VMASC 2010 Annual Report (PDF) - the Virginia Modeling, Analysis ...

2010 

annual report 

1

Tableof Contents 

VMASC Overview 

Center Activities 

4-5 

6-21 

Directors’ Columns 

Dr. John Sokolowski, Center Director 

Dr. Roland R. Mielke, Academics 

Thomas Reese, Business Development 

Sheila Flanagan, Administrative Services 

22-23 

24-25 

26-27 

28-29 

2009-2010 

The Chairman’s Message 

VMASC Board of Advisors 

New Members 

2009-2010 VMASC Members 

30 

31 

32-33 

34-35 

Engineering & Technical 

Service Contract 

36-37 

Awards & Publications 

38-45 

Faculty & Staff 

46-47 

2 3

mission 

Engage in scholarly research in 

modeling and simulation (M&S), visualization, and 

analysis that yields significant contributions to the 

M&S body of knowledge, provides constructive 

solutions to critical challenges facing academic, 

government, and industry partners, and fosters 

the international advancement of the discipline of 

M&S. 

Promote economic development 

through collaboration with industry and through 

the continued maturation of research ideas 

and analysis to create tangible products and 

applications suitable for commercial development 

or public investment. 

Support M&S education and workforce 

development through classroom instruction and 

through active engagement of students in the 

research process. 

Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC) 

is a university-wide research center that emphasizes modeling, simulation, and 

visualization (MS&V) research, development and education. VMASC is one of the world’s 

leading research centers for computer modeling, simulation, and visualization. The 

mission of the Center is to conduct collaborative MS&V research and development, 

provide expertise to government agencies and industry, and to promote Old Dominion 

University, Hampton Roads and Virginia as a center of MS&V activities. The Center has 

over 50 research and administrative staff and works closely with faculty researchers from 

across the University. 

In 2009, the Center conducted approximately $10M in funded research. ODU offers 

master’s through doctoral degrees as well as certificate programs in Modeling and 

Simulation (M&S) supported by faculty in the colleges and research faculty from VMASC. 

With a bachelor’s degree in M&S along with a new M&S Department is anticipated 

to come in to being in the Batten College of Engineering and Technology. There are 

approximately 50 masters’ and 55 doctoral students enrolled in M&S programs and 

another 20 students are enrolled in graduate certificate programs related to M&S. 

Old Dominion University is a state-assisted institution and one of only four Virginia 

schools in the Carnegie Research Universities (high research activity) category. It is 

located in the Hampton Roads area, the nation’s center for the military application of 

MS&V. The region is home to the Joint War Fighting Center, the Joint Battle Center, the 

US Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, the Military Transportation Management 

Command, the Armed Forces Staff College, the U.S. Navy’s Commander Operational Test 

and Evaluation Force, the Naval Sea Systems Command, and the Space and Naval Warfare 

Center. In addition, Department of Energy’s Jefferson Lab, NASA-Langley Research 

Center and numerous regional industries are important users of MS&V technology. The 

economic values of MS&V-related business activity in Hampton Roads is estimated to be 

over $500M. 

VMASC focuses on seven core modeling and simulation 

applied research areas: 

• Transportation 

• Homeland Security and Military Defense 

• Virtual Environments 

Vision 

• Social Sciences 

• Medicine & Health Care 

• Game-based Learning 

• Business & Supply Chain Modeling 

Old Dominion University, through 

VMASC, is a leader in modeling and simulation 

(M&S), analysis, and visualization, and is recognized 

for its multidisciplinary approach to M&S research, 

education, and application. 

4 5

Center activities 

2009 

Simulation lead Steve Dawson, University of Pittsburgh Medical 

September/October 2009 

The Virginia Modeling Analysis and Simulation Center at 

Old Dominion University in conjunction with the College 

of William & Mary presented a series of business education 

courses sponsored by Opportunity Inc. for their SEVA-PORT 

Program in October of 2009. The course series was designed 

for executives from start-ups to small and large established 

companies who are interested in gaining additional knowledge 

in critical business areas. The primary purpose of coordinating 

and holding this business workshop series at VMASC was 

to support its growing base of modeling and simulation 

and related technology incubator companies. The VMASC 

Technology and Business Accelerator (VTBA) currently 

hosts seven companies progressing towards long term selfsustainability 

in the Hampton Roads community. VMASC 

supports economic and workforce development through new 

research and technology development, classroom instruction 

and small business incubation. The ultimate goal of VTBA is to 

stimulate the local economy through new job creation, higher 

wages, intellectual property transfer, and new investment and 

tax revenue. 

School’s President of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare 

Mike DeVita, and Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medical 

Director of the Center for Human Simulation Ellen L. Brock. 

________________________________________ 

Beginning on October 14th, MODSIM World 2009 Conference 

and Expo opened to over 1000 participants. Industry members, 

government officials, business leaders, as well as researchers from 

a wide variety of organizations and educational institutions turned 

out to exchange valuable modeling & simulation knowledge at 

the Virginia Beach Convention Center. The theme for MODSIM 

World 2009 was 21 st Century Decision-Making: The Art of Modeling 

& Simulation. The third annual four-day international Conference 

and Expo featured a wide variety of workshops, exhibits and 

speakers focusing on the unique multi-disciplinary applications of 

modeling and simulation. 

MODSIM World 2009 track sessions were conducted from 

October 14th to the16th on the main topics of Health & Medicine, 

Transportation & Logistics, Engineering & Technology, Education & 

Training, Defense & Homeland Security, as well as a cross-cutting 

track, Serious Games. Highlights of the Conference included 

speeches and presentations given by Dr. Charles Camarda (NASA 

engineer & astronaut), Dr. Paul Roman (Associate Professor of 

Management Science and Operations Management at both the 

Royal Military College of Canada and Queen’s University School 

of Business), Doug Whatley (founder and CEO of BreakAway), and 

Dr. William Swartout (Director of Technology for USC’s Institute 

for Creative Technologies and a research associate professor of 

computer science at USC). 


_______________________________________ 

________________________________________ 

To kick off the 2009 MODSIM World Conference & Expo, 

on October 13, 2009, Senator Mark Warner (VA) hosted the 

Virginia Summit on Modeling & Simulation. Sponsored by 

VMASC, the Summit gave attendees informative and important 

perspectives on the impact that the M&S industry has locally, 

regionally, and nationally focusing on Hampton Roads’ growing 

role in the field. 

Distinguished speakers included Senator Warner, U.S. Chief 

Technology Officer and former Virginia Secretary of Technology 

Aneesh Chopra, and Commander of U.S. Joint Forces 

Command General James Mattis. The keynote addresses were 

followed by three panels on Defense & Homeland Security, 

Education & Training, and Health & Medicine. The Defense & 

Homeland Security panel, moderated by innovation strategist 

John Kao, was comprised of Under Secretary for the National 

Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) Rand Beers and 

Commanding General of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine 

Command General Martin Dempsey. The Education & Training 

panel was moderated by VMASC Executive Director Dr. John 

Sokolowski and included Old Dominion University’s President 

John Broderick, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, and 

Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Readiness and Training 

Policy and Programs Director Dan Gardner. Moderated by 

University of Virginia’s Reba Moyer Childress, the Health & 

Medicine panel included Eastern Virginia Medical School’s 

Vice Provost for Planning and Health Professions C. Don 

Combs, Ph.D., CIMIT Boston Mass. General/Harvard Medical 

On October 19 and 20, VMASC faculty researchers Dr. John 

Sokolowski and Dr. Catherine Banks met with engineering and 

M&S faculty and students at the University of Genoa in Genoa, 

Italy. The purpose of the meeting was to share current research 

activities and procure future opportunities for collaboration. An 

emphasis was placed on three research domains: transportation, 

military M&S (specific to NATO), and human behavior modeling. 

The two-day meetings began with an introduction to DIPTEM, 

the University of Genoa’s Department of Production Engineering, 

Thermo-energy, and Mathematical Modeling. Dr. Agostino 

Bruzzone, MISS (McLeod Institute of Simulation Sciences) 

and DIPTEM Director, served as host and provided a detailed 

presentation of the Department’s body of research. DIPTEM 

complements VMASC’s M&S research in transportation, with a 

focus on infrastructure, mass evacuation transport, and shipping, 

by sharing their expertise of SITRANET (SImulation for TRAiniNg 

& Education in Transportation), a project sponsored by European 

Community. Dr. Sokolowski and Dr. Banks presented the DIPTEM 

graduate students with an overview of VMASC as a research 

and development Center and also a case study utilizing agentbased 

modeling, focusing on its usefulness and the need to 

take the paradigm to another level by developing a much more 

sophisticated agent. 

________________________________________ 

In October 2009, Old Dominion University announced that it will 

offer a bachelor’s degree in modeling and simulation. The program 

6 7


2009 

industry, Bob McDonnell remarked, “As Governor, I will ensure 

will be the first of its kind in the country, according to the 

university. It received approval from the State Council of Higher 

Education for Virginia to begin offering classes in January 2010. 

ODU also was a front-runner in offering master’s and doctorate 

programs in modeling and simulation, beginning its modeling 

and simulation program in the 1990s when it partnered with the 

military and later created VMASC to offer professional training 

and research. The impact of this new program should help make 

Hampton Roads the premier area for modeling and simulation 

for businesses and high-caliber students who want to study 

the subject. The bachelor’s program will allow students to have 

minors in fields such as marketing and health science. Modeling 

and simulation graduates with a master’s degree earn an average 

of $83,000 a year locally, with salaries for bachelor’s degree 

graduates to be in the $50,000 to $60,000 range. 

_______________________________________ 

The NATO Modeling and Simulation Group (NMSG) 

Symposium (MSG-069) “Use of M&S in Support to Operations, 

Irregular Warfare, Defense against Terrorism, and Coalition 

Tactical Force Integration” was conducted in Brussels, Belgium on 

15 & 16 October 2009. In these two days, three keynotes and 21 

peer-reviewed papers were presented and discussed. The tracks 

dealt in detail with human behavior representation, support to 

operations, defense against terrorism, coalition tactical force 

integration, and irregular warfare. Dr. Andreas Tolk, Associate 

Professor at ODU and affiliated Senior Researcher of VMASC, 

was trusted with this task for the sixth time since he joined ODU 

and VMASC. This year’s symposium gave an excellent overview 

on how much the NATO M&S Community evolved in the recent 

years and what new trends are starting to emerge. All presenting 

nations and organizations are clearly in a stage of mature M&S 

application and apply sound engineering principles including 

sharing of solutions based on open standards and open 

architectures and starting to work towards mathematically sound 

models. New application paradigms, spearheaded by the data 

farming community, are expanding the use of M&S from simple 

computing to knowledge processing. Using M&S in Support to 

Operations, Irregular Warfare, Defense against Terrorism and 

Coalition Tactical Force Integration is a complex endeavor, but 

the papers presented in this conference are clear evidence that 

MSG experts are starting to work on solid foundations. 

______________________________________ 

that we put Virginia in the vanguard of this technology. We need 

more cooperation among colleges and universities that already 

have modeling and simulation programs in place and support 

further research, development and market applications. 

These programs can be used in a variety of policy areas 

outside of government and defense work level in the United 

States for M&S. We need to think outside the box and use the 

innovative program at ODU/VMASC as a model for what can be 

accomplished throughout the Commonwealth.” 

________________________________________ 

November/ December 2009 

Between 3 and 5 November 2009, VMASC’s Dr. John A. 

Sokolowski and Dr. Catherine M. Banks taught a NATO 

short course on “Analyzing Complex Systems Using System 

Dynamics”. NATO Allied Command Transformation M&S 

Analyst Wayne Buck specifically requested the course for the 

analysis and modeling and simulation staff of Allied Command 

Transformation. The course followed the equally successful 

short course “Analyzing Global Events Using Modeling and 

Simulation” for which Dr. Banks and Dr. Sokolowski also 

prepared and instructed. Both courses are based on books that 

they have written. This course focused on System Dynamics as 

a modeling paradigm for analyzing complex systems. M&S has 

proven to be a valuable tool for expanding our understanding 

of events/human behaviors that have shaped the global 

environment of the 21st century. System Dynamics facilitates a 

holistic representation of those events and it can progress from 

the macro to micro perspective and allows for sensitivity and 

statistical output analysis. This level of understanding coupled 

with varying model iterations (based on data change) allows the 

analyst to delve deeper into understanding what happened and 

exploring what if. 

