Enhancing Water Resources and Coastal Engineering Curricula Using Visual Basic Programs in MS-Excel

A large number of calculations in the water-related subjects like Fluid Mechanics, Hydrology, Hydraulics, Water Resources Engineering and Coastal Engineering involve iterations. In the past, because of limited computational facilities available to the professional community, approximate formulae were developed that are still in use. Utilization of Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) in MS-Excel can tremendously reduce the time incurred on iterations in the engineering practice and in turn reduce the dependence on approximate formulae. This study elaborates the enhancements in the curricula of Hydrology, Water Resources and Coastal Engineering at Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman, by including short VBA programs. Typical examples of such program usage are calculations of friction factor, design of open channels, design of sanitary sewers, calculation of cumulative infiltration by Green-Ampt formula, and solution of wave dispersion relation. This improvement in the curricula would encourage the students to fully utilize the advanced features of MS-Excel, thus improving productivity in the fields of water resources and coastal engineering.