Simulation Software Not Just for Rocket Scientists

By Katherine Bonfante, Managing Editor, Digital Media

Today simulation software is available everywhere. You can find it in your local drivers' ed programs, aviation college curricula and in your five-year-old's video game library. When it comes to process automation professionals, simulation tools are used in job training sessions to better prepare them to safely program and control automation applications. Simulation software tools are crucial to the safety of a plant and its plant operators.

In the article, "The Gaming of Modeling and Simulation" Control's contributing editor, Rich Merritt, shows how, through the use of modern technology and computer games, control engineers prepare to analyze, react and execute safety actions when facing nuclear plant safety issues.

In this tough economy, it might be fair to ask whether all these glitzy gadgets will just take over our process automation jobs. Read "Process Simulation: Your Job Is Still Safe…For Now," and put your fears aside. The article touches on the concept of a one-person design team. Even though simulation has been successful in mechanical simulators, the story is a different when it comes to process simulation. The one-person design team concept is something that can be achieved, but not now. Read the full article at www.controlglobal.com/articles/2005/507.html and learn more.To learn more about simulation visit our Simulation Resources page at www.controlglobal.com/articles/2008/176.html. Here we have gathered articles, white paper and multimedia files for you to browse at no cost. You can listen to podcasts such as Mynah's Martin Berutti on "Simulation and Training" and listen to our experts talk about the current state of the simulation/training field and how it is likely to evolve in the future. You can also listen to "Virtual Reality Simulation in the Process Industries" and learn about how this technology works in the process industries.

Simulation software makes our professional and personal lives easier. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to benefit from its uses. Automation professionals use it everyday in their jobs and so do many other people. I use simulation software through my video game console and its virtual exercise trainer. How is simulation software connected to you in your life? Log on to the Sound Off! Editors' blog (http://community.controlglobal.com/content/simulation-software-everyone), and tell me about the latest simulation software device you use and how you use it.