Modeling at the Capitol Hill Expo

Earlier this month, we had the privilege of participating in the 2008 Capitol Hill Modeling and Simulation Expo. The event, now in its third year, is hosted by the Congressional Modeling and Simulation Caucus, which is chaired by Rep. J. Randy Forbes (Va.) and Rep. Solomon Ortiz (Tx.). The expo, which is sponsored by the National Training and Simulation Association, took place in the Lobby Room of the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill

Founded by Congressman Forbes in 2005, the Congressional Modeling & Simulation (M&S) Caucus serves as a venue to discuss issues pertaining to modeling and simulation. Historically, the 27-member caucus has been focused on M&S as it relates to the defense industry, but this year the focus was broadened to include M&S applications across all fields.

We were invited to demonstrate 2 of our products:

• Pulse!!, a virtual learning platform created for Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi that allows residents to practice clinical and decision-making skills in a risk-free virtual environment. Pulse!! incorporates a medical teaching curriculum into an anytime/anywhere training environment that is designed to provide learning opportunities with no risk to patients and no additional strain on limited faculty time and availability.
• Incident Commander, a training tool for first responders to coordinate and manage a multi-agency response to a natural or manmade disaster. Built on NIMS Incident Command System protocol, Incident Commander is designed to provide affordable training tools for teams to apply their learning.

Not surprising, given the event organizers’ emphasis on M&S apps beyond defense, there was plenty of buzz around Pulse!! In fact, Congressman Ortiz brought out a lot of people to see our demonstration. On hand to help out with the presentations were Dr. Claudia McDonald, VP of Special Projects at Texas A&M – Corpus Christi, and Ed Fletcher, Executive Producer on Pulse!!, along with and Jenn McNamara, Director of Strategic Partnerships for BreakAway.

Because Congressional funding, through the Office of Naval Research, is the source of money for Pulse!! (which represents one of our most significant R&D engines for creating simulation technology), this was a great opportunity for us to demonstrate the value and utility of the tool for members of Congress and their staff. Participating in the expo also gave us the chance to throw our support behind Congressional efforts to encourage and enhance the study of modeling and simulation at institutions of higher learning.

The M&S Caucus is a great promoter of our industry, hosting and co-hosting a number of events each year, like the expo, and supporting legislation that impacts M&S producers and consumers (view a list here). Is your member of Congress part of the Caucus? Click here to view a list of current members.