VMASC RESEARCHERS WIN "SIWzie" AWARD FOR PAPER

Researchers associated with Old Dominion University and its Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC) won a "SIWzie" award for a paper they presented at the Fall 2007 Simulation Interoperability Workshop (SIW) in Orlando.

Primary author Andreas Tolk, associate professor of engineering management and a VMASC researcher, wrote the article together with Saikou Y. Diallo and Charles D. Turnitsa, both of whom are Ph.D. candidates at VMASC. Diallo received a B.S. degree in computer engineering and master's in modeling and simulation from ODU, and Turnitsa also received a master's in modeling and simulation from the university.

Their paper, which judges rated as one of the top three presented at the SIW, is titled "A System View of Coalition Battle Management Language (C-BML)." The authors say in their abstract, "This paper is written with the intention to show the advantages of the common reference model driven solution using the principles of model-based data engineering (MBDE) to derive the necessary views." Their research points to a way computational interoperability can be improved between command and control systems, simulation systems and robotic systems.

Tolk and Diallo also are the authors of "MBDE for Web Services," a chapter they were invited to write for the upcoming book edited by Lakhmi C. Jain, "Evolution of Web in Artificial Intelligence Environment" (Springer, 2008).

Another paper that Tolk, Diallo and Turnitsa presented at the Euro 2007 SIW in Italy this past spring also won a "SIWzie" award. It dealt with a new, holistic approach to solving interoperability problems in computer simulations.

SIWs are sponsored by the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO), whose mission is to provide an open forum that promotes the interoperability and reuse of models and simulations through the exchange of ideas, the examination of technologies and the development of standards. To this end, SISO sponsors interoperability workshops alternating between sites on both sides of the Atlantic.

Michael McGinnis, the VMASC executive director, praised the research and scholarship of the three men. "This award is a tribute to your efforts and adds to your growing reputation," he wrote in his tribute. McGinnis also congratulated John Sokolowski, the VMASC director of research, for "setting conditions for our researchers to achieve success."