For the first time in a while, I am pleased to say campus feels more or less normal. The normal academic rhythms are back with the ebb and flow of students to and from class and parking is once again a major headache… On the research front, SIMCenter continues to make positive strides in our new focus areas of defense and medicine. We continue to conduct outreach into the medical side of our institution and are finding many willing collaborators.
One area that we have been investing internal resources is in the area of artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing.
At this point, many aspects of AI have become just another tool in the toolbox for engineers doing modeling and simulation.
We see there is a great opportunity to merge techniques like machine learning with physics-based modeling to help address the shortcomings of each technique. We will soon launch internally funded projects in both of these areas to lay the groundwork for a better serving industry in the future.
Overall, I feel the area of modeling and simulation will continue to grow in importance. Technologies like AI and quantum computing will allow us to tackle problems in new and better ways. At its heart, modeling and simulation are about efficiency in the development processes and these technologies have great promise to allow the modeling community to do even more.
Shawn Midlam-Mohler, Director
