E-news Online February 2010

Simio, a developer of 3-D object-oriented simulation software, has awarded a $594,000 grant to the U.Va. School of Engineering and Applied Science. The grant provides the company’s 3-D modeling software, Simo Academic Edition, to the School at no charge.

According to the company, the software has no model size limits and includes discrete and continuous modeling, object library development and 3-D animation.

The grant makes the software available for free to the University community for installation in labs, classrooms, and on all University-owned computers.  The software will be used to help teach simulation modeling and analysis in undergraduate and graduate programs. Students will also be able to use the software for undergraduate capstone projects and graduate research projects.

“The addition of this software to our computing resources will keep us on the cutting edge of advances in simulation,” said Preston White, professor in the Department of Systems and Information Engineering and author of the Simio grant proposal.  

Students will be able to model systems using intelligent objects and the software’s direct connection to Google’s 3-D Warehouse — two unique Simio features.

The intelligent objects are built by modelers and then may be reused in multiple modeling projects. These objects can be stored in libraries and easily shared. Simio’s connection to Google’s 3-D Warehouse gives access to a free online library of thousands of graphic objects — providing students with the ability to solve real-world problems in visually rich environments.

“Simio is the latest addition to our discrete-event simulation software library, which also includes Arena and Automod,” White said. “As we come up to speed in Simio, we anticipate incorporating it in our courses and research programs.”

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