With students in mind the course was designed to apply 

System Dynamics modeling to historical and contemporary 

global events and to represent those events in a scientific 

format utilizing case studies. Attention was focused on 1) 

understanding System Dynamics as a way to represent data and 

facilitate analysis, 2) understanding the case study with an eye 

to gathering and mapping empirical data to construct a model, 

and 3) understanding how to analyze, verify, and validate the 

model. 

________________________________________ 

On November 19, the University of Genoa’s Dr. Agostino 

Bruzzone and Dr. Albert Tremori came to ODU/VMASC to 

begin their meetings with members of the Hampton Roads M&S 

community. Their first meeting with Senior Project Scientists 

Mike Robinson and Peter Foytik provided an opportunity for 

VMASC’s transportation research team to share capabilities 

and present a short summary of recently completed and 

ongoing studies, specifically in the area of regional evacuations 

and transportation modeling for large metropolitan areas. 

Representatives from DDL Omni also joined this discussion and 

provided introductory briefs on two maritime simulations with 

possible project application, the Maritime Domain Simulation 

System (MDSS) and the Multi-Modal Simulation System 


Bob McDonnell, then Virginia’s Governor-elect, joined 

Congressman Randy Forbes in Hampton Roads on September 

28th for a roundtable discussion about modeling and simulation 

(M&S) initiatives at the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation 

Center. McDonnell was briefed by VMASC researchers and ODU 

M&S students, along with regional, educational and industry 

leaders, and state legislators. Speaking about the exciting 

8 

possibilities of M&S expansion and the economic impact of the 

9


2009 

“M&S Challenges for Human, Social, Cultural, and Behavior 

Modeling” in the Application track for Homeland Security/ 

(M2S2). 

Bruzzone and Tremori met with Dr. Andreas Tolk, ODU Associate 

Professor in Engineering Management and Systems Engineering. 

This meeting also focused on combining VMASC with DIPTEM’s 

expertise and capability. Dr. Bruzzone has developed a gamebased 

simulation in support of homeland security experimentation 

(SIBILLA). Tolk and his colleagues would like to embed this tool 

into Second Life and combine it with the evaluation software 

ELICIT. Bruzzone and Tremori also attended a maritime community 

luncheon and briefing series hosted by VMASC and sponsored 

by ODU’s Maritime Institute, Ship Maintenance, Repair, and 

Operations Institute, and LEAN Institute as well as VMASC’s 

transportation applied research area. Bruzzone later met with 

VMASC research faculty to discuss the innovative advances taking 

place at his university and the affiliated centers that he supports 

such as MAST (Modeling and Simulation Technology) and MISS 

(McLeod Institute for Simulation Science). 

______________________________________ 

In late November, VMASC, in collaboration with USJFCOM, 

participated in the I/ITSEC Conference hosted at the Orange 

County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. With many of 

our industry partners participating and exhibiting, VMASC was 

represented by faculty and staff members on hand to demonstrate 

& discuss M&S research in the following focus areas: Transportation, 

Medical & Health Care, Social Science, and Homeland Security 

& Military Defense. VMASC was given a special opportunity to 

present its research to Congressman Randy Forbes and Virginia 

Delegate John Cosgrove. 

______________________________________ 

January/ February 2010 

VMASC and the Hampton Roads Partnership joined forces to 

develop a strategic plan to see that the modeling and simulation 

industry reaches its full potential in Hampton Roads with the 

inaugural Modeling and Simulation Strategy 2020 Meeting 

held Dec. 16. The vision for VMASC in 2020 is that the Hampton 

Roads communities will become an “international nexus,” where 

the most innovative technologies for complex problem solving 

are available for industrial, academic and government entities. 

“This is just a starting point,” states the M&S 2020 plan; “Any 

individual or organization interested in supporting is welcoming 

and encouraged to participate, as this is truly a regional effort.” 

________________________________________ 

Emergency Response, the session on “Model Development” 

in the Methodology track on Modeling Methodology, and the 

session on “Interoperability in Simulation Services and Systems” 

in the Methodology track on Simulation Interoperability. 

Dr. Eric Weisel, WernerAnderson, Inc., an ODU MSIM Alumni, 

organized a series of tutorials for professional development 

in a training track. Two of these five four hour tutorials were 

directly supported by VMASC. Dr. Yiannis Papelis presented 

a short course on Engineering Applications of Modeling and 

Simulation. He covered the fundamental techniques used in 

continuous time Modeling & Simulation and presented several 

examples on the application of these techniques in areas 

of mechanical, rotational, electrical, electromechanical and 

thermal systems. Dr. Andreas Tolk – supported by VMASC Senior 

Project Scientist Charles Turnitsa – talked about Principles of 

Combat Modeling and Simulation. After a short introduction, 

the focus was on best practices, history, and definitions. Special 

topics were combat modeling algorithms and constraints for 

movement, sensing, effects, communications, and behavior. 

______________________________________ 

March/April 2010 

Graduate and select undergraduate students in Old Dominion 

University’s International Studies and Model UN program 

took part in a day of hands-on application for a Crisis Decision 

Making course at VMASC on March 18th, acting out three 

different crisis scenarios aimed to train them in problem solving. 

The event was built on a longstanding partnership between 

ODU and NATO’s Allied Command Transformation, which 

generates the crises and helps direct the students. The crises 

were then simulated with the help of VMASC’s modeling and 

simulation technologies, a unique benefit for the ODU students. 

Crisis situations, such as an oil supply crisis in the Middle East 

and a terrorist attack in the Mediterranean, were simulated for 

the students’ responses. Each student was assigned a different 

role — 28 represented countries, one was NATO’s secretarygeneral, 

one was chairman of the military committee and others 

were media — and responded to the manufactured crises as his 

real-world counterparts would have responded. 

________________________________________ 

In April, Old Dominion University’s VMASC had the honor of 

hosting two of our state government officials, Virginia Attorney 

General Ken Cuccinelli and Secretary of Transportation Sean 

T. Connaughton. Attorney General Cuccinelli arrived at VMASC 

on April 14 to meet with faculty and staff. After meeting with 

ODU’s President John Broderick and VMASC’s Executive 

Director Dr. John Sokolowski to discuss the importance of 

modeling and simulation education and research for the state 

of Virginia, the Attorney General toured VMASC’s facilities 

and participated in presentations focused on Medical and 

Transportation M&S research areas provided by ODU Professor 

Dr. Mark Scerbo and VMASC Senior Project Scientist Menion 

Croll. On April 16th, ODU’s Research Director Dr. Mohammad 

Karim hosted Secretary of Transportation Sean T. Connaughton 

at VMASC. Dr. Karim, along with Sokolowski and VMASC 


More than 300 papers were presented from 13-16 December 2009 

at the Winter Simulation Conference in Austin, Texas. Tracks were 

offered in Education, Methodology, and Applications. And VMASC 

10 was well represented. Dr. Andreas Tolk chaired the session on 

11


2009 

________________________________________ 

Senior Project Scientist Mike Robinson, introduced Secretary 

Connaughton to ODU/VMASC and provided an overview of 

current transportation research projects, initiatives, and areas of 

expertise. Additional expert presentations included Tom Albert’s 

introduction to the MAGLEV initiative, Billie Reed and Bob Ash 

discussing Commercial Space Transportation, Pat Hatcher’s Bioalgal 

Energy research, and Drew Landman’s ODU/SOLUS truck 

drag reduction energy research project . 

________________________________________ 

A 3-day Standards of Modeling & Simulation workshop, held 

at VMASC at the end of March 2010, addressed future standards 

of modeling and simulation and attracted over 60 participants 

from academia, industry and government. Organized by VMASC 

Research Assistant Professor Dr. Andrew Collins and Senior 

Project Scientist Sol Sherfey, the purpose of the workshop 

was to give the participants a free-thinking, non-attributable 

environment to discuss the future of M&S standards. The 

participants responded well to this format with insights, anecdotes 

and viewpoints into all areas of the future of M&S standards. The 

workshop was a collection of presentations and working groups. 

The presentations covered a variety of topics from the theoretical 

foundations of M&S to NASA’s recent application of M&S Standards. 

A theme from both the presentations and the working groups was 

that M&S and M&S standards face a variety of challenges over the 

next 10 years. 

________________________________________ 

May/June 2010 

Old Dominion University and VMASC researchers served on panels 

during the Southeastern Virginia Biomedical Technology 

Partnership Forum in June. The June 15 event at the Thomas 

Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News 

featured panels on treatment technology, diagnosis technology, 

and biomedical modeling and simulation. 

The modeling and simulation panel featured two ODU VMASC 

faculty members. John Sokolowski discussed health care 

applications of modeling and simulation, and Mark Scerbo, 

professor of psychology, spoke about medical modeling and 

simulation tools such as the fetal heart rate monitor and Cave 

Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE). 

The forum attracted participants from federal agencies such as 

NASA and the Jefferson Lab, and academic institutions including 

ODU, Hampton University and Eastern Virginia Medical School 

with a goal to share information about biomedical technology and 

treatment, and demonstrate what related resources are available 

in southeastern Virginia. 

VMASC Executive Director John Sokolowski was a keynote 

speaker at MODSIM World Canada 2010 on June 14th. 

MODSIM World Canada, held in Montreal, Québec, is an 

international conference devoted to Modeling, Simulation 

and eLearning. For 2010, the conference & expo featured 

tracks dedicated to Defense and Homeland Security, 

Aeronautics, Engineering, and Transportation, Government, 

Research, Education and Environment, as well as Health, 

Medical, and Biotech, with cross-cutting sessions focusing on 

the impact of emerging technologies such as serious games, 

virtual worlds, and distributed learning on ROI, productivity, 

and collaboration. Dr. Sokolowski’s presentation was entitled 

“Modeling & Simulation: A Discipline, A Technology, An 

Opportunity”. 

____________________________________________ 

ODU and VMASC faculty members presented an Internetbased 

and interactive application of serious gaming, called 

VisPort (Visualization of Port Logistics), which they created 

at the Capitol Hill Modeling and Simulation Exhibition 

on June 30. The overall objective of the application seeks 

to advertise and describe careers in cargo ports through 

simulation, video interviews, and port information. Dr. Petros 

Katsioloudis, ODU assistant professor of STEM education 

and professional studies, is the principal investigator for 

the project, “Visualization of Port Logistics: VisPort; Phase II: 

Evaluation and Dissemination”. ODU’s Department of STEM 

Education and Professional Studies and VMASC were awarded 

a grant from Opportunity Inc. and the Southeastern Virginia 

Partnership for Regional Transformation to develop, test 

and disseminate the application. Co-PIs on the research team 

are: Dr. Ginger Watson, associate professor of STEM education 

and professional studies with a joint appointment at VMASC; 

Dr. Yiannis Papelis, VMASC research associate professor; 

Dr. Philip Reed, associate professor of STEM education and 

professional studies; and Sara Russell, instructor of MIS/ 

decision sciences. Sponsored by the National Training 

and Simulation Association, with the support of Virginia 

Congressman Randy Forbes and the Modeling and 

Simulation Caucus, the Capitol Hill Modeling and Simulation 

Exhibition seeks out modeling and simulation demonstrations 

that support non-military and military functions, such as 

homeland security, emergency planning, medical simulation, 

sports and exercise, educational gaming and transportation. 

________________________________________ 

In May and June 2010, Opportunity Inc. and VMASC teamed to 

connect interns with industry, provide technology workshops 

and recruit new startups to the VMASC Technology and 

Business Accelerator (VTBA). Five interns were successfully 

placed with M&S companies in the region. In addition, 

within a twelve month period, two new companies (Alelo 

and Command Post Technologies) opened their doors 

for business in the VTBA . VMASC provided space and 

refreshments for the VTBA Workshop Series, administered by 

a host of ODU professors, industry professionals and successful 

entrepreneurs. Technology workshops were held Friday, May 

28th: Technology Transition Planning: Why SBIR Phase I and II is 

only the Beginning!, Friday, June 4th: Technology Forecasting 


12 13


2009 

________________________________________ 

Dr. Yiannis Papelis, a leading scholar, educator and researcher 

in the field of modeling, simulation and visualization (MS&V), 

has been named chief scientist of VMASC. Executive Director 

Dr. John Sokolowski announced the selection on Tuesday, 

August 10, 2010. 


for Strategic Planning and Product Development, Thursday, June 

10th: Business Plan /Entity Structure and How to Start an M&S 

Company and Friday, June 25th: Strategic Planning for Early-Stage 

Companies: Why planning is even more important for you than for 

the Big Guys. Each workshop attracted participants from industry, 

academia, and government. 

