This work shows how numerical simulation of fluids was successfully introduced to higher education students and researchers from different national and foreign universities. The use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models can be very challenging and present a steep learning curve. However, the dissemination and learning of such models can be greatly facilitated by supplying two- or three-day intensive, basic training. The main purpose of these courses is to break down the initial barrier and provide the necessary skills to enable students or researchers to move forward on their own.

The Environmental Physics Laboratory (EPhysLab) research group at the Universidade de Vigo is one of the main developers of a CFD-based model called DualSPHysics. This is an international collaborative project involving universities from different countries, such as, Universidade de Vigo (Spain), The University of Manchester (UK), Università degli studi di Parma (Italy), New Jersey Institute of Technology (US), and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Spain). DualSPHysics is an open-source implementation of the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method specially designed for modelling free-surface turbulent flows in ocean engineering applications (modelling of all types of floating structures and wave energy devices) and coastal protection (modelling of breakwaters).

The EPhysLab group has over 10 years of experience in teaching numerical modelling courses using DualSPHysics. More than 30 in-person training courses have been given at universities and conference workshops in 14 countries on 4 different continents (more information at https://dual.sphysics.org/training/). The methodology of these courses has been refined based on the feedback received at each event and has resulted in an increase in the number of users and popularity of the DualSPHysics software (more than 140 thousand downloads so far). These events have also led to the development of numerous bachelor's, master's, and doctoral theses at universities around the world.

Keywords: Training courses, Dissemination, Numerical modelling, Open source.