TRW INC. GIVES $18,000 TO VMASC

TRW Inc., a global technology, manufacturing and service company that supplies technology products and services to the automotive, space, defense and information systems markets, has given an $18,000 research grant to fund a research associate at Old Dominion University's Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center in Suffolk.

The research associate, a student at Old Dominion, will work 20 hours per week for the academic year to support modeling and simulation projects within the College of Engineering and Technology. One project, called the SimServer project, will allow students in courses who use software tools to access them via the Internet rather than buying the software. The tools are housed at VMASC, which has permission to put a single copy of software on its Internet site.

"This will radically change the way we support classes," said Tom Mastaglio, director of VMASC. The project was designed to serve the university's distance learning students who need access to simulation tools.

In addition to support from TRW, VMASC has already received support from Gateway and Dell, which have provided high-end servers for the project. The project will be beta-tested this fall by students in the university's modeling and simulation program.

"This has the potential to change the business model," said Mastaglio. "No longer will the focus be on how many licenses a company can sell."