________________________________________ 

July/August 2010 

In July, Old Dominion University’s VMASC had the honor of hosting 

state and federal government officials in two separate informational 

sessions. Secretary of Technology Jim Duffey met with ODU’s 

President John Broderick, VMASC’s Executive Director John 

Sokolowski and Director of Business Development Thomas 

Reese to discuss the importance of modeling and simulation 

education and research for the state of Virginia, and then 

toured VMASC’s facilities and participated in presentations and 

demonstrations focused on Transportation, Virtual Environments, 

and Medical M&S technology applications. 

Dr. Jeffrey Lacker, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of 

Richmond, also visited Hampton Roads recently to discuss the 

economic outlook of the nation and its context regionally. The 

Fed’s President was impressed by VMASC’s modeling capability 

and especially interested in recent M&S applications in foreclosure 

market modeling. VMASC researchers are currently modeling 

the contagion effect of foreclosures and fine-tuning their model 

to include foreclosure probabilities. This data is beneficial for 

policymakers and financial experts to explore impacts, develop 

strategies to minimize effects and discover emergent human 

factor and market behaviors. 

________________________________________ 

Old Dominion University’s Game Development Summer Camp 

was hosted for another year by VMASC at the end of July and in 

early August. Led by VMASC-affiliated faculty, the summer camp 

doubled in size this year, with a second camp filling up rapidly to 

capacity of 20 students. The two camps ran from July 26-30 and 

from August 9-13 at VMASC headquarters in Suffolk, for students 

ages 13 to 16. 

With this appointment, Papelis assumes a primary role in 

advancing collaborative MS&V research and development 

by providing research expertise to government agencies 

and industry, promoting Old Dominion University, Hampton 

Roads and Virginia as a center of MS&V activities, and pursuing 

initiatives and new projects that will enhance VMASC’s mission 

in the modeling and simulation arena. 

Dr. Papelis initially came to VMASC in August of 2007 as a 

Research Associate Professor and spearheaded the Virtual 

Environments applied research area. Since this time, he has 

conducted valuable M&S research focused on agent-based 

simulation, immersive environments, and critical infrastructure 

dependency modeling. In addition, Dr. Papelis has mentored 

students at the Masters and Ph.D. levels and teaches modeling & 

simulation courses at ODU. 

As the principal researcher on projects funded by the National 

Institute of Aerospace & NASA, U.S. Navy, U.S. DOT National 

Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Joint Forces 

Command, and SEVA Port, Dr. Papelis has been involved 

most recently in research supporting NASA’s autonomous 

traffic operations laboratory, visualization of port logistics 

and immersive virtual environments used primarily in ground 

vehicle simulations. 

The research conducted by Dr. Papelis can be applied to a wide 

range of topics, including the realistic simulation of crowds, 

simulation of critical infrastructure components, and control of 

autonomous ground and aerial vehicles. 

Before joining ODU’s VMASC, Dr. Papelis spent a year as a visiting 

assistant professor at the University of Central Florida, during 

which time he was involved in projects supporting Army flight 

simulator interoperability and competed in the DARPA Urban 

Grand Challenge autonomous vehicle competition. 

Prior to this, Dr. Papelis was the Chief Technical Officer at the 

National Advanced Driving Simulator & Simulation Center 

and the Center for Computer Aided Design at the University 

of Iowa, where he conducted traffic safety research and 

worked extensively on agent-based modeling of traffic, virtual 

environment modeling, 3D visualization, and operator-in-theloop 

simulator. 

The camp was led by Dr. Yuzhong Shen, assistant professor in 

ODU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of 

In conjunction, Dr. Papelis lead multiple research projects 

the Batten College of Engineering and Technology; and Hector 

assessing the effectiveness of Electronic Stability Control (ESC) 

Garcia, senior project scientist with VMASC. Each day of the weeklong 

with the purpose of making ESC standard equipment in all 

Game Development Summer Camp consisted of interactive 

future vehicles. Yiannis Papelis earned a BSEE (with honors) 

lectures, hands-on game development exercises, and a game-play 

from Southern Illinois University in 1988, a MSEE from Purdue 

session at the end of each day. Participants learned how to make 

University in 1989 and a Ph.D. degree in Electrical & Computer 

computer games in an easy and enjoyable way, and developed 

Engineering from the University of Iowa in 1993. 

action games with Game Maker, a popular and intuitive game 

development tool. They also learned simple 3D modeling using 

14 Google SketchUp. 

15

John Sokolowski 

named as 

VMASC’s New Executive Director 

John Sokolowski, a leading national scholar and 

researcher in the fast-growing field of modeling and 

simulation, has been named executive Director of Old 

Dominion University’s Virginia Modeling, Analysis and 

Simulation Center . With the appointment, Sokolowski 

assumes a primary role in developing an M&S 

industry that is a significant new driver of economic 

development in the state. He was selected after a 

high-profile search by a committee composed of ODU 

administrators, faculty and M&S industry executives. 

ODU President John R. Broderick and Vice President 

for Research Mohammad Karim announced the 

selection on Monday, March 8. 

Sokolowski, a retired Naval officer, has worked at 

VMASC for nearly a decade. He served as a project 

scientist and later as director of research before being 

called upon a year ago to be interim executive director 

after the departure of Michael McGinnis, who left 

VMASC to lead a technology and science center at 

the University Of Nebraska. “John Sokolowski has 

been an innovator in modeling and simulation and 

an efficient collaborator with VMASC’s partners,” said 

Broderick. “His appointment will hasten Virginia’s 

rise as a provider of modeling and simulation 

technology.” One of the industry members of the 

search committee, John Dannon, senior analyst with 

the Lockheed Martin Center for Innovation in 

Suffolk, said of Sokolowski, “He is clearly the right 

guy for the right job at the right time.” The selection, 

according to Dannon, “sends a message across the 

Commonwealth of Virginia, and the nation, that 

Old Dominion University is committed to providing 

the best possible leadership to this world-class 

research center.” He added that the new director’s 

“comprehensive vision for VMASC’s future and his 

reputation as a respected researcher ensures that 

Hampton Roads will remain an international leader in 

modeling and simulation research.” 

Dana Dickens, president and chief executive officer of 

Hampton Roads Partnership, a nonprofit economic 

development organization, added, “Dr. Sokolowski 

has a clear vision for the continued leadership of 

ODU and VMASC in the modeling and simulation 

arena within the Commonwealth and internationally, 

capitalizing on partnerships and research between 

government, industry and academia. The Hampton 

Roads Partnership and I are eager to continue 

working with Dr. Sokolowski and VMASC to promote 

Hampton Roads as the center of the MODSIM World.” 

Sokolowski agreed that the M&S effort in Hampton 

Roads and Virginia requires a partnership among 

academia, industry and the military/government. 

“It takes all three to move ahead in this increasingly 

important field,” he explained. “Collaboration is key 

to addressing the many hard problems that only M&S 

can help solve. VMASC is a true Commonwealth asset.” 

The new executive director said his goal is to involve 

as many Virginia public and private universities as 

possible in moving the discipline ahead. “We have 

already begun this process by putting together a 

partnership that includes five other state universities 

as part of a major funding request that not only will 

produce cutting-edge research, but also will develop 

capabilities that will require new job creation.” A 

collaboration already underway is one that he helped 

to build between VMASC and Eastern Virginia 

Medical School. “John is a knowledgeable and valued 

partner,” said C. Donald Combs, vice provost for 

planning and health professions at EVMS. “We have 

worked closely with him and his colleagues at VMASC 

on a number of medical simulation projects. He is both 

well respected in the national and regional simulation 

communities as someone who both understands 

the science and the art of working successfully with 

others.” Sokolowski’s military service also will serve 

him well as the VMASC leader, according to Tim Baker, 

the retired Navy captain who is Senior Level, Technical 

Director/Business Manager for the U.S. Joint Forces 

Command (USJFCOM) Joint Warfighting Center in 

Suffolk. He added: “Dr. Sokolowski is, in my opinion, 

absolutely the finest choice ODU could have made to 

lead VMASC’s collaborative efforts with USJFCOM in 

the field of advanced modeling and simulation.” 

Sokolowski is a prolific M&S scholar and his 

reputation as such was bolstered in 2009 with the 

publication of Principles of Modeling and Simulation – 

A Multidisciplinary Approach, the first multidisciplinary 

textbook in the M&S field. He was an author and coeditor 

of the book together with Dr. Catherine Banks, 

a research assistant professor at VMASC. “John has outstanding subject-matter credentials in 

M&S, as evidenced by his scholarly books,” said Karim. “This is vital to solidifying VMASC as the 

‘go-to’ place for all those who want to find M&S solutions to the problems and challenges that 

face business, industry, the military, government and many institutions.” Attesting to Sokolowski’s 

credentials as a researcher are the $10 million in research projects he has led while working at 

VMASC. 

Sokolowski joined VMASC as a project scientist in 2001 after he retired from the U.S. Navy. At the 

time, he held a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Purdue University and a master’s 

in engineering management from ODU. In 2003, ODU’s Frank Batten College of Engineering 

and Technology awarded him a Ph.D. in modeling and simulation/engineering, the first degree 

of its kind to be earned worldwide. His rise at VMASC has been seen as a measure of the center’s 

evolution since 1997 from a humble startup in makeshift quarters to a world-class research, 

development and instructional operation housed in a specially designed, $12 million facility. 

Sokolowski became involved in M&S even before he joined VMASC. His last tour in the Navy was 

as leader of the M&S division of the U.S. Joint Forces Command. 

As director of research at VMASC, he helped to build applied research areas that focus on 

transportation, serious gaming, social science modeling, virtual environments, and supply chain 

and business process modeling. He also has strengthened the long standing VMASC initiatives in 

military/homeland security and medical M&S. 

16 17

Old Dominion 

University’s 

Department of Modeling, Simulation, 

and Visualization Engineering 

Old Dominion University’s Board of Visitors has formally 

approved the creation of a new Department of Modeling, 

Simulation and Visualization Engineering at ODU. 

The creation of the department, the seventh in Old Dominion’s 

Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology 

(BCET), follows the creation of an undergraduate degree 

in modeling and simulation engineering. That degree 

program, which begins admitting students for the spring 

semester, means that ODU is the only school in the country 

that offers a complete advanced education in modeling and 

simulation engineering, from undergraduate through postdoctoral. 

Until now, modeling, simulation and visualization 

graduate programs have been administered through the 

BCET dean’s office. “Now we will have an organization that 

establishes a home for a unified and dedicated faculty 

group whose primary responsibility would be the oversight 

and continued enhancement of these programs,” said 

BCET Dean Oktay Baysal. Within three years, the modeling 

and simulation academic programs are expected to enroll 

almost 200 students at all levels. “At this level of activity, a 

more conventional administrative structure is required for 

efficient and effective management,” Baysal said. 

and Visualization Engineering will join engineering departments 

in aerospace, civil and environmental, electrical and computer, 

engineering management and systems engineering, engineering 

technology, and mechanical engineering. 

The new department will offer Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, 

master of engineering, doctor of philosophy and doctor of engineering 

degree programs. The department faculty will be established mainly 

by reallocation of faculty positions within the university. Eight faculty 

members are expected to join the proposed department in the first 

year. Within a few years, this number is projected to grow to 10. The 

main department office and faculty offices for the department will 

be located on the first floor of the E.V. Williams Engineering and 

Computational Sciences Building on ODU’s campus. 

More importantly, the accreditation required for the creation 

of undergraduate engineering programs, known as ABET, 

states that a program must be able to demonstrate the 

presence of a faculty, support staff and funding dedicated 

to the program. Finally, a separate Department of Modeling, 

Simulation and Visualization Engineering will be able to 

generate its own revenue more effectively through faculty 

release time, indirect cost return and gift revenue. Under 

the restructuring, the Department of Modeling, Simulation 

18 19

VMASC 

hosts 

MODELING • SIMULATION • VISUALIZATION 

• • • • • • • • • 

The presentations ranged from analyses of the spread of a pandemic, to traffic forecasting, to a study of the 

arms trade. Some of the brightest student minds in the field of modeling and simulation wowed the judges at 

the 2010 Student Capstone Conference, hosted by Old Dominion University’s VMASC on Thursday, April 8, 

2010. 

