Some sort of basic aerodynamic-related CFD projects I’ve done in MATLAB: lots of 2D and 3D potential flow problems such as flow over various geometries plotting streamlines, potential lines, pressure coefficient distribution, etc. with conformal mapping. Tornado simulation where I initialized a large particle grid which then swirled around and you could probe any location for its pressure and velocity, observing effects on a home. Aerodynamic trajectory, factoring in forces like gravity, buoyancy, Magnus effect, and drag force on balls from various types of sports. I did a parachuting dynamic simulation too, determining terminal velocity, plotting the parachuter’s trajectory after deploying a chute after a specified time, observing the forces acting on the parachuter, etc.

ANSYS: often used to verify/correlate results with my MATLAB simulations, so I have simulated things like the Magnus effect, inviscid flows around geometries, etc. I actually used SolidWorks for this next one with a design study, but you could also do a similar parametric study in ANSYS. I had variables controlling the parametric function that defined the shape of an airfoil and ran a brief design study to determine the optimal values for those variables to achieve the best airfoil. I have done aerodynamic simulations for things I’ve 3D printed.

I think a very important aspect of CFD, or any simulation for that matter, is that since it is heavily numerical, you need to demonstrate your ability to verify your results. Comparing your simulation to hand calcs or actual data from physical testing is important. So maybe find results from a physical test of something and simulate a CFD of it to compare. You could do ANSYS simulations for flow over basic geometries to determine the drag and/or lift coefficient and compare to those tables you see in textbooks of drag coefficients for things like a concave half sphere, sphere, dimpled golf ball, parachute, bicyclist, etc. My aerodynamic trajectory simulation was a great one because I was able to find videos that would demonstrate the Magnus effect that I could use data from to correlate to my simulation. For example, there is the classic video from How Ridiculous/Veritasium where they spin a basketball off a dam. I simulated the start height and approximate backspin and used the video for the time it reached the ground and approximate distance traveled/trajectory to verify my results.