MODSIM World Recap

MODSIM World 2022 concluded on Wednesday, May 11th following two and a half days of keynote events, a rich technical program, and multiple networking and community building events. The conference kicked off on Monday, May 9th with keynotes from Congressman Bobby Scott and Ingalls Shipbuilding CTO Terry Walley. Congressman Scott highlighted the need for M&S skills to support the future trajectory the country is taking and discussed how education and workforce development remain a focus for the M&S Congressional Caucus. Following Congressman Scott, Terry Walley highlighted how M&S tools have evolved over the years and support heavy manufacturing today, especially noting the need for more M&S practitioners to work closely with their industry partners. To conclude the afternoon there were two keynote panels; one focused on industry and the annual Simulation Century panel. During the industry panel, the speakers touched on the diverse ways M&S is supporting drone operations, logistics and supply chain, and heavy manufacturing. Key takeaways included the need to continue to push M&S tools to help plan complex operations, such as multi-drone flights, improve supply chains so major distributors can get closer to "same hour" delivery, and find ways to put M&S tools in the hands of workforces doing some of the most complex, and dangerous, work in the world. During the annual Simulation Century panel, speakers highlighted all the ways the metaverse is evolving and will support education for children, improving the wellbeing of citizens, and discussed the need to continue to work to break the barriers towards adoption that still exist.

Day two kicked off with the Government Keynote, delivered by Mr. Michael Cannizzaro (Senior Science & Technology Advisor, Synthetic Training Environment Cross Functional Team), highlighting how the U.S. Army is benefiting from M&S to build a connected virtual experience to better train warfighters. He especially focused on the need to continue to drive realism in simulation so that soldiers will be able to train the way they fight, in a setting where unlimited iterations are possible. Day two also brought the start of the technical track, focused on how the MODSIM community is supporting work in the Community, Industry, and Security spaces. After lunch a special Medical M&S panel brought together SMEs in the medical M&S domain to highlight how AR/VR/MR (collectively called XR) tools are helping better train medical professionals and how advances in data access and computing capabilities are providing enhanced realism in the way digital patients respond during training; further increasing the ability of medical trainees to practice the skills they need in a safe environment. Day two concluded with the onsite networking social, which provided the attendees the opportunity to mingle, network, and experience the displays on the show floor.

On final day, the conference began with a special AR/VR panel, focused on the metaverse. Speakers on the panel helped discuss how, while the "metaverse" remains a bit more hype than reality, technology in the M&S space is increasing its capabilities. The confluence of improvements in computing, AI technology, and focus on user experience is creating real world applications of the metaverse that will grow in scope and capability in the coming years. Following the panel, there was a STEM event where around 80 local high school students were able to walk through the show floor and speak with the displaying organizations about their M&S tools. At the conclusion of the show floor tour, the students spent 30 minutes with the conference committee team discussing the educational and career opportunities in the Modeling and Simulation space. After lunch the technical tracks concluded their sessions and the event ended with the special MSVE Capstone panel, where ODU MSVE students who received best paper honors at the annual capstone event, presented to the MODSIM World attendees, highlighting the many ways the next generation of MODSIM practitioners are already contributing to the field.