The distinguished keynote speakers for the event were Dr. Tuncer Ören, professor emeritus of computer science 

from the School of Information Technology and Engineering at the University of Ottawa, Canada, and Dr. 

Agostino Bruzzone, professor in the Department of Industrial Production, Thermoenergy, Engineering 

and Mathematical Modeling at the University of Genoa, Italy. 

VMASC is a research leader in the field of modeling and simulation, and many of the advances made wouldn’t 

be possible without the contribution of students. In turn, the students receive valuable experience and 

guidance from the research faculty at VMASC, and have the opportunity to conduct their research in a stateof-the-art 

venue. Local industry’s involvement in the Capstone Conference is also key as the growth in M&S 

research by ODU has helped provide expertise to the many businesses in Hampton Roads working in the 

region’s growing modeling and simulation cluster. Besides being hosted by VMASC, the event was sponsored 

by the Southeastern Virginia Partnership for Regional Transformation (SEVA PORT), Booz Allen 

Hamilton, Eastern Virginia Medical School, EM Solutions, and SimIS. The winners in each of five categories 

received cash prizes and the Gene Newman Award, named in honor of Eugene G. Newman, for his efforts in 

advancing modeling and simulation education, research and development. Newman played a significant role 

in the creation of VMASC, recognizing the need for credentialed experts in the M&S workforce, the military and 

industry. 

Many of those future credentialed experts will come from the ranks of the 

students whose work was on display at Capstone. That sentiment was reiterated 

by Capstone Conference keynote speaker Dr. Tuncer Ören, who addressed the 

students at the Capstone banquet. “I am overjoyed that so many of you have 

chosen to continue the dialogue and research of modeling and simulation 

with your contributions here today and feel better knowing that you are all my 

future colleagues,” Ören said. 

Dr. Joshua Behr, associate research professor at VMASC and an associate 

professor of political science and geography, was track chair for the general 

sciences division at the Student Capstone Conference. He said the event could 

be viewed as an indicator of the health and viability of the modeling and 

simulation community, both in Hampton Roads and at ODU. “This Capstone 

Conference, now heading into its fifth year, has witnessed robust growth in the 

number, quality and breadth of research presentations,” Behr said. “Modeling 

and simulation is a university-led effort that reaches into all colleges. Often we 

hear the phrase ‘multidisciplinary’ being bantered about causally, but in reality 

the idea of an M&S approach that embraces multidisciplinary collaboration is 

being realized.” 

The students presented their research in the field of M&S to an audience of 

fellow students, faculty, judges and other distinguished guests. In addition to 

ODU students, students from the U.S. Military Academy and the University 

of Genoa also attended the conference. 

The winners in the five tracks at the 

Student Capstone Conference areas follows: 

Transportation 

Ilyas Ustun, ODU - “Origin Destination Estimation for Trucks Based on 

Re-identification Methods” 

Medical 

Jacqueline Jackson, ODU - “The Use of Getis and Ord Cluster Analysis 

for Analyzing Rainfall Data in Relation to Rift Valley Fever Outbreaks” 

General Science 

Nick Drucker and Kenyth Campbell, ODU - “An Agent Based 

Modeling Approach to Examining the Relationships Between 

Education, Social Networks and Democratic Support” 

Military/Homeland Security 

Elaine Blount, ODU - “Physical Fitness for Tactical Success” 

Engineering 

Francesca Madeo and Federico Tarone, University of Genoa - 

“Simulation for Environmental Impact Analysis and Sustainability” 

20 21

a message from 

the executive director 

Susceptible 

Population (S) 

Dissident 

Appeasement Rate 

Dissident 

Creation Rate 

Despite the sluggish economy, VMASC had 

a prosperous year both in terms of funded 

research and in the various activities that 

we supported throughout the term. New 

research and technical support awards 

totaled nearly $9.6 million. Maintaining 

this level of funding in these challenging 

fiscal times is a direct result of the effort put 

forth by our talented researchers, technical 

staff, and administrative support staff. 

Without their energy and persistence this 

achievement would not have been possible. 

We continue to apply our research 

capabilities in seven areas: military/ 

homeland security, transportation, medical/health care, supply chain and 

business processes, social science, virtual environments, and game-based 

learning. VMASC researchers are now analyzing unexplored problems and 

real-time challenges in these established domains. For example, the lead 

researcher (and his graduate student) for supply chain and business processes 

joined expertise with a faculty member from ODU’s College of Business to 

develop a model capable of analyzing the real estate foreclosure market. This 

innovative research provides a new method of analysis and a new assessment 

of a national issue that is seemingly unanswerable. Significantly, this effort 

can have major implications in developing national economic policy. 

Dissidents 

(D) 

Insurgent 

Creation Rate 

Government 

Policies 

Insurgents 

(I) 

Insurgent 

Loss Rate 

Medical and health care professionals have recognized a great need for 

M&S to support their training and education process. Medical schools are 

adopting Violent Acts M&S technology to both increase their student throughput and to 

raise the quality of the training to levels unachievable without M&S support. 

Propoganda 

M&S has the ability Loss to expose of these students to many situations and patient 

Leadership 

conditions that they would not likely experience in the traditional medical 

Social Network 

school Influence education process because that process is solely dependent on the 

cases on hand during the course of their residency. M&S can provide a broad 

set of challenges with guaranteed consistency and availability. 

VMASC continued to foster a strong collaborative relationship 

among academia, industry, and government partners. This 

past year saw a significant effort to develop substantial M&S 

funding requests involving these partners. VMASC brought 

together several state universities and various industry 

members to work on joint proposals that benefited participants 

while addressing substantial topics of government concern. 

This process was very successful and will be continued in the 

coming years. 

This past year saw M&S achieve more national recognition. 

Its designation as a national critical technology has fueled 

the realization that it is vital to both our national security and 

to the United States’ position in the global market. Efforts 

are underway to have M&S formally recognized as its own 

industry, a move that will solidify its place in the economy. 

M&S is clearly emerging as its own academic discipline with 

several universities offering graduate degrees. ODU has once 

again led the way by developing an accredited undergraduate 

M&S engineering degree supported by the first M&S academic 

department. These are significant steps to ensuring the 

academic legitimacy of M&S. 

As with any large R&D Center, I know that this next year will 

have its own set of challenges, but VMASC and its partners 

are well-positioned to meet these challenges. VMASC’s 

mission and goal is to provide valuable skills and technology 

to address complex problems and to assist difficult decisionmaking. 

John Sokolowski, Ph.D. 

VMASC Executive Director 

Cultural Religious Economic Security 

22 23

M&Sacademics 

Academic Year 2010 was an exciting year for the Modeling 

and Simulation (M&S) academic programs at Old Dominion 

University. 

Dean Oktay Baysal received final approval at the December 

2009 meeting of Old Dominion University’s Board of Visitors 

to establish a new academic department to administer all 

M&S programs within the Batten College of Engineering and 

Technology. The Department of Modeling, Simulation and 

Visualization Engineering (MSVE) was formed during spring 

2010 and officially opened its doors on July 1, 2010. MSVE is 

the first M&S engineering department in the United States and 

offers a full-spectrum of M&S academic degree programs: the 

Bachelor of Science in Modeling and Simulation Engineering; 

the Master of Engineering (non-thesis option) and Master 

of Science (thesis option) in Modeling and Simulation, the 

Doctor of Engineering (professional degree) in Modeling and 

Simulation; and the Doctor of Philosophy (research degree) in 

Modeling and Simulation. 

The MSVE Department is located on the Old Dominion 

University Norfolk Campus and shares space with VMASC on 

the first floor of the Engineering and Computational Sciences 

Building (ECSB). The department office is located in Room 

1300 ECSB. The main points of contact for the department 

are: Chair – Dr. Roland Mielke; Graduate Program Director – 

Dr. Rick McKenzie; and Chief Department Advisor – Dr. Jim 

Leathrum. Additional information about the department and 

its M&S academic programs is available on the department’s 

website at URL: www.eng.odu.edu/msve. 

The freshman year of the Bachelor of Science Degree Program 

in Modeling and Simulation Engineering (BS-M&SE) was 

implemented during 2009-2010 and the sophomore year of the 

program will be taught for the first time during 2010-2011. This 

new program is designed to be an Engineering Accreditation 

Commission-ABET accredited engineering program and will 

produce the first program graduates in May 2013. The M&SE 

curriculum consists of core course sequences emphasizing 

system modeling, simulation techniques, software design, and 

analysis methods. The initial curriculum design was reviewed 

carefully by selected VMASC M&S industry partners and adjusted 

based on the feedback that we received. The BS program will 

help to supply the entrance-level engineering workforce needed 

urgently by our regional M&S industry. 

Old Dominion University’s M&S graduate programs continued their 

strong performance. The Colleges of Arts and Letters, Business 

and Public Administration, Education, Health Sciences, and 

Sciences now offer graduate M&S certificate programs and 

M&S emphasis areas within their existing degree programs. 

They are scheduling an increasing number and variety of M&S 

courses to support these programs. The certificate programs and 

degree emphasis areas now enroll approximately 25 students. 

The Batten College of Engineering and Technology’s master’s 

and doctoral M&S programs continue to enroll approximately 

120 students. Many of these students are employed full-time in 

M&S positions and attend school part-time to expand their M&S 

skills and knowledge base. MSVE now is developing an online, 

asynchronous master’s program for delivery nation-wide. 

VMASC continues to be an essential contributor to Old Dominion 

University’s M&S academic programs. VMASC researchers teach 

graduate courses, mentor graduate students, and their research 

programs provide many of the topics and supporting funds 

for graduate thesis and dissertation research. The academic 

programs provide the faculty and student expertise required 

to meet the VMASC project workload. This critical partnership 

between VMASC and ODU’s academic programs continues to 

be the most important factor in expanding the university’s M&S 

instruction and research during the coming year. 

Roland R. Mielke, Ph.D. 

University Professor 

Chair, Department of Modeling, Simulation 

and Visualization Engineering (MSVE) 

24 25

Business 

development 

During the past year, VMASC reached what is certain to be considered 

another milestone in its role as the recognized focal point of modeling 

and simulation (M&S) innovation and collaboration in Virginia. 

Highlighted by several key initiatives designed to foster increased 

collaboration and participation between industry, academia and 

government (IGA), the past year marked the beginning of a way 

forward to greater cooperation and success. 

Most notable was the development of Senator Warner’s M&S Task 

Force, a true consortium of IGA representatives and partners coming 

together to develop and deliver M&S solutions focused on foreign and 

domestic military defense and homeland security initiatives. More than 

two dozen IGA partners participated in developing and submitting 

unique proposals for inclusion in the 2011 defense appropriation 

request process. Proposed technologies focused on solving some 

of the most complex challenges associated with military missions, 

training and safety of the men and women protecting freedom at 

home and abroad. Throughout the process VMASC was the focal point 

of planning, coordination and information dissemination ensuring 

successful submission of multiple proposals. In a separate effort, 

VMASC was the key coordinator and sponsor of Senator Warner’s 

inaugural Virginia Summit on Modeling & Simulation, a forum 

designed to promote continued awareness of the impact M&S has on 

the Hampton Roads region and more broadly, the nation. More than 

400 M&S and technology professionals and stakeholders from around 

the nation attended the event. The Summit was held in conjunction 

with opening day of MODSIM World 2009, a multi-disciplinary and 

international conference managed by VMASC annually since 2007. 

Administration of the 2010 and future MODSIM World conferences 

has since been transitioned to a professional conference service 

management organization. VMASC continues its role of participation, 

promotion and sponsorship of MODSIM World and Senator Warner’s 

M&S Summit. 

An equally notable initiative was the roll out of the Hampton Roads 

M&S Strategy 2020. Initiated and developed collaboratively by VMASC 

and the Hampton Roads Partnership, the strategy incorporates a 

regional vision branding Hampton Roads as the international nexus 

for modeling, simulation and visualization. Before the final draft was 

published, industry partners were invited to provide their perspective 

and input to the document. Upon completion, the final draft and a set 

of opening remarks pre-recorded by Congressman Randy Forbes 

were presented to an audience of over 75 interested IGA partners 

and stakeholders. The objectives of the strategy are consistent with 

the mission of VMASC as it seeks to advance M&S research, promote 

economic development and support M&S education and workforce development. Moreover, 

the M&S Strategy goes a step further to direct actions focused on opportunity development. 

