3 answers
William
Student
Purcellville, Virginia
2
Questions
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What is the best major to become a computer modeling and simulation designer
I am maybe interested in providing computer generated simulations for the military #computer-science #computer-software #computer-games
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3 answers
Blaine Wills
Solutions Consultant
5
Answers
Tampa, Florida
Updated
Blaine’s Answer
Hi William. I would suggest pursuing a degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering. You will learn programming skills that can be used for creating digital simulations. While I was pursuing my Bachelor of Science in Computer Science I was lucky enough to also get an internship working for CAE, Inc. At the time, this company was called Reflectone, and they specialized in the design and build of flight simulators for military and commercial aircraft. I ended up getting a full time position with them and worked there for over 5 years. I hope you find this helpful.
Joanne Mammarelli
Systems Engineer
137
Answers
Montclair, New Jersey
Updated
Joanne’s Answer
Honestly, consider going to one of the military schools (west point, annapolis).
Plan "B" could be computer engineering. Check with the schools to review the diversity of the computer courses within the college.
For example, Rowan University has an electrical and computer engineering program. When my son was looking, there were less than a dozen schools with this 'computer option'.
Matt Whelan
Software Engineer
20
Answers
Beaverton, Oregon
Updated
Matt’s Answer
Computer science, or systems science.
CS is more general, but will give you the skills to build software. System Science is a less common major, but its focus is closer to what you're looking at, I think: modeling complex systems as software, and learning things from emergent interactions.
A lot will depend, of course, on what you're trying to model. A flight simulator cares about how a plane reacts to a pilot, and how the plane interacts with the air (and, occasionally, the ground). This is a detailed simulation with a few very complicated parts.
On the other hand, an agent-based simulation of a bunch of pedestrians walking through a crowded space doesn't consider the aerodynamic forces on each person. That's not relevant. The interesting bit there is to create a simulation that accurately captures how people behave in crowds, and use that to test interventions that affect crowd behavior.
A team building a flight simulator is going to need some mechanical engineers, aeronautical engineers, and someone familiar with 3D computer graphics (this person probably has a CS degree). A team working on a crowd dynamics simulation is more likely to have psychologists, anthropologists, and someone familiar with agent-based simulation (this one has at least taken some system science classes, if it wasn't their major).
CS is more general, but will give you the skills to build software. System Science is a less common major, but its focus is closer to what you're looking at, I think: modeling complex systems as software, and learning things from emergent interactions.
A lot will depend, of course, on what you're trying to model. A flight simulator cares about how a plane reacts to a pilot, and how the plane interacts with the air (and, occasionally, the ground). This is a detailed simulation with a few very complicated parts.
On the other hand, an agent-based simulation of a bunch of pedestrians walking through a crowded space doesn't consider the aerodynamic forces on each person. That's not relevant. The interesting bit there is to create a simulation that accurately captures how people behave in crowds, and use that to test interventions that affect crowd behavior.
A team building a flight simulator is going to need some mechanical engineers, aeronautical engineers, and someone familiar with 3D computer graphics (this person probably has a CS degree). A team working on a crowd dynamics simulation is more likely to have psychologists, anthropologists, and someone familiar with agent-based simulation (this one has at least taken some system science classes, if it wasn't their major).