Modeling and simulation makes inroads in other fields

By Jacob Geiger

As the Department of Defense poured millions of dollars into new modeling and simulation contracts over the past decade, much of that money – as well as thousands of jobs – came to Hampton Roads.

The Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center estimated earlier this year that the industry brought nearly $365 million into the region’s economy in 2007 and accounted for 4,420 jobs.

The average salary of those jobs was $82,733 – more than double the Hampton Roads average of $38,428, according to the simulation center , which is affiliated with Old Dominion University.

Researchers and economic development officials now hope that modeling and simulation will grow beyond defense work, especially in the fields of medicine and transportation .

Researchers at ODU and Eastern Virginia Medical School have developed innovative ways to treat patients and train new doctors.

Modeling experts also are looking for ways to study hurricane evacuation to help transportation and logistics companies negotiate the region’s crowded roads and tunnels while preparing for a major expansion of the port.

“We’ve set up research clusters in areas of medicine, transportation and other areas,” said John Sokolowski, director of research at the simulation center. “We think that’s the future growth of modeling and simulation, particularly over the next 10 years.”

How it's used in medicine 

A child walks down country lanes and across fields, collecting jewels and stars. He's on his way to a castle where a dragon holds a kidnapped princess.

It's a new video game but also a tool developed to make physical therapy for children with cerebral palsy more fun. The disease leaves children with weakened muscles, but it can be slowed through vigorous exercise.

As a child walks on a treadmill, the game character on a screen moves forward. The game distracts children as they exercise and strengthen their legs.

The new program was developed by Gianluca de Leo, an Old Dominion University professor, in partnership with the school's physical therapy department and Center for Learning Technology. It's one example of a new wave of modeling and simulation technologies that local researchers hope to develop a market for and sell.

Doctors and researchers expect modeling and simulation will revolutionize medical training and treatment. But because so much of that research takes place at universities and medical schools, commercializing the new technology has sometimes been difficult.

"There's definitely a burgeoning industry there, but it tends to be more university- and medical-school-focused," said Steve Cook, vice president of the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance. "Universities have started to try and capture the commercial aspect in the last five years."

De Leo and other developers of the children's game have agreed to let other researchers study the software for free, and they're trying to figure out how to package and sell the program.

One local invention that may be about to see some commercial success is a computerized stethoscope that can be programmed to diagnose certain symptoms. The product, developed by ODU researchers and doctors at Eastern Virginia Medical School, is designed to help medical schools train new doctors.

For example, if a patient has pneumonia, the student should hear labored breathing and fluid in the lungs when using the stethoscope.

Cardionics Inc., a Texas company that manufactures medical teaching equipment, is finishing prototypes as it prepares to bring the stethoscope to market. Keith Johnson, Cardionics' president, said the company hopes to have the stethoscope ready for sale by the end of this year or early next year.

"We'll be testing it at Eastern Virginia and University of Texas medical school later this year," Johnson said. "When the tests are finished, we'll be ready to introduce the product."

The deal between the EVMS and ODU inventors and Cardionics was sealed less than a year after EVMS first contacted the company. Robert Williams, EVMS' director of technology transfer, said that's a fast turnaround.

When doctors and researchers at EVMS develop new inventions and treatments, they bring them to Williams's office, where he works with lawyers to file for patent protection and then helps the inventors study commercial possibilities. He sees about 10 inventions per year, ranging from medical training devices such as the stethoscope to new molecules that may be the basis of a new drug or treatment plan.

"We file patent protection and then go look for a partner to develop the product," Williams said.

But even some products that may be years from commercialization are reshaping the way doctors and nurses are trained at the medical school and ODU's various health care programs.

EVMS surgery professor Dr. Leonard J. Weireter and ODU psychology professor Mark Scerbo developed a full-scale operating room simulator, complete with a fickle attending surgeon.

"One day it's a nice surgeon, and one day it's a grumpy one, just like in the real world," Scerbo said.

