Old Dominion University's Batten College of Engineering and Technology is launching an undergraduate major in modeling and simulation engineering within the Bachelor of Science in computer engineering. It will be available to incoming freshmen and transferring juniors in the fall of 2021.
"Old Dominion has been a leader in modeling and simulation engineering for over two decades through groundbreaking academic and research endeavors," said Ben Stuart, dean of the Batten College. "The creation of the new modeling and simulation engineering major within the computer engineering bachelor's degree embodies ODU's commitment to educationally preparing students to address the creation of engineering models and simulations to solve the world's increasingly complex problems, from the design of driverless cars to understanding the spread of a disease in a pandemic."
The inclusion of the new major within the computer engineering program ensures graduates will have a strong engineering foundation. The program builds on this foundation with the software and hardware background necessary to create simulations for new complex systems as well as the sophisticated virtual environments necessary for interacting with the simulations and visualizing and understanding the results. Application areas include autonomous systems, health care, defense, cybersecurity, weather, circuit design, social media, big data, manufacturing, renewable energy, aeronautics, transportation, education and gaming - all job areas that are in high demand.
"The new major balances software, hardware and mathematics so graduates are not just the users of today's simulations, but rather the developers of tomorrow's simulations, anticipating the needs of the future," Stuart said. "Graduates will be prepared to immediately enter the workforce in high-paying fields with a unique set of skills for an undergraduate degree or to continue their studies in graduate programs to include modeling and simulation, computer engineering and engineering management."
"The new program provides students with the opportunity to graduate with a blend of two important engineering fields and therefore increase the value ODU education provides to industry," added Rafael E. Landaeta, associate professor and associate dean at the Batten College.
ODU offers a nationally recognized graduate program in modeling and simulation in which high-achieving students could continue with an accelerated BS/MS program.
"We hope that those students with an interest in software design to assist solving complex engineering problems will consider this new major as an avenue to an exciting career," Stuart said.
