Overflows of Hydraulic Structures,” focused on the Grand Canal of Alsace in Strasbourg. The study modeled a potential dike rupture scenario and its impacts on nearby industrial and urban zones.

🔬 Project Highlights

Objective:
To simulate the hydraulic risks associated with dike failure in Strasbourg and study its potential impact on infrastructure and surrounding areas.

Work Undertaken:

• Collected geospatial datasets (LiDAR, MNT, BDTopo, BDOrtho) from French public repositories.

• Processed topographic and building data in QGIS and imported into 3DEXPERIENCE.

• Generated point clouds, meshes, and solid terrain models for simulations.

• Integrated industrial buildings around the site for impact assessment.

• Conducted hydraulic simulations in Fluid Scenario Creation with extreme flow conditions (~1400 m³/s).

Key Learnings:

• Identified vulnerabilities in urban-industrial zones near the dike.

• Gained hands-on experience with advanced modeling and simulation tools.

• Understood computational challenges of large-scale hydraulic modeling under license restrictions (5M mesh element cap).

🌍 Academic & Industry Exposure

During the first week, with Dr. Geetha Kuntoji, the team engaged in institutional and industry visits:

• Dassault Systèmes Headquarters (Paris): Interacted with company officials and met Managing Director, Ms. Marie Pierre.

• University & Laboratory Visits: Explored multiple French universities and research centers, learning about European academic practices and research methodologies.

👥 Polytech Nancy Team

Adrien GANS (Faculty Supervisor)

Caroline HOUOT (Faculty Supervisor)

Matteo BORREDON (Student Collaborator)

Alexis WUIBOUT (Student Collaborator)

Jules GABARD (Student Collaborator)

📈 Impact

This internship strengthened WRL’s vision of combining technical innovation with global collaboration.

• Contributed to ongoing research on flood risk management and water infrastructure resilience.

• Built future pathways for international academic partnerships.

• Enhanced WRL students’ global exposure and research capabilities.
  
  

Dr. Geetha Kuntoji’s mentorship ensured that the technical insights gained were firmly connected to WRL’s mission of advancing sustainable and climate-resilient water research.