{"459581":{"#nid":"459581","#data":{"type":"news","title":"David Hu Takes Home Ig Nobel Prize for \u0027Improbable Research\u0027","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EStudying the urination duration of various animals has landed David Hu an Ig Nobel Prize.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHu, an assistant professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, has been awarded the Ig Nobel Prize for his research on the hydrodynamics of mammal urination. The award was given by Improbable Research, which celebrates research that \u0022makes people laugh and then think.\u0022 The idea is to challenge what is considered important scientific research and illustrate that valuable information can come from more trivial subject matters. Every year there are 9,000 nominations, and only 10 teams are selected as winners.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHu was assisted by Patricia Yang, a mechanical engineering graduate student, and biomedical engineering undergraduates Jerome Choo and Jonathan Pham.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHu\u0027s research was directed by his interest in the link between the gravitational pull during urination and the advancement of efficient water systems. With camera in hand, Hu and his students ventured out to Zoo Atlanta to record and study 32 different mammals including elephants, cows and rats. By examining the video of the urine streams in slow motion, they were able to determine a relation between the length of the urethra and the flow rate of the urine. Their conclusion was that all mammals empty their bladders in about 20 seconds. The research could ultimately lead\u0026nbsp;to better engineered systems for water tanks, backpacks, and fire hoses that can be built for more efficiency.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHu and his students were awarded the prize at the 25th annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony on Sept. 17. He will give a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.calendar.gatech.edu\/event\/457171\u0022\u003Epublic lecture\u003C\/a\u003E on his research and his \u0022journey with wacky science\u0022 on Monday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m. in Room 144, Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2014\/06\/30\/study-animal-urination-could-lead-better-engineered-products\u0022\u003ERead more about Hu\u0027s animal urination study from June 2014.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe award celebrates research that \u0022makes people laugh and then think.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The award celebrates research that \u0022makes people laugh and then think.\u0022"}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2015-10-15 16:02:23","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:47","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-10-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-10-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"459591":{"id":"459591","type":"image","title":"David Hu Ig Nobel Prize","body":null,"created":"1449256361","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:41","changed":"1475895204","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:24","alt":"David Hu Ig Nobel Prize","file":{"fid":"203572","name":"david_hu_image_0_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/david_hu_image_0_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/david_hu_image_0_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":80612,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/david_hu_image_0_0_0.jpg?itok=gRQXcXkb"}},"72875":{"id":"72875","type":"image","title":"David Hu, PhD - Assistant Professor, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering","body":null,"created":"1449177962","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:26:02","changed":"1475894665","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:25","alt":"David Hu, PhD - Assistant Professor, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering","file":{"fid":"193710","name":"hu2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hu2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hu2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":9434,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hu2_0.jpg?itok=QB5kRLY7"}}},"media_ids":["459591","72875"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2014\/06\/30\/study-animal-urination-could-lead-better-engineered-products","title":"Animal Urination Could Lead to Better Engineered Products"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.improbable.com\/ig\/","title":"Ig Nobel Prize"}],"groups":[{"id":"1237","name":"College of Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"594","name":"college of engineering"},{"id":"297","name":"David Hu"},{"id":"144771","name":"ig nobel"},{"id":"541","name":"Mechanical Engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/news\/mes-david-hu-takes-home-ig-nobel-prize-improbable-research\u0022\u003EAnsley Thomas\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECollege of Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}