MODSIM World 2013, a multi-disciplinary international Modeling and Simulation Conference and Exposition, begins on April 30th in Hampton Roads, Virginia. MODSIM World is a multi-disciplinary conference for the exchange of modeling and simulation knowledge, research and technology across industry, government and academia.
Areas of focus at the conference and exposition include:
Defense
Healthcare/Medicine
Engineering & Applied Science
Information Assurance and Cyber Warfare
Cross-Cutting Applications in Modeling and Simulation
Education/Workforce Development
Transportation, and Manufacturing.
The event includes a tour of the NASA Langley Research Center, NASA's oldest field center. Langley Research Center primarily focuses on aeronautical research and is responsible for a number of technology breakthroughs, including the development of the Lunar Landing Facility, that enabled NASA to simulate the effects of lunar gravity.
Conference Highlights Include:
Education and Workforce Development Track: “Teaching STEM through Modeling, Simulations and Games in Education”.
Defense Track: "Senior Leaders Perspective on Modeling and Simulation".
Healthcare and Medicine Track: “An Examination of the use of Simulation for Improving Healthcare Logistics, Learning, Knowledge, and Skills”.
Homeland Security and Cyber Analytics Track: “Modeling, Simulation and Risk Analysis”.
Manufacturing, Transportation and Logistics Track: “Simulation-Based Adaptive Decision Support in a Shipyard Environment”.
For more information about this modeling and simulation conference and exposition visit the MODSIM World 2013 web site.
Fircroft, a leading provider of technical recruitment services for the Oil and Gas industries, has an opening for an Operator Training Simulator Supervisor in Houston, Texas. The role is a full time contractor position, that requires 5+ years of Oil and Gas industry and Information Technology experience.
Job Description: Management of Operator Training Simulator (OTS) to ensure that all OTS trainers receive adequate training in all aspects of OTS operation, appropriate to their responsibilities and disciplines, so that the necessary level of competence Plant Operations and Maintenance personnel will be achieved. Ensuring information, data and systems contained in the OTS are accurate and 'up-to-date' with the LNG Plant equipment and processes. To develop training 'scenarios', training material, programs, schedules and delivery methodologies that ensure Plant Operations and Maintenance personnel are competent to perform their respective job/positions tasks and functions. This is a supervisory position, the incumbent is expected to orient, train and develop OTS Trainers on the team; provide appropriate coaching, guidance and supervision.
P&H Mining Equipment, an operating subsidiary of Joy Global Inc., hired ForgeFX to develop a custom virtual training simulator for their electric rope shovels. P&H Mining designs and manufactures mining equipment for the worldwide mining industry. This training simulator improves operator efficiency, reduces training and associated equipment damage costs, and increases revenue by maximizing operator efficiency. ForgeFX's custom 3D training simulators deliver hands-on learning experiences and simulated practice sessions, teaching the skills required to operate heavy equipment quickly and safely, increasing job site productivity. Operator Training Simulator
The shovel training simulator helps operators learn to safely move more material in less time, maximizing a mining operation's bottom-line. The simulator allows operators to master the controls of the equipment, as well as the spatial relations challenges posed by the mining environment, before they ever step foot in a mine site. The training simulator can quickly and safely produce operators that will have fewer accidents, preform their jobs faster, and work more confidently. With this highly efficient workforce in place, mining operations are able to move more materials in less time, reducing their cost of production, and leading directly to an increase in profit.
If you're in the business of developing and selling medical
devices, you're all too aware of the difficulties of demonstrating your product
to prospective customers. Sure you can hook it up to a live patient that is
suffering from the ailment that your device helps to treat, but that's not
very convenient when you're on a sales call or the floor of a conference hall.
Medical device simulators, a proven tool for training, are excellent when it
comes to demonstrating your product. Virtual medical device simulators allow
you to demonstrate your product to anyone, anywhere, and at any time - critical
features for any sales person.
CAE Healthcare recently announced that they had sold their 1,000th iStan patient simulator to the Paris Simulation Center at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. This patient simulator costs approximately $150k and can be programmed to mimic medical conditions by displaying typical symptoms, and then responding to treatment. Includes realistic:
Bodily fluids and secretions
Jugular vein distention
Lung, heart, and bowel sounds
Articulated skeletal structure
It's common knowledge that you can have the greatest
product in the world, but without an effective sales and marketing effort in place,
you're success is far from guaranteed. If you're selling pens it's no problem
to demonstrate your product under any circumstances,but if your product is a piece of equipment
that works in conjunction with a human body suffering from a disease, it's a
lot harder to show someone how it works. This is where virtual simulators
come into play, by providing the means to quickly and effectively show a lead
your product in action, can directly lead to more sales.
Global Industry Analysts Report: Demand for Innovative and Efficient Surgical Systems Drives the Global Market for Virtual Reality in Healthcare.