The goal of this directive is to encourage proactive engagements with prospective users of 

M&S technologies including those within DOD and non-DOD private/public organizations. 

This also is consistent with business development initiatives of VMASC, and as such we 

are actively engaging new communities of interest for the year ahead. Recent technology 

exchanges between VMASC researchers and staff members of previously untapped federal 

agencies have resulted in requests for white papers and abstracts and most importantly, new 

lanes of opportunity for VMASC. Conditions are set to cultivate and exploit new opportunities 

from medical and healthcare to municipal government and beyond. Success in reaching this 

new milestone of expanding the user/customer base of M&S will significantly enhance the 

economics and quality of life in Hampton Roads as well as enhance the industry and discipline 

of M&S. Undoubtedly, there is much work to be done in realizing the vision of this bold new 

strategy for the region and industry. 

On a more expansive scale, VMASC continues in its leadership role as committee participants 

in an NTSA-lead effort to develop a National Plan for M&S. Following Congressman Randy 

Forbes’ 2010 M&S Caucus Leadership Summit, members of its standing committee continued 

in a collaborative fashion to develop and publish a summary report from the 2010 Summit. 

The report documents a set of recommendations established by participants of working group 

sessions at the Summit. Ideally, these recommendations represent the foundation for a National 

Plan. Efforts to advance this initiative continued at a meeting themed “Modeling & Simulation 

Stakeholders Meeting: A National Enterprise”, held July 1, 2010 in Washington, D.C. More than 

forty IGA stakeholders from around the nation, including Congressman Randy Forbes attended 

this half day event to continue the dialogue to establish a unified, focused National Plan. Expect 

more updates as this is an ongoing effort. 

As we recount initiatives of the past year, it’s clear that VMASC is committed to supporting 

and participating in key events and collaborative efforts that help cultivate the M&S academic 

and business environment locally and nationally. Highlighted initiatives of the past year also 

provided us a glimpse at the many opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Looking to the 

year ahead, VMASC will continue in its role of being a leader in advancing the discipline and 

industry of M&S as well as be proactive in engaging prospective users of M&S technologies 

including those within DOD and non-DOD private/public organizations. 

Finally and in addition to the aforementioned, VMASC continues to work collaboratively with 

its industry association members and Board of Advisors in ways that offer mutual benefits. 

Through an Opportunity Inc. funded grant, VMASC was successful in reaching out to its 

industry consortium to place five fully funded ($8320 max per intern) interns in M&S positions 

with interested companies. The grant also funded a series of training workshops focused on 

technology transfer, planning and forecasting, and Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) 

grants. VMASC will continue to pursue new funding in these areas. Additionally, the Board of 

Advisors has engaged VMASC to re-evaluate its membership dues to ensure they are consistent 

with industry desires and objectives. Published revisions are forthcoming. 

Thomas Reese 

26 

VMASC Director of Business Development 

and Technology Transfer 

27

Administrative 

support 

In Fiscal Year 2009-2010, the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center 

(VMASC) continued to grow and expand its customer outreach while continuing to 

provide its existing customers with exceptional service and support. In the midst of 

a tenuous economy and high unemployment rates inside and outside the Hampton 

Roads area, VMASC was able to grow its workforce and increase sponsored research 

activities. The increase was in direct reflection of the dedication of its faculty and staff 

and the support of Old Dominion University’s President John Broderick and Vice 

President for Office of Research, Dr. Mohammad Karim. 

Additionally in March 2010, Dr. John Sokolowski was appointed as VMASC’s third 

Executive Director. Dr. Sokolowski joined VMASC in 2001 as a Project Scientist 

conducting research in the area of Homeland Security. He was conferred his Ph.D. 

in Modeling and Simulation from ODU in May 2003 and was promoted to Senior 

Research Scientist. In October 2006, Dr. Sokolowski was promoted to Director of 

Research where he lead a team of researchers and developed applied research focus 

areas. Under his management and leadership, VMASC has redefined its vision and 

mission and increased outreach to its industry, academic and government partners. 

Quoting John Dannon, Chairman of the VMASC Industry Board of Advisors, “Dr. 

Sokolowski, is clearly the right guy for the right job at the right time.” 

To assist the executive director with business development and technology transfer, 

Thomas Reese has been assigned to identify new research opportunities, coordinate 

technology exchanges, organize technology and business workshops and networking 

events and work closely with VMASC Industry Association Members and Industry 

Board of Advisors. 

A major contributing factor to the success of VMASC is its people. In Fiscal Year 2009- 

2010, VMASC had the distinct pleasure of promoting six individuals: 

Terra D’An Knowles Ball was promoted to Manager of Marketing and 

Communication in September 2009. Since joining VMASC in 2008, Ms. Ball has 

continued to bring extraordinary knowledge of marketing, graphics and web design. 

This coming year multi-media video production will be produced in-house by Ms. Ball. 

This is an area of expertise that VMASC has not had in the past and we look forward 

to the end product. 

Cheryl Sparrer was promoted to VMASC Program Manager in April 2010. Since 

joining VMASC in 2007, Ms. Sparrer has continued to develop the knowledge, skills 

and abilities necessary to be a successful program manager. This past year, Ms. Sparrer 

provided oversight and fiscal management to over 20 research projects and provided 

support to over fifteen principal investigators and seven project scientists within 

VMASC and to our affiliated ODU faculty. 

Mr. David Ralph was promoted to Information Technology Manager in January 

2010. Since joining VMASC in 2007, Mr. Ralph has provided management and 

technical expertise in support of the center’s computing environment through 

research, implementation and configuration of desktop and portable workstations, 

network applications in a server environment, and larger scale system client/server 

environments. 

Menion Croll was officially promoted to Senior Project Scientist in June 2010. Mr. Croll 

joined VMASC in 2005 and since has developed a variety of simulations, including 3D 

crowd models, flight simulator visualization, and serious games. 

Peter Foytik was officially promoted to Senior Project Scientist in June 2010. Mr. 

Foytik joined VMASC in 2005 and since has been in the field of transportation Modeling 

and Simulation with development of software to interact with existing transportation 

tools and of script files to build new models within those tools. His unique expertise 

is in mesoscopic transportation models and development of custom software tools to enhance 

transportation simulations. 

Dr. Saikou Diallo was conferred his Ph.D. from ODU in May 2010 and was promoted to Research 

Assistant Professor in June 2010. Dr. Diallo joined VMASC in 2004 as a Graduate Research 

Assistant while pursuing his Master’s of Science degree in Modeling and Simulation, which he 

received in 2006. Upon completion of his master’s degree, Dr. Diallo applied and was accepted 

into ODU’s Modeling and Simulation PhD program. Dr. Diallo’s technical expertise is in the area of 

model-based data engineering applied to interoperability and composability challenges. Along 

with technical skills and knowledge, he was awarded the best modeling and simulation student 

within ODU’s M&S program. 

Along with promoting existing faculty and staff within the VMASC organization, we were also 

able to increase our workforce by hiring six additional faculty and staff: 

James Stacia joined VMASC in October 2009 as a Program Manager. His last assignment was 

as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff Operations within the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve under the 

rank of Colonel. Mr. Stacia brings with him years of broad, high level Combined Joint and Service 

Headquarters staff experience with progressive expertise in strategic planning, operations, 

leadership and staff training. 

Tarik Cobb joined VMASC in June 2010 as an Information Systems Specialist. Mr. Cobb was hired 

to support our contract by providing engineering technician expertise for the implementation, 

configuration and support of systems engineering network architectures within the United 

States Joint Force Command’s Joint Warfighting Center. 

Dr. Jose Padilla joined VMASC in May 2010 as a Post Doctoral Researcher. Dr. Padilla’s expertise 

is in conducting research in knowledge representation. Dr. Padilla holds a Ph.D. in Engineering 

Management from Old Dominion University where he conducted research in the understanding 

of ill-defined problems using Modeling and Simulation. Dr. Padilla’s research interests include 

knowledge representation, understanding within problem situations, systems engineering, and 

philosophy of science. Prior to his academic career, he worked in the manufacturing and service 

industries as an engineer and entrepreneur. 

Art Blankenship joined VMASC in May 2010 as a Senior Project Engineer under our contract 

with the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWC). Mr. Blankenship provides 

professional career expertise and knowledge related to management, organization, and 

execution of U.S. Navy research, development, test and evaluation. 

Along with full time employment opportunities, VMASC also provided its sponsors with parttime 

Subject Matter Experts under the VMASC Senior Mentorship Programs. This program is 

currently being sponsored by USJFCOM under the guidance of General J.N. Mattis. This past 

year, we had the privilege of hiring GEN David McKiernan (Ret) and GEN John D. W. Corley (Ret). 

Under this program, VMASC Senior Mentors provide non-personal services to support a series of 

lectures and mentoring sessions to enrich the professional military training development of DoD 

senior military leaders and operational proficiency of operational joint headquarters. 

Through this academic year, the Administrative Office was instrumental in supporting the 

submission of 44 proposals, valued at more than $13.7M. Of those 44 submissions, 69% were 

accepted for award, with total revenue exceeding $9.6M. In addition to project support, the 

administrative staff processed over $110K in travel arrangements and reconciliations, $260K in 

equipment and furniture purchases, and outfitted three additional research labs in support of 

Medical Modeling (Dr. Mohammed Ferdjallah), Command and Control (Dr. Andreas Tolk) and 

Serious Gaming (Dr. Yuzhong Shen). 

Overall, the Center’s administrative support team comprised of Cheryl Sparrer, Karen 

Thompson, Tracey Vann and Tara Ralph continued its exceptional performance during the past 

fiscal year and established an inevitable record of achievement to carry into the next academic 

year 2010-2011. 

Sheila Flanagan 

28 

VMASC Director of Administration 

and Support 

29

Board of Advisors 

message 

2009 

diversification for growth. 

When a research 

organization resides 

on the leading 

edge of an exciting 

industry each year 

inevitably turns out 

to be more eventful 

than the last. That 

statement rings true 

for this year’s annual 

VMASC report. 

VMASC’s strengths 

continue to evolve 

around a strategy of 

bold leadership and 

The search for a new VMASC director ended with the 

selection of Dr. John Sokolowski and the removal 

of ‘interim’ from his title as Executive Director. John’s 

selection is noteworthy given the list of highly qualified 

candidates who stepped forward from across the nation 

to compete for this coveted position. Dr. Sokolowski 

brings a wealth of experience and a vision for the future 

that serves to galvanize VMASC as one of the Nation’s 

premier modeling and simulation research centers. 

Dr. Sokolowski immediately took steps to launch the 

first-ever Hampton Roads Modeling and Simulation 

Strategy 2020 in collaboration with the Hampton Roads 

Partnership and Congressman Randy Forbes, Co 

Chair of the Congressional Modeling and Simulation 

Caucus. Strategy 2020 not only provides a roadmap for 

the growth of modeling and simulation in Hampton 

Roads and the Commonwealth of VA, it also serves as a 

blueprint for the growth of the modeling and simulation 

industry across our nation. 

During uncertain economic times, VMASC’s research 

strategy of diversification has proven to be a winner. 

By focusing on seven unique research areas of Medical 

& Health Care, Transportation, Social Science, Virtual 

Environments, Game-Based Learning, Business and 

Supply Chain and Military/Homeland Security, VMASC 

has charted a course that ensures the continued success 

and robust growth of modeling and simulation in 

Hampton Roads and the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

simulation. Of special note is the recent publication of a 

text book entitled Modeling and Simulation Fundamentals 

edited by John A. Sokolowski and Catherine M. Banks. 

This text is available to academic institutions across the 

nation and marks VMASC and Old Dominion University 

as seminal nodes in helping to build the body of 

knowledge around this discipline. 

VMASC’s industry members are perhaps the greatest 

beneficiary of this collaborative environment. This 

past year, industry members have taken advantage of 

opportunities to partner on funded research, participate 

in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) initiatives, 

and collaborate on various grant opportunities. These 

partnerships continue to promote ongoing modeling 

and simulation research efforts which help promote new 

business opportunities for VMASC members. 

This year, VMASC helped broker a relationship with the 

Hampton Roads-based Opportunity Inc. to provide 

five grant funded interns to work with local modeling 

and simulation companies. These interns received 

valuable work experience and provided companies 

with new talent and potential future employees! 

