MODSIM World 2024 Recap

The MODSIM World 2024 conference, themed “Breaking Beyond: Taking the Next Step,” took place from May 20 to May 22, 2024, in Norfolk, Virginia. This event marked the 16th Annual International MODSIM World Conference, a premier gathering for professionals in the modeling and simulation (M&S) industry. The conference was comprised of two and a half days of thought-leading keynote speakers, insightful panel sessions, a rich technical program, business development opportunities, state-of-the-art exhibits, and multiple networking events.

The conference kicked off on Monday, May 20, with an opening ceremony led by Dr. Julian Abich IV, conference chair and Senior Human Factors Engineer at Quantum Improvements Consulting, that set the tone for innovation and collaboration. Dr. Linda Brent, the Strategic Planner at NTSA and CEO of The ASTA Group, honored RADM James Robb with the newly designated student scholarship award. The first special event was moderated by Dr. Jennifer Solberg, CEO of Quantum Improvements Consulting, with representatives of women in defense leaders who shared their experience and expectations for how the landscape will change regarding mentoring, challenges, and opportunities. Next, the Congressional Keynote was the Hon. Bobby Scott, who shared insights as the Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor into the criticality of modeling and simulation in addressing various problems in the Hampton Roads area. The Next Big Thing event was launched by Mr. Bob Kleinhample, President of RCK Simulations, to share the overall goal and aim to span multiple NTSA events with a culmination at I/ITSEC. Mr. John Ferry, the President of Trenchant Analytics and CEO of UseRogue.com, then shared some effective strategies and laid out a clear path to follow for doing business with the government. A hit new event was added this year called the One-Minute Spotlight, which gave conference attendees 60 seconds and one slide to introduce themselves, outline their services or capabilities, and share their conference goals. This was followed by a networking social event to further nurture business connections.

The second day started with keynotes from Dr. Jennifer Solberg and Major General Dominique Luzeaux. Dr. Solberg’s industry keynote dove into understanding the emotional responses often associated with the advent of new technologies, such as generative AI, that seem to trigger a flood of fear as much as they do excitement. Major General Dominique Luzeaux, the Digital Transformation Champion and Special Advisor to Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, focused his government keynote on how modeling and simulation are enabling NATO’s next- generation digital transformation. After hearing from the keynotes, Mr. Richard Boyd, CEO of UltiSim, hosted the 13th annual session of The Simulation Century with panelists who addressed the challenges and opportunities of implementing AI and simulation in education environments. The day then broke out into the technical track paper presentation sessions. These sessions covered a wide range of topics, from advanced simulation techniques and methodologies to real- world applications in defense, industry, training, and education. In the afternoon, the conference reconvened for the first instantiation of the Next Big Thing with Mr. Luke DeVore, Managing Partner of the Voltron Group, moderating the session on AI at work focused on going beyond policy and theory and diving into specific applications of AI being used today to create tangible value. The day concluded with an opening reception, which provided the attendees with another opportunity to mingle, network, and experience the demos on the exhibit floor.

The third and last day began with a panel session on the future needs of adaptive training that was moderated by Dr. Benjamin Golberg, Senior Scientist on the Adaptive and Intelligent Training Systems Team at U.S. Army DEVCOM, joined by representatives across all the military services. This session centered on next-generation training management tools and ongoing research efforts across the services dedicated to modernizing adaptive, data-driven solutions. To further expand the reach of the conference into the community, a STEM event invited students from the Governor's Chesapeake STEM Academy to attend the adaptive training event, interact with all the exhibits, and meet with industry professionals for a personalized discussion on educational and career paths into different M&S fields. During this time, the technical track sessions continued to delve deeper into specialized areas of M&S. The conference concluded with a NATO session moderated by Lieutenant Colonel James Frisco, Programme Director of NATO NextGen M&S. The session brought together the NATO Industry Advisory Group to report on a year-long study conducted to identify the current technical gaps and potential opportunities presented by modeling and simulation.