New ODU degree caters to video-game lovers

Virtual doctors monitor visitor Gabe Loring as he works through a gall bladder removal simulation at the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center at Old Dominion University on Thursday. (Courtesy of Eva Warner)

by Denise Watson Batts, The Virginian-Pilot

To lure those smart, Xbox-loving high school students and to feed a burgeoning industry, Old Dominion University soon will offer a bachelor’s degree in modeling and simulation.

The program will be the first of its kind in the country, according to the university. It received approval from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia last week to begin offering classes in January.

ODU also was a front-runner in offering master’s and doctorate programs in modeling and simulation, but the university wanted to create a discipline and provide students with more of the fundamentals, said Oktay Baysal, dean of the Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology.

“There’s been a gap of expertise,” Baysal said. There’s a need “for someone with the skills set at the bachelor’s level.”

Old Dominion began its modeling and simulation program in the 1990s when it partnered with the military and later created VMASC – the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center – to offer professional training and research.

The center now goes beyond defense training and allows companies to use technology to test things that would be too expensive or too dangerous otherwise. It can simulate disaster and relief responses, and virtual operating rooms where students can replicate real-life surgical procedures. It also is looking at green technology and experimenting with ways to transform algae into fuel.

Baysal said the impact goes beyond positioning ODU as an international leader in the field. It also should help make Hampton Roads the premier area for modeling and simulation for businesses and high-caliber students who want to study the subject. The bachelor’s program will allow students to have minors in fields such as marketing and health science.

Baysal said modeling and simulation graduates with a master’s degree earn an average of $83,000 a year locally. He expects salaries for bachelor’s degree graduates to be in the $50,000 to $60,000 range.

“Not bad for a 22-year-old,” he said.

Last year, ODU surveyed high school students enrolled in a modeling and simulation program at the Advanced Technology Center in Virginia Beach, and 70 percent indicated an interest in pursuing a degree in the field.

Baysal said some engineering areas, such as mechanical engineering, have a hard time attracting teens, but “students who have an interest in video games, different types of simulated environments, would be interested in this.”

COMMENTS
Another Great Program at ODU-As a senior EE student at ODU, I am very pleased with the addition of the Modeling and Simulation program. This program, which will directly support work done at VMASC, NASA Langley, and NGNN, will create more high-paying jobs and lure more high-tech business to the region. I hope that more talented students from Hampton Roads will take advantage of this and other quality programs at ODU.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Virginian-Pilot/PilotOnline.com. Reprinted with permission.