This same grant helped fund training workshops for 

incubator companies and other businesses interested in 

technology transfer, planning and forecasting, and how 

to obtain Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) 

grants. It is also significant that VMASC has played an 

important role this past year in helping to establish the 

Modeling, Simulation and Visualization Engineering 

(MSVE) Department in the College of Engineering 

and Technology headed up by Dr. Roland Mielke. This 

new department, offering undergraduate, graduate and 

doctoral programs, will provide the necessary skilled 

workforce to fill the growth of modeling and simulation 

jobs in the region. 

As 2011 nears, we eagerly anticipate growth into new 

and adjacent markets where future customers can 

leverage the capabilities that modeling and simulation 

solutions provide. Diversity will be the key theme 

going forward. Whenever greater efficiency is required, 

modeling and simulation provides the best solution and 

VMASC is there to provide the necessary leadership for 

Hampton Roads, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the 

Nation. 

John L. Dannon, VMASC Board Chairman 

Lockheed Martin 

Tom Cole, VMASC Board Vice Chairman 

DDL Omni 

Mike Formica 

FGM, Inc. 

John Kelly 

Whitney, Bradley & Brown Inc. 

Craig Langman 

General Dynamics IT 

Dewey Mauldin 

The Boeing Company 

Jim Metzger 

SAIC 

Pete Schrider 

Alelo 

Eric Weisel, Ph.D. 

WernerAnderson 

Emeritus Members 

Tom Mastaglio, Ph.D. 

MYMIC 

Jack McGinn 

TREC, Inc. 

TREC 


One of VMASC’s strongest attributes continues to be 

the collaborative environment that underpins modeling 

and simulation activity at the Center. This environment 

begins with the support of Sheila Flanagan, Director 

for Administration and Support and her proactive staff 

and extends to a highly skilled and credentialed research 

faculty whose reputation marks VMASC as an academic 

center of excellence for research in modeling and 

John Dannon 

VMASC Board of Advisors Chairman 

Lockheed Martin 

30 31

Alelo is a leading developer of advanced learning products for cross-cultural communication 

skills. It creates immersive 3D “serious games”, in learners use of their foreign language skills 

and knowledge of the foreign culture in order to progress through the game. The United States 

military makes extensive use of Alelo courses for pre-deployment training for personnel deploying 

to Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries. Alelo has also developed a similar suite of courses for use 

by allied military forces. 

TREC 

TREC, Inc. is a services and DoD consulting company. 

Its principles have extensive experience in distributed 

simulation and promoting technologies for DoD training 

and experimentation. TREC is based in Virginia Beach, VA. 

2009 


Alelo’s 3D game worlds are populated with non-player characters that engage in spoken 

conversation with learners, utilizing Alelo’s patented conversational artificial intelligence 

technology. Alelo’s combination of cutting-edge learning technology and immersive learning 

methods help learners acquire mission-critical communication skills with unparalleled speed and 

accuracy. 

Alelo is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA with offices in Suffolk, VA and Washington, D.C. The 

Hawaiian word for “language,” it is Alelo’s mission to develop advanced learning products that 

promote cross-cultural communication skills. The company has a strong customer base which 

includes the U.S. DoD, the UK MOD, and the German Bundeswehr. www.alelo.com 

Initiated 2002 and founded in 2006, IP Systems International specializes in GIS, modeling 

and simulation, software engineering and 3D modeling. At the heart of our mission, we 

strive to utilize these sciences to solve whatever problems others deem unsolvable. 

In the aftermath of the tragic incident of Hurricane Katrina, IP Systems provided exceptional, 

on-site geospatial support for the Mississippi Emergency Operation Center. The company 

continues to remain faithful to the call to help save lives through technology. 

IP Systems International is comprised of some of the best subject matter experts in the 

industry, creating a work environment that is conducive to thinking “out of the box” and 

empowering every employee to create innovative ideas in order to meet the objectives of 

the company. The company offers a very competitive benefits package including medical, 

dental, vision, long term disability (LTD), short term disability (STD), life insurance, flexible 

work schedules, and a liberal leave policy. www.ipsysi.com 

SRA specializes in solving complex problems of global significance for clients 

in a variety of markets. With three decades serving these clients, SRA provides 

expert knowledge, technical tools and trusted solutions: “Founded in 1978 

and headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, SRA provides the expert knowledge, 

technical tools and solutions that governments, agencies and companies need 

to improve performance, reduce costs and risks, introduce enterprise efficiencies 

and enhance human health.” 

Named to FORTUNE Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list for ten 

consecutive years, SRA has more than 6,900 employees worldwide. Serving the 

markets of national security, civil government, global health, and transportation 

& air traffic management among others, SRA International, Inc. specializes in 

providing solutions for systems engineering, development and implementation, 

strategic consulting, managed technical services, and business solutions. 

www.sra.com 

NEW VMASC MEMBERS 

32 33

INDUSTRY 

• Alelo 

• Loyola Enterprises, Inc. 

• Alion Science and Technology 

• MAK Technologies 

• The Boeing Company 

• MYMIC, LLC 

• Booz Allen Hamilton 

• Northrop Grumman Mission Systems 

• C2 Technologies, Inc. 

• Raytheon 

• CAE 

• SAIC 

• Command Post Technology, Inc. 

• Semantisys 

• Craig Technologies 

• SimIS 

• DDL Omni Engineering 

• SRA 

• Earworks 

• TerraSim, Inc. 

• FGM, Inc. 

• TREC 

• General Dynamics 

• Visense 

• IP Systems International, LLC 

• VMD Systems Integrators, Inc. 

• ITA International 

• Whitney, Bradley, and Brown, Inc. 

• Lockheed Martin Center for Innovation • WernerAnderson, Inc. 

ACADEMIC 

• Christopher Newport University 

• Old Dominion University 

• College of William & Mary 

• San Diego City College 

• Eastern Virginia Medical School 

• Tidewater Community College 

• George Mason University 

• University of Alabama – Huntsville 

• James Madison University 

• University of Central Florida 

• ITT Technical Institute 

• University of Virginia 

• Korean Institute for Defense Analyses • Virginia Commonwealth University 

• Naval Postgraduate School 

• Virginia Tech 

• Norfolk State University 

GOVERNMENT 

• Air Force Agency for Modeling & Simulation 

• Air Force Operational Plans and Joint Matters 

• Air Force Research Lab 

• Army Capabilities Integration Center 

• Army Research Lab 

• Commander Operational Test and Evaluation Force 

(COMOPTEVFOR) 

• Combat Direction Systems Activity (CDSA) – Dam Neck 

• Defense Modeling and Simulation 

• Emergency Management Training, Analysis & 

Simulation Center (EMTASC) 

• Joint War Fighting Center (JWFC) 

• NASA Langley Research Center 

• NATO Allied Command Transformation 

• Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) 

• Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) 

• Surface Deployment and Distribution Command 

Transportation Engineering Agency (SDDCTEA) 

• U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) 

• U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) 

Local Government 

• City of Suffolk 

• Crater Planning District Commission 

• Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance 

(HREDA) 

• Hampton Roads Partnership (HRP) 

• Hampton Roads Research Partnership (HRRP) 

• Opportunity, Inc. 

• Virginia’s Center for Innovation Technology 

2009 


VMASC MEMBERS 

34 35

VMASC’s Senior Mentorship Program 

Old Dominion University’s Virginia Modeling, Analysis and 

Simulation Center provides non-personal services to support a 

series of lectures and mentoring sessions to enrich the professional 

military training development of DoD senior military leaders and 

operational proficiency of operational joint headquarters. 

In academic year 2009-10, the following Senior Mentors 

joined our program: 

LTG James Lovelace (Ret) 

GEN William Wallace (Ret) 

GEN David D. McKiernan (Ret) 

GEN John D. W. Corley (Ret) 


Service Contract 

VMASC provides support to USJFCOM with technical and engineering expertise 

through our Engineering/Technical Services, Student/Faculty Support contract 

(ETSSFS). As a non-partisan team, we have no product to sell and provide valuable 

unbiased technical reviews and reports to various staff sections within USJFCOM. 

Currently, there are team members in the J2, J6, J8, JSIC and JWFC. The majority of 

the teammates are retired senior officers and enlisted members from the U.S. Marine 

Corps, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and the Air National Guard. 

The experience of these individuals is the keystone of our success. They are relied upon 

to provide their sponsors with technical recommendations and have no hidden agenda. 

VMASC provides support to USJFCOM, Office of Secretary of Defense (OSD), U.S. 

Army Research Laboratory (US ARL) and Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) 

with technical and engineering experts employed through the Intergovernmental 

Personnel Act (IPA). The goal of the IPA program is to facilitate the movement of 

employees, for short periods of time, when this movement serves a sound public 

purpose. 

The assignments strengthening the management capabilities of Federal, State, 

local agencies, assist in the transfer and use of new technologies and approaches to 

solving governmental problems, facilitate an effective means of involving state and 

local officials in developing and implementing Federal policies and programs and 

provide program and developmental experience which will enhance the assignee’s 

performance in his or her regular job. 

the IPA team 

the ETSSFS team 

William Ciaston – Senior Program Manager 

Tarik Cobb – Information Technology Specialist 

John Dorris – Senior Program Manager 

Joseph Grosel – Senior Program Manager & 

Contract Program Manager 

Thomas Jarrell – Senior Program Manager 

Robert Kean – Program Project Advisor 

Ernest McDuffie – Project Analyst 

David “Oscar” Meyr – Project Analyst 

Gary Norman – Project Analyst 

Andrew Nelson – Project Analyst 

Linda Pascoe – Technical Analyst 

Robert Powers – Senior Project Manager 

Paul Skurski – Program Analyst 

Charles Triplett – Senior Project Manager 

Robert Halayko – Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) 

Thomas Lang – USJFCOM, J8 

Michael Olmstead – Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) 

David O’Neill – USJFCOM, J8 

Denis Scott – Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) 

Robert Stiegler – Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) 

In support of NSWC, Senior Project Engineers: 

Stanley Blankenship 

Roy “Neil” Cain 

Steven Mattos 

Kenneth Nichols 

A quick synopsis of what the ETSSFS team does: 

J2: Provide technical analysis on the J2 Investment Plan that links technological initiative 

development to experiments and operational testing; 

J6: Provide technical analysis and engineering services in support of operational requirements, 

concepts and functional requirements for both ground C4 systems and Intelligence Systems; 

J8: Provide technical research, qualitative and quantitative engineering analysis, cost estimation 

test planning and evaluation and timeline and report drafting in support of the J8 mission; 

JSIC: Provide project reports on research and analysis performed, indentifying technology 

solution sets, conducting desk top reviews identifying “best of breed” within the technology 

sets; 

JWFC/NATO: Provide technical and engineering services to USJFCOM on NATO/Multi-National 

M&S activities and represent the JWFC on NATO workgroups and committees in support of the 

overall M&S mission. 

36 

Steven Zehring 

37 

Erik Syvrud – U.S. Army Research Laboratory (US ARL)


Awardsand publications 

Old Dominion University’s Virginia 

Modeling, Analysis and Simulation 

Center is the international research 

leader in modeling and simulation, 

visualization, and M&S supported 

analysis. 

VMASC is honored to have well-rounded faculty members 

working in varied fields of expertise to advance the multidisciplinary 

aspects of modeling and simulation research and 

development. 

The preceding and following information provides an 

accomplished overview of the modeling and simulation 

research carried out over the last year at VMASC, 

highlighting the contributions that each researcher has 

made to the field of modeling and simulation in terms of 

scholarly work. 

journal editors 

John Sokolowski - 

• Editorial Board Member, International Journal of Systems of Systems Engineering 

• Co-Editor, Special Issue on Modeling and Simulation in Education, International 

Journal of Simulation and Process Modeling 

• Associate Editor, Simulation: Transactions of the Society for Modeling and Simulation 

International 

• Associate Editor, Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation 

Barry Ezell – 

• Military Operations Research 

• International Journal of Critical Infrastructures 

• Journal of Bioterrorism & Biodefense 

Andreas Tolk – 

• Editorial Board Member for the International Command and Control Journal 

• Command and Control Research Program Press Editorial Board Member for the 

International Journal for Intelligent Decision Technologies 

• IOS Press Editorial Board Member for the International Journal for Intelligent Defense 

Support Systems 

• IOS Press Editorial Board Member for the International Journal for Modeling and 

Simulation Engineering 

• Hindawi Publishers Editorial Board Member for SIMULATION – Transactions of the 

Society for Modeling and Simulation International 

• SAGE Publishers Editorial Board Member for Journal for Defense Modeling and 

Simulation 

• SAGE Publishers 

editors of books and journal special issues 

Sokolowski, J. A., Banks, C. M. eds. Modeling and Simulation Fundamentals: Theoretical 

Underpinnings and Practical Domains. Hoboken: Wiley, 2010. 

