FINAL PROGRAM 11th European Simulation Multiconference Istanbul, Turkey, June 1-4, 1997

Bernard P. Zeigler, Hessam Sarjoughnian, Sankait Vahie
AI and Simulation Research Group
Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ, USA
email: zeigler@ece.arizona.edu
web: http://www-ais.ece.arizona.edu

Abstract

Groupware provides a network-based set of flexible software tools that incorporate basic problem-solving techniques such as brainstorming, idea organization, etc.. Electronic communications allow all group members, whether distributed or co-located, to make contributions to the group’s task both simultaneously and asynchronously. Documented experiences of many organizations attest to increased and greatly reduced completion times in large scale projects. However, groupware has yet to be applied to modeling and simulation (M&S) throughout its life-cycle where it could greatly accelerate progress through active synergistic participation of the various players involved with model development, simulation analysis and implementation. Commercially available simulation tools and methodologies are primarily single-user tools that provide inadequate support for collaborative team-based environments.

This talk presents an architecture to extend advanced M&S capabilities by embedding them in distributed collaboration environments. The goal is to enable distributed groups to construct, analyze, validate and implement simulation-based projects in concurrent engineering fashion.

We recognize that collaborative M&S can only be achieved on a solid theory-based foundation. The architecture is thus structured as a set of layers which identify important and separable services culminating in collaboration support at the top layer. Challenges presented by the architecture and progress made are presented. We consider the problem of designing a reusable set of generic components that can be applied to develop environments for potential application domains such as those of business reengineering (BPR) and distributed interactive simulation (DIS).

Biography

Bernard P. Zeigler is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Arizona, Tucson. He received his B. Eng. Phys from McGill University, 1962, M.S.E.E. from MIT, 1964, and Ph. D. from the University of Michigan in 1968. He has published over two hundred journal and conference articles in modelling and simulation, knowledge based systems and high autonomy systems.

Zeigler's research has been supported by federal agencies including NSF, NASA, USAF, and the US Army, as well as industrial sponsors including Siemens, McDonnell Douglas, and Motorola.

He is currently heading a multidisciplinary team to demonstrate an innovative approach to massively parallel simulation of large scale ecosystem models within NSF's HPCC Grand Challenge initiative. He is also sponsored by Rome Laboratory to research the use of such high performance simulation technology in support of optimization and model abstraction. In April 1996, he started as a co-principal investigator in a major contract with the USAF Armstrong Lab Logistics Research Group to develop a simulation-based, group collaborative, business reengineering environment.

He was elected as Fellow of the IEEE for his innovative work in discrete event modelling theory.

In 1995, Zeigler served on a National Research Council committee to suggest directions for information technology in the 21st Century US Army and is currently a member of an NRC committee given a similar task by the US Navy, focusing on modelling and simulation. Zeigler is currently editor-in-chief of the Transactions of The Society for Computer Simulation

C. Dennis Pegden, Ph.D.
Systems Modeling Corporation
504 Beaver Street
Sewickley, PA 15143 USA
e-mail: cdp@mail.sm.com
Internet: http://www.sm.com

Abstract

This paper discusses five specific changes that are occurring in simulation technology and examines the impact that these changes will have on the future of simulation. These five changes include improving simulation software tools, special-purpose tools for vertical applications, the application of simulation technology in business process re-engineering, the application of simulation technology in scheduling, and the application of simulation technology in real-time control.

Biography

Dennis Pegden received his bachelors in Aeronautics, Astronautics, and Engineering Sciences from Purdue University in 1970. He worked in the aerospace industry at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Matrix Corporation. He returned to Purdue in 1973 and received his Ph.D. in mathematical optimization from the Industrial Engineering Department in 1976. After graduation, he taught at the University of Alabama in Huntsville where he began his work in simulation and led in the development of the SLAM simulation language. In 1979, he joined the faculty at the Pennsylvania State University where he completed the development of the SIMAN simulation language. He is currently the CEO of Systems Modeling Corporation which markets SIMAN and Arena simulation products; the Tempo scheduling product; and vertical market products in the areas of call centers, business processing, manufacturing, high-speed processing, real-time control, and semiconductors.

(c) SCS Europe, 1997. Authors: Ali Riza Kaylan, Alexander Verbraeck, SCS Europe Office. Last change: 03-02-03