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SW21 celebrated the latest simulation and modelling break throughs

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Brought to you by The ORS and INFORMS Simulation Society

Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate the 10th ‘anniversary’ of the Simulation Workshop online

SW21 is the flagship showcase of simulation and modelling across industry and academia, providing both a great opportunity to celebrate developments in the field as well as a unique opportunity to collaborate extensively over a five-day period. The online event had a packed schedule of speakers, panels, tutorials and more to