Tolk, Andreas. “M&S for Net-centric Command and Control” for the Journal for Command 

and Control, Vol. 3 No 1, CCRP, 2009 

books chapters written 

Banks, C.M. “Introduction to Modeling and Simulation”. In Modeling and Simulation 

Fundamentals: Theoretical Underpinnings and Practical Domains. Sokolowski, J. A., Banks, C. 

38 M., eds. Hoboken: Wiley, 2010. 

39


books chapters written (cont.) 

Sokolowski, J. A., “Monte Carlo Simulation”. In Modeling and Simulation Fundamentals: Theoretical 

Underpinnings and Practical Domains. Hoboken: Wiley, 2010. 

Tolk, Andreas, Saikou Y. Diallo, Robert D. King, Charles D. Turnitsa: “A Layered Approach to Composition 

and Interoperation in Complex Systems,” Chapter 3 in Tolk and Jain (Eds.) Complex Systems in Knowledge 

based Environments: Theory, Models and Applications. Studies in Computational Intelligence, SCI 168, pp. 41-74, 

Springer, 2009 

Tolk, Andreas. “Interoperability and Composability,” Chapter 12 in John A. Sokolowski and Catherine M. 

Banks (Eds) Modeling and Simulation Fundamentals: Theoretical Underpinnings and Practical Domains, John 

Wiley, pp. 403-433, 2010 


Ardalan A. & Diaz R. “Net-Requirement and Just-In-Time in Job-Shops: Use of Demand and 

Production Information to Improve Performance”. Production and Operations Management. 

Submitted: 2nd Review. 

Diaz R. & Ezell Barry. “Using Analytical Network Process to Analyze and Allocate Resources in the 

Army Training Support System”. Military Operations Research Society. Submitted: 2nd Review. 

Diaz R. & Bailey M. “Building Knowledge to Improve Enterprise Performance from Simulation Models”. 

Production Economics. Submitted. 

Saikou Y. Diallo, Andreas Tolk (2010). “A Formal Specification of Data in Support of M&S 

Interoperation and Interoperability”. Transactions of Modeling and Computer Simulation (TOMACS). 

Submitted. 

Tolk, Andreas. “Using Simulation Systems for Decision Support,” Chapter 14 in Abu-Taieh and El Sheikh (Eds.) 

Handbook of Research on Discrete Event Simulation Environments: Technologies and Applications, IGI Global, 

Hershey, PA, pp. 317-336, 2009 

Andreas Tolk, Robert D. Aaron (2010). “Data Engineering for Data-Rich Integration Projects: Case 

Studies Addressing the Challenges of Knowledge Transfer”, Engineering Management Journal, Vol. 22, 

Iss. 2. 

Manore, M. A., & Papelis, Y. (in press). “Roadway visualization”. In D. L. Fisher, J. K. Caird, J. D. Lee, & M. Rizzo 

(Eds.) Handbook of Driving Simulation for Engineering, Psychology and Medicine. Boco Raton, FL: CRC Press. 

refereed journal articles 

Sokolowski, J. A., Banks, C. M. “Unequal Protagonists: Modeling the Irish Insurgency” 1916-1921. 

International Journal of System of Systems Engineering. Vol. 1 No. 4, 2009, pp. 445-471. 

Sokolowski, J. A., Banks, C. M. “A Methodology to Explore the Impact of Policy Changes on Insurgencies”. 

International Journal of System of Systems Engineering. Vol 1, No. 3, 2009. pp.314-328. 

Banks, C. M., & Sokolowski, J.A. “Modeling the Niger Delta Insurgency”. The Social Science Journal (2009), 

doi:10.1016/j.soscij.2009.11.005. 

Sokolowski, J. A., Banks, C. M. “A Methodology to Explore the Impact of Policy Changes on Insurgencies”. 

International Journal of System of Systems Engineering. Vol 1, No.3, 2009, pp. 314-328. 

Sean T. Deller, Michael I. Bell, Shannon R. Bowling, Ghaith A. Rabadi, Andreas Tolk (2009). “Applying 

the Information Age Combat Model: Quantitative Analysis of Network Centric Operations”, 

International Journal Command and Control Vol. 3, No. 1. 

Patrick T. Hester, Andreas Tolk (2009). “Using Lanchester Equations for Sequential Battle Prediction 

Enabling Better Military Decision Support”, Int. J. Intelligent Defense Support Systems, Vol. 2 Nr. 2, pp. 

76-90. 

Susan K. Numrich, Andreas Tolk. “Challenges for Human, Social, Cultural, and Behavioral Modeling,” 

SCS M&S Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 1, January 2010. 

Robert H. Kewley, Andreas Tolk. “A Systems Engineering Process for Development of Federated 

Simulations”, M&S Journal Fall 2009:18-26, Modeling and Simulation Information Analysis Center 

(MSIAC), Washington, DC, December 2009. 

conference articles 

Banks, C.M., J.A. Sokolowski, “Assessing the Human-Environment Relationship: A Complex-Systems 

Methodology to Modeling Climate Change”. Social Science Research (Submitted November 2009). 

Ezell, B. Bennett, S., von Winterfeldt, D., Sokolowski, J., and Collins, A. “Probabilistic Risk Analysis and 

Terrorism Risk”. Risk Analysis. Vol.30 No. 4 (2010), pp. 575-589. 

Barry Ezell, Steven P. Bennett, Detlof von Winterfeldt, John Sokolowski, and Andrew Collins (2010); 

“Probabilistic Risk Analysis and Terrorism Risk”; Risk Analysis, Vol. 30, No. 4 

Diaz R. & Ardalan A. “An Analysis of Dual-Kanban Just-In-Time Systems in a Non-repetitive Environment”. 

Production and Operations Management. Vol. 19, No. 2, March–April 2010, pp. 233–245. 

Banks, C. M., Sokolowski, J. A. “Advancing Cognitive Agent-Based Modeling: Personifying the 

Agents”. In Proceedings of the 2009 Summer Simulation Multiconference. July 13-16, 2009. Istanbul, 

Turkey, pp. 54-60. 

Sokolowski, J. A., Banks, C. M. “Developing an Interdisciplinary, Complex-Systems Predictive 

Model for Characterizing the Effects of Climate Change”. In Proceedings of the Huntsville Simulation 

Conference HSC 2009. October 27-29, 2009. Huntsville, AL. 

Sokolowski, J. A., Banks, C. M. “Modeling Complex Social Behavior: A System Dynamics Approach”. 

In Proceedings of the 19th Conference on Behavior Representation in Modeling and Simulation. March 22- 

25, 2010. Charleston, SC. 

education 

40 41



conference articles (cont.) 

Banks, C. M., Sokolowski, J. A. “Meeting the Challenges of STEM Education: Teaching Modeling and 

Simulation with Real-World Applications”. In Proceedings of the 2010 Spring Simulation Conference. April 11-15, 

2010. Orlando, Fl., pp. 146-151. 

Turnitsa, C.D., A. Tolk, and R.H. Kewley (2009). “Exploring Primitives of Meaning in Support of 

Interoperability”. Fall Simulation Interoperability Workshop, Orlando, FL, September 2009. 

Tolk, A., C.L. Blais, S.Y. Diallo, and C.D. Turnitsa (2009). “Conceptual Requirements for Command and 

Control Languages”. Fall Simulation Interoperability Workshop, Orlando, FL, September 2009. 

Ustun, A., S.Y. Diallo, and A. Tolk (2009). “Applying Model-based Data Engineering to Evaluate 

the Alignment of Information modeled within JC3IEDM, MSDL, and MATRIX-FOM”. Fall Simulation 

Interoperability Workshop, Orlando, FL, September 2009. 

Tolk, Andreas, Charles D. Turnitsa, Saikou Y. Diallo, Rafael E. Landaeta (2009). “Engineering Management 

for Complex Systems”, Industrial Engineering Research Conference, IER, Miami, FL, IEEE. 

Tolk, A., and C.D. Turnitsa. (2009). “An Extended Interoperability Framework for Joint Composability”. Fall 

Simulation Interoperability Workshop, Orlando, FL, September 2009. 

Marshall Gangel, Michael J. Seiler, Andrew Collins (April 2010). “Exploring the Foreclosure Contagion Effect 

Using Agent-Based Modeling”; American Real Estate Society Annual meeting, Naples, FL. 

Ardalan A. and Diaz R. “Comparing Customer Line Just-In-Time and CONWIP performance via simulation”. 

Industrial Simulation Conference. June 7-9, 2010. 

Diaz R., Talley Wayne. “The economic impact of transportation infrastructure projects in urban and 

suburban regions: A System Dynamics Evaluation”. ModSim World 2009. October 2009. 

Hester, P.T., and A. Tolk (2010). “Applying Methods of the M&S Spectrum for Complex Systems 

Engineering. Emerging Applications of M&S in Industry and Academia (EAIA)”, Proceedings of the 

Spring Simulation Multiconference, ISBN: 1-56555-342-X, April 11-15, Orlando, FL, pp. 17-24. 

Turnitsa, C.D., A. Tolk, and R.H. Kewley (2010). “Further Exploration in Primitives of Meaning. 

Military Modeling and Simulation (MMS)”, Proceedings of the Spring Simulation Multiconference, ISBN: 

1-56555-342-X, April 11-15, Orlando, FL, pp. 205-212. 

Kady, R.A., and A. Tolk (2010). “Emergency Evacuation Modeling: A Novel Approach to Layout 

Designs and Evacuation Procedures”. Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Pedestrian 

and Evacuation Dynamics, March 8-10, Gaithersburg, MD. 

Garrett, R.B., A. Tolk, and T.J. Bacon (2009). “Exploring Effective Methods for Modeling a 

Comprehensive Approach to Political, Military, Economic, Social, Information, and Infrastructure 

(PMESII) / Human, Cultural, Social, Behavior (HSCB) Community of Interest (COI)”. Proceedings of the 

Winter Simulation Conference, December 13-16, Austin, TX, pp. 2860-2866. 

Tolk, A. (2009). “New M&S Challenges derived from the NATO Research & Technology Organization 

(RTO) Systems Analysis Studies (SAS-071) Task Group on Analytical Tools for Irregular Warfare”. 

Proceedings of the Winter Simulation Conference, December 13-16, Austin, TX, pp. 2844-2851. 

Bacon, T.J., P. Jones, R.B. Garrett, and A. Tolk (2009). “Integration of Psycho-Social Models and 

Methods in NATO’s Approach to Operations; A Review of NATO Research and Technology 

Organization (RTO) Systems Analysis Studies (SAS - 074)”. Proceedings of the Winter Simulation 

Conference, December 13-16, Austin, TX, pp. 2852-2859. 

Behr Joshua and Diaz R. “A System Dynamics Approach to Modeling the Sensitivity of Inappropriate 

Emergency Department Utilization”. 2010 International Conference on Social Computing, Behavioral 

Modeling, & Prediction (SBP10). NIH, March 29, 2010. 

Diaz R. “Using Optimization coupled with simulation to construct layout solutions”. Spring Simulation 

Conference. 2010 SpringSIM. Invited Paper. April 11-15, 2010. 

Bruzzone Agostino, Cimino Antonio, Diaz Rafael, Longo Francesco. “Inventory control with products 

returns: A state of the art overview”. SpringSIM. April 11-15, 2010. 

Cimino Antonio, Diaz Rafael, Longo Francesco, Mirabelli Giovanni. “Empty containers repositioning: a state 

of the art overview”. SpringSIM. April 11-15, 2010. 

Diaz R. “An Application of Simulation-based Optimization in Emergency Departments Resource Allocation”. 

INFORMS Annual Meeting 2009. San Diego, CA, October 2009. 