Global Industry Analysts (GIA) recently announced the release of a global report on virtual reality in the healthcare industry. The report determines that the demand for simulation-based medical training will drive the market for virtual reality in healthcare, and projects that the global market for healthcare simulator-based training will reach US$2.43 billion by the year 2018. The report also points to the ever-increasing performance and reliability of training simulators, the decreasing cost of high-power computing, and the current adoption rate of virtual reality technology in the healthcare sector over the past decade.
Within the medical industry, the need to improve training and efficiency while reducing costs is as important as in any other industry. Virtual training simulators are one of the most effective methods to provide the necessary training and instruction, while removing many of the barriers to entry due to cost and risk.
The report is titled "Virtual Reality in Healthcare - A Global Strategic Business Report" and includes comprehensive analytics for the United States, Asia-Pacific, Canada, Europe, Japan, and 'The Rest of the World'. The report provides historic data for an insight into market evolution, growth drivers, market challenges, key issues, technology trends, and recent product innovations. The report also includes annual sales estimates and projections for the global market for the next 6 years (present - 2018).
Montefiore Medical Center: "Criterion-Based (Proficiency) Training to Improve Surgical Performance"
A recent report title "Criterion-Based (Proficiency) Training to Improve Surgical Performance" completed by Montefiore Medical Center is available from the Archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. The report determines that current requirements for surgical proficiency do not properly address the individual surgical capabilities of students, and that simulation-based training could vastly improve the skills of these surgeons-in-training before they ever operate on a living patient. The study's Principle Investigator, Dr. Marvin P. Fried, MD, FACS, University Chairman Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Montefiore Medical Center says:
"We have been studying this subject since 2000 and the results of each of our studies have shown that technical abilities are highly individualistic, skill levels progress at varying speeds. Simulation training is an invaluable tool in creating a competent surgeon in a safe and controlled environment, which ultimately helps to ensure patient safety and produce the best outcomes."
Surgical simulators allow for additional training without the need for live patients and operating rooms, vastly improving healthcare safety and efficiency.
3D Heartbeat Simulator Visualizes Pulsation and Disease
The National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Osaka, Japan recently released a virtual heartbeat simulator running on typical off-the-shelf laptops, that is capable of simulating complex pulsations of the heart. Until now, accurately simulating heart pulsation in real-time 3D has taken offline super-computers to complete the job. With technology speed and power always increasing, off-the-shelf lap tops and gaming software-based simulators are now able to get the job done online, faster and more effectively.
Using a shape matching technology the software divides the heart into 7,000 individual shapes with bounding edges and constraints. The simulator allows trainees to simulate virtual heart attacks and heart diseases and take cross sections to examine and study a complex organ under a variety of conditions.
Medical training simulators can now provide highly realistic virtual learning environments that are safe and cost-effective, and allow for repeated practice-until-perfect, increasing the skill and proficiency of future surgeons. Training simulators include operator performance metric tracking systems, allowing trainees and instructurs to quickly identify what areas they need to focus on. In additional, sales and marketing staff can benefit from having a virtual product to demonstrate, rather than having to schedule real-world demonstrations on live patients.
The demand, use, and adoption of flight simulators is skyrocketing.
The aviation industry has always been a leader in the use of training simulators, and they continue to push simulators to the forefront of training. A recent BBC New article, Flight Simulator Development Set to Soar, includes an interview with David Ownes, senior director of flight crew training at Airbus, who predicts the number of full-flight simulators will double in the next 10 to 20 years.
There are currently 900 full-flight simulators in the world, estimated to double by 2032..
By 2032, the number of jet airliners will double, to 40,000.
By 2032, 517,000 new pilots will require training.
"The demand for training seems destined to increase significantly over the next 20 years as air travel grows, and the full-flight simulator is a vital part in the support of this growth."
Globally, as airline travel is predicted to continue to increase over the next 20 years, the aviation industry is forecasting unprecedented growth. Manufacturers that provide training for operators, airlines that have their own training centres, and third-party training facilities all around the world are all scrambling to buy as many simulators as they possibly can at the moment.
Interview with David Ownes, Airbus Senior Director of Flight Crew Training
Crash Shows Need For Simulators
A recent Air France crash, in which an Air Bus A330-200 jetliner plunged from 38,000 feet into the Atlantic Ocean, demonstrates the need for more realistic flight simulators that are capable of simulating the violent nature of aerodynamic stalls. A recent Bloomberg News article, Air France Crash Shows Need for Realistic Flight Simulators, reports that the FAA may soon require simulators to realistically portray stalls so that pilots experience realistic virtual portrayals of stalls in their training and learn how to react correctly. Simulators have the ability to recreate the surprise and confusion pilots face in real-life situations, a component that is critical to proper training.
South Africa Air Force Helicopter Simulator Cuts Costs
A recent Engineering News article, Helicopter Simulator to Boost South African Air Force Training While Cutting Costs, reports that Eurocopter recently unveiled the first full flight helicopter simulator in South Africa, a full motion simulator with six degrees of freedom, allowing it to completely reproduce the motions of a Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma helicopter. The simulator will provide valuable training as well as significantly cut the helicopter training costs, since training in the simulator costs approximately 25% of training in a real-world helicopter.