The simulators were based on programs designed to train new nurse anesthetists at ODU. Weireter, who is also the medical director of Sentara Norfolk General Hospital's trauma center, said the new technology lets students practice a variety of skills - from surgery to anesthesia - without putting patients at risk.

Simulators also teach surgeons and nurses how to work as a team and make decisions in an operating room. The current simulator is on the ODU campus, but Don Combs, the associate dean for planning and health professions at EVMS, said the medical school is planning to build a full-scale operating room simulator in a new $59 million building that it expects to start work on next year.

As simulation technology grows more popular, Combs said he also expects simulators to help practicing doctors learn new surgical techniques.

"We hope community practitioners will even be able to come train on the new simulator," Combs said. "In the future, when practicing physicians prepare to do a new procedure, they'll probably need to prove a minimum competency on a simulator."

How it's used in transportation

At the Virginia Modeling Analysis and Simulation Center in Suffolk, Mike Robinson is trying to figure out whether the commonwealth’s hurricane evacuation plan – first developed in 1993 – would still work today.

Robinson can study everything from a satellite-level model, in which traffic moves across the map like huge waves, to models so detailed he can focus on a given route and look at individual vehicle behavior. He also can select what percentage of residents choose to leave on evacuation routes different from those assigned to them.

The study, funded by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, is just one of many ways scientists and businesses are using modeling and simulation to look at transportation issues .

When VMASC was founded 10 years ago, almost all of its work was military-related. Now, 30 percent of the center’s work is on non-military projects, and that percentage is expected to grow each year.

Such growth will mean more jobs for researchers at VMASC, which now operates out of a year-old headquarters in northern Suffolk, as well as new jobs at companies that want to use modeling and simulation to plan for business growth.

Opportunity Inc., an agency of the Hampton Roads Workforce Development Board, is reaching out to transportation, warehousing and distribution companies to help them understand how modeling and simulation can aid in preparation for the growth and planned expansion of the port of Hampton Roads.

“There have been major changes to the local economy, so we focused on our major asset: the port,” said Rick Sciullo, the vice president of Opportunity. “Our major focus is on moving goods out of the port and dealing with issues of congestion.”

That means helping companies and localities understand where distribution centers should be located to handle the expected increase in traffic. Sciullo said Opportunity is also trying to help existing companies marry modeling and simulation technology to existing transport and logistics operations.

He said it’s hard to tell whether separate modeling and simulation companies will spring up to provide these services or if each company will begin hiring modeling and simulation experts .

Part of the mission is helping companies understand what is available and what can be done for them.

“Truck-driving simulators can cost $250,000, but that’s a drop in the bucket compared to a company’s insurance liability rate,” Sciullo said. “People don’t inherently know about these things.”

John Solokowski, VMASC’s director of research and another expert in transportation modeling, said the evacuation and transportation models developed for Hampton Roads could be adapted for other regions. This might happen, he said, if researchers started their own company or if an outside company came in and purchased or licensed the underlying modeling software.

The local evacuation models belong to the state, which paid for the study. But VMASC researchers control the intellectual property, meaning they could take the methods they used and market them to companies , cities or states that want help with traffic modeling.

“We’re talking with companies about developing transportation modeling products,” Robinson said. “If the company has evidence that the model works, then they’ll be able to sell it on the market.”

Opportunity Inc. also is working with local school systems and community colleges to add modeling and simulation to their curricula as part of a Department of Labor grant.

“A big part of the grant is exposing people to these careers,” said Sciullo. “We’re holding camps this summer for students and also adding gaming and simulation to year-round extracurricular programs.”

The new programs are being driven by the needs of companies such as Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp., already significant players in modeling and simulation, Sciullo said.

Those and other growing, or even new, companies need the local work force to be better prepared for jobs in the industry.

“Companies that come out of military modeling or VMASC build on each other,” Sciullo said. “Economic development officials are touting our talent pool to companies. It’s sort of 'build it and they will come.’ ”

Jacob Geiger, (757) 446-2643, jacob.geiger@pilotonline.com