Behr J. and Diaz R. “A System Dynamic Approach to Modeling the Sensitivity of Inappropriate Emergency 

Department Utilization”, INFORMS 2009. INFORMS Annual Meeting 2009. San Diego, CA, October 2009. 

Deller, S., Rabadi, G.A., Bell, M., Bowling, S.R., and Tolk, A. (2009). “Modeling the Information Age 

Combat Model: An Agent-Based Simulation of Network Centric Operations”. In Pinelli, T.E. (Ed.): 

Selected Papers Presented at MODSIM World 2009 Conference and Expo, NASA/CP-2010-216205, pp. 

9-16 

Tolk Andreas. “Technical Evaluation Report”, Proceedings of the Conference on Use of M&S in Support 

to Operations, Irregular Warfare, Defense against Terrorism, and Coalition Tactical Force Integration held 

in Brussels, Belgium, October 2009, NATO Publication RTO-MP-MSG-069. 

Tolk, A. (2009). “Emerging M&S Challenges for Human, Social, Cultural, and Behavioral Modeling”. 

Proceedings of the Summer Computer Simulation Conference, July 13-16, Istanbul, Turkey, pp. 462-469. 

Y. Papelis, G. Watson, P. Katsioloudis, P. Reed, “Development of a Container Handling Simulation for 

Demonstrating Port Careers”, to appear, Spring Simulation Conference, Orlando, FL, 2010. 

Y. Papelis, L. Bair, S. Manepalli, P. Madhavan, R. Kady, E. Weisel, “Modeling of Human Behavior in 

Crowds Using a Cognitive Feedback Approach”, 5th International Conference on Pedestrian and 

Evacuation Dynamics, March 8-10, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, 

MD, 2010. 

innovation 

42 43



creative research/exhibitions 

Behr Joshua, and Diaz Rafael, “Emergency department utilization for non-emergent conditions: An indepth 

assessment of the decision calculus of patients at a major urban trauma center”. American Public 

health association. Emergency Medicine and Disaster Response Posters I. November 2009. 

Papelis, Yiannis. Invited presentation & software demonstration, “VISPORT logistics”, Hampton Roads 

Maritime, Ports and Logistics Advisory Council, Spring Meeting, March 19, 2010. 

Papelis, Yiannis. Joint presentation, “Visualization of Port Logistics Phase I and II Update”, International 

Technology and Engineering Educators Association Conference (ITEEA), Charlotte, NC, March 18, 2010. 

keynote/invited speakers 

Banks, Catherine. “Modeling and Simulation in the Social Sciences”, Graduate Student Seminar, University of 

Genoa, Genoa, Italy, October 2009. 

Sokolowski, John. “Modeling and Simulation, A Discipline, A Technology, An Opportunity”, ModSimWorld 

Canada Keynote Address, Montreal, Canada, June 2010. 

Ezell, Barry. “C4ISR”, Institute for Defense Analysis, Seoul, Korea, 17-23 May 2010. 

Ezell, Barry. “Hampton Roads Investment Justification Methodology”, National Urban Areas Security 

Initiative Conference, New Orleans, LA, 21-24 June 2010. 

Papelis, Yiannis. Invited subject matter expert on Manned/Unmanned Systems Interoperability session, 

Hampton Roads Sensors and Unmanned Systems Technology Cluster Partnership Workshop on Port Security, 

Portsmouth, VA, Jan 25-26, 2010. 

Papelis, Yiannis. Presenter and chair of discussion panel, “Virtual Centers of Excellence Workshop”, NASA 

Sponsored workshop, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, April 30-May 1, 2009. 

Papelis, Yiannis. Invited lecture, “Recent Advances in Psychology-based Crowd Modeling”, National Center 

of Scientific Research Demokritos Summer School 2009, Athens, Greece, July 2009. 

FY 2009-2010 new research awards 

John Sokolowski, Saikou Diallo, Yiannis Papelis, Menion Croll, Sol Sherfey, Andreas Tolk 

Nat’l Center for Small Unit Excellence, JFCOM $621,672 

John Sokolowski and Barry Ezell M&S Vision Support, JFCOM $73,109 

John Sokolowski, Saikou Diallo, Sol Sherfey, Andreas Tolk JWFC Support, JFCOM $1,094,176 

Barry Ezell and Joshua Behr JATA, JFCOM $400,000 

John Sokolowski and Cathy Banks NATO Systems Dynamics Course, NATO $6,000 

John Sokolowski 

ETS / SFS Contract – JSIC, JFCOM $347,790 

ETS / SFS Contract – J68 Support, JFCOM $170,176 

ETS / SFS Contract – J8 Support, JFCOM $611,654 

ETS / SFS Contract – J8 Capability, JFCOM $985,236 

ETS / SFS Contract – J68 RDT&E, JFCOM $361,575 

JFCOM Lecture Series, JFCOM $146,386 

Coalition Integration, JFCOM $392,356 

Support to JTC, General Dynamics $150,189 

Support to JTC II, General Dynamics $112,543 

Tech Support – GZQ, NSWC $475,000 

Tech Support - GZQ, NSWC $549,000 

M&S Business Incubation, SEVA Port $66,550 

Rafael Diaz IReverse Logistics Program, Opportunity Inc. $64,500 

Yuzhong Shen MYMIC Cognitive Motor, MYMIC $30,000 

Andreas Tolk TACOP, Referentia $150,000 

Stacie Ringleb 

Development of Physical Training Regimes, Office of Naval Research $212,000 

Yiannis Papelis Visualization of Port Logistics, SEVA Port $122,000 

Holly Gaff Rift Valley Fever $78,000 

Mecit Cetin, Mike Robinson, and Pete Foytik Volume Delay, VDOT $194,991 

Barry Ezell, Andrew Collins, and Joshua Behr BNBI Follow On, Batelle $80,000 

Rafael Diaz, Joshua Behr, and Peter Foytik 

Routing Optimization, City of Hampton $35,205 

Barry Ezell BNBI Travel Support, Batelle $3,618 

HRBT Assessment, Rileen $57,021 

Mike Robinson and Peter Foytik 

Transportation Alternatives, ODU Office of Research $147,679 

John Sokolowski, Andrew Collins. Saikou Diallo, Sol Sherfey, Andreas Tolk 

M&S Standards, Dept. of Defense $640,000 

application 

44 45

Faculty 

and staff DIRECTORY 

executive 

office 


Executive Director 

757-686-6232 

jsokolow@odu.edu 

Catherine Banks, Ph.D. 

Special Assistant to the 

Executive Director 

757-686-6224 

cbanks@odu.edu 

Charlotte Smith 

Executive Assistant 

757-686-6232 

clsmith@odu.edu 

modeling & 

simulation 

educational 

program 

Roland Mielke, Ph.D. 

Professor 

Department Chair 

757-683-4570 

rmielke@odu.edu 

Rick McKenzie, Ph.D. 

Associate Professor 

Graduate Program 

Director 

757-683-5590 

rdmckenz@odu.edu 

Jim Leathrum, Ph.D. 


Chief Departmental 

Advisor 

757-683-3749 

jimleathrum@cox.net 

Ahmed Noor, Ph.D. 

Professor & Eminent 

Scholar 

757-766-5233 

aknoor@odu.edu 

Guoquing Zhou, Ph.D. 

Professor 

757-683-3619 

gzhou@odu.edu 



757-686-6232 

jsokolow@odu.edu 

Yuzhong Shen, Ph.D. 

Assistant Professor 

757-683-6366 

yshen@odu.edu 

Trey Mayo 

Academic Services 

Coordinator 

757-683-5946 

rmayo@odu.edu 

Danielle Achterfeld 

Fiscal Technician 

757-683-3720 

dachterf@odu.edu 

research & 

development 

faculty 

Yiannis Papelis, Ph.D. 

Chief Scientist 

Virtual Environments 

Research Lead 

757-638-6560 

ypapelis@odu.edu 

Catherine Banks, Ph.D. 

Research Assistant 

Professor 

757-686-6224 

cbanks@odu.edu 

Joshua Behr, Ph.D. 

Research Associate 

Professor 

757-638-6564 

jbehr@odu.edu 

Andrew Collins, Ph.D. 


Professor 

757-638-4437 

ajcollins@odu.edu 

Saikou Diallo, Ph.D. 


Professor 

757-638-6320 

sdiallo@odu.edu 

Rafael Diaz, Ph.D. 


Professor 

Business & Supply Chain 

Research Lead 

757-686-6233 

rdiaz@odu.edu 

Barry Ezell, Ph.D. 


Professor 

Military & HLS 

Research Lead 

757-638-4439 

bezell@odu.edu 

Mohammed 

Ferdjallah,Ph.D. 

Medical & Health Care 

Research Lead 

757-638-4440 

mferdjal@odu.edu 

Mike Robinson 

Transportation Research 

Lead 

757-638-7010 

rmrobins@odu.edu 

Yuzhong Shen, Ph.D. 

Game-Based Learning 

Research Lead 

757-683-6366 

yshen@odu.edu 

center 

operations 

& sponsored 

programs 

Sheila Flanagan 

Director of Administration 

and Support 

757-686-6208 

sflanaga@odu.edu 

Joseph Grosel 

Program Manager - 


Services 

757-686-6231 

jgrosel@odu.edu 

James Stacia 

Program Manager 

757-638-4448 

jstacia@odu.edu 

Cheryl Sparrer 

VMASC Program Manager 

757-686-6218 

csparrer@odu.edu 

Karen Thompson 

Administrative Specialist 

757-686-6229 

kxthomps@odu.edu 

Tracey Vann 

Administrative Specialist 

757-638-7019 

tvann@odu.edu 

Tara Ralph 

Administrative Assistant 

757-638-6318 

tralph@odu.edu 

technical 

infrastructure 

David Ralph 

IT Manager 

757-686-6202 

dralph@odu.edu 

Hector Garcia 

Visual Lab Manager - 

VMASC East 

757-683-6367 

hgarcia@odu.edu 

Richard Howell 

Systems Analyst 

757-638-6313 

rhowell@odu.edu 

David Flanagan 

IT Assistant 

dflan004@odu.edu 

marketing & 

communications 

D’An Knowles Ball 

Manager of Marketing & 

Communication 

757-686-6249 

tknowles@odu.edu 

business 

development 

& technology 

transfer 

Thomas Reese 

Director of Business 

Development & 

Technology Transfer 

757-638-4454 

treese@odu.edu 

project 

scientists 

Menion Croll 

Senior Project Scientist 

757-638-6314 

mcroll@odu.edu 

Peter Foytik 


757-638-6316 

pfoytik@odu.edu 

Hector Garcia 

Project Scientist 

757-638-6367 

hgarcia@odu.edu 

Kaleen Lawsure 


757-638-4438 

klawsure@odu.edu 

Suchitra Manepalli 


757-618-1641 

smanepal@odu.edu 

Jose Padilla 

Post Doctoral Researcher 

757-686-6213 

jpadilla@odu.edu 

Will Richards 


757-686-6228 

wxrichar@odu.edu 

Sol Sherfey 


757-686-6209 

ssherfey@odu.edu 

Chuck Turnitsa 


757-638-6315 

cturnits@odu.edu 

old dominion 

university’s 

modeling & 

simulation 

faculty 

In addition to the full-time 

research staff, ODU Faculty 

supports the research 

efforts carried out by 

VMASC. 

Mecit Cetin, Ph.D. 


757-683-6700 

mcetin@odu.edu 

Gianluca De Leo, Ph.D. 


757-683-6733 

gdeleo@odu.edu 

Holly Gaff, Ph.D. 


757-683-6903 

hgaff@odu.edu 

Patrick Hester, Ph.D. 


757-683-5205 

pthester@odu.edu 

Asad Khattak, Ph.D. 

Professor 

757-683-3753 

akhattak@odu.edu 

Jiang Li, Ph.D. 


757-683-6748 

jli@odu.edu 

Poornima 

Madhavan, Ph.D. 


757-638-6424 

pmadhava@odu.edu 

Stacia Ringleb, Ph.D. 


757-686-6230 

sringleb@odu.edu 

Andreas Tolk, Ph.D. 


757-683-4500 

atolk@odu.edu 

Ginger Watson, Ph.D. 


757-683-3246 

gwatson@odu.edu 

46 47

1030 University Boulevard 

Suffolk, Virginia, USA 

48 

www.vmasc.odu.edu

VMASC 2010 Annual Report (PDF) - the Virginia Modeling, Analysis ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?