Aviation Growth Equates to Simulator-Based Training Growth
With the surge in growth of the aviation industry, the simualtor-training industry is set to follow in close succession. If, as expected, the number of jetliners swells to 40,000 by 2032, the there will be a need for about 517,000 new pilots in the next 20 years, and flight simulators will provide a considerable amount of the training they will require. Flight simulators allow pilots to train on a more frequent basis and for more specific maneuvers and emergency procedures, training that is essential when it comes to aviation safety. With the average flight simulator costing $25 million USD to purchase, and another $1 Million to maintain anually, it's estimated that the flight simulator market will be worth at least $25 billion USD over the next 20 years.
Every time that we begin the development of a new training simulator project, it's important that we identify the return on investment (ROI) that clients can expect to receive. While most companies want to provide the best possible training to their employees, it often comes down to the bottom line and what their budget will support. Training simulators provide significant ROI to clients, as well as excellent training for operators.
When calculating the return on investment that a training simulator offers there are 2 main avenues to focus on. The first is that you will be able to reduce costs by avoiding accidents, and the financial burden that accompanies them. The second is that you will be able to increase revenue by having a more efficient and productive workforce, capable of moving more product in less time.
Take for example a forklift operator training simulator. The goal of a forklift training simulator is to minimize the risks posed by using a forklift in the workplace, and increase employee efficiency. However, when looking at the same project from an ROI perspective the goals of the project are cost reductions and increased revenue.
Cost Reductions: In order to understand the cost reductions that a forklift training simulation provides, one must first understand how a company would be affected financially if an employee had a forklift accident.
Lawsuits and Liabilities: Companies regularly suffer large financial losses due to lawsuits and liabilities after a forklift accident. In addition to attorney fees, court costs and settlement amounts, companies often end up paying medical bills, disability payments, and funeral costs. Compare these amounts to the cost to develop a forklift training simulator, and your return on investment has just been handed to you.
Injury or Death: In addition to the costs associated with forklift accidents, keeping employees safe should be every company's goal. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimates that there are approximately 85 forklift fatalities every year, in addition to 34,900 serious injuries and 61,800 non-serious injuries every year. OSHA also estimates that 70% of workplace accidents could have been avoided with proper training. Training simulators are one of the most effective learning tools and will help your company reduce their number of accidents immediately.
Material Loss: Forklift accidents can damage not only the forklift, but other valuable company equipment, facilities, or merchandise. While a collision with a wall or shelf may be inconsequential, crashing a forklift into a gas or electrical system is dangerous and costly. Employees who experience accidents in the virtual world are able to learn from those mistakes, and are less likely to have accidents in the real-world.
Maintenance Costs: Reductions in maintenance costs are not usually associated with safety training, but that's a mistake. Once a company is using a simulator to train their employees, their maintenance costs will drop since operators will no longer be misusing the equipment - causing unnecessary wear-and-tear on the machine.
Increased Revenue: In addition to reducing costs; training simulators allow your employees to become more efficient - producing more in less time, leading to more profit for the company. With a workforce that is well trained, employees will have fewer accidents, preform their jobs faster, and work more confidently - ultimately leading to a higher performing workforce. Training simulators lead to higher efficiency levels by providing a lifelike experience for operators to train within, so they can master their techniques and work more safely and quickly.
Learn Best Practices: Novice operators who start their training on the simulator will be able to master every control of the machine and learn to apply best practices before they every step foot into a real-world piece of equipment. With less "on the job training" taking place, employees can hit the ground running and be more productive sooner.
Practice in a Virtual Environment: In addition to learning how to operate a piece of heavy equipment, operators must become comfortable operating machinery within a workplace environment. Simulators allow your operators to master the spatial relations challenges posed by working in a busy warehouse that includes other forklifts, tight spaces, blind corners, foot traffic, etc.
Operator Performance Tracking: Training simulators can track every bit of data that is generated during a simulation session, allowing for a performance tracking system to be implemented. This performance tracking system allows managers to see how their employees' training is coming along, identifying the best-of-the-best and the worst-of-the-worst, and seeing what specific skills certain employees may need to focus on. Simulators can track subtle behaviors that can go unnoticed in real-world training. Identification and correction of these mistakes further contributes to the ROI delivered by a training simulator.
Training simulators allow companies to provide their employees with a safe and cost-effective virtual training solution that allows operators to learn from their mistakes, rather than suffer from them. If a training simulator can prevent one accident from happening it can pay for itself, and can increase a company's bottom line.
ForgeFX is a training simulator software development company based in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. We provide custom application development services for clients looking to create PC-based interactive training applications, using high-fidelity 3D graphics. Our clients compete in the mining, aerospace, transportation, construction, health care, education, and pharmaceutical industries.
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