UTEP to Host Major National Modeling and Simulations Virtual Town Hall Conference
Last Updated on September 04, 2020 at 12:00 AM
Originally published September 04, 2020
By UC Staff
UTEP Communications
The University of Texas at El Paso will host a virtual town hall conference on strengthening a national foundation for advanced modeling and simulations (M&S) at minority-serving institutions beginning at 8:30 a.m. MST Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020, via Microsoft Teams. Various sessions are scheduled throughout the day until 1:50 p.m.
The town hall conference will highlight select research projects at minority-serving institutions, in particular at Hispanic-serving institutions, and provide a forum to engage a diverse group of interdisciplinary researchers.
"Advanced M&S is a backbone of complex systems such as automation technologies or medical devices, including robotics, autonomous vehicles, ventilators, precision drug-delivery and health care," said Vinod Kumar, Ph.D., associate professor of mechanical engineering at UTEP. "Major federal agencies have predicted the need for M&S researchers and engineers will grow significantly in the future, perhaps at an accelerated rate post-COVID-19. Currently, there is a significant national shortage of trained workforce in this field."
Speakers will include renowned experts in the field of advanced M&S from institutions including the National Science Foundation, Princeton University, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Shell Oil Company, and the U.S. Department of Defense, among others. Industry leaders will provide a unique opportunity to engage in discussions and offer innovative solutions to challenges that society faces.
Additionally, speakers will share best practices for successfully establishing research partnerships and identify ways to overcome obstacles preventing the creation of research alliances among universities, industry and national laboratories.
Objectives of the various town hall conference sessions include:
- Providing insight to identify opportunities for synergetic research and strategic partnerships among participating high research universities, minority-serving institutions, and industries to address complex engineering systems.
- How to create partnerships among majority-minority universities and university-industry/labs that address gaps and opportunities in M&S.
- Identify actions needed to create a culture of collaboration to facilitate the formation of research partnerships.
“Great ideas that will shape our future will come from many sources from different disciplines. It’s critical that we include everyone in the conversations," said Roberto Osegueda, Ph.D., vice president for research at UTEP. "Modeling and simulations provide a unique platform to investigate complex systems."
The virtual town hall conference is free and open to the public. To join the town hall Tuesday, click this link. You will have access to view the conference schedule and join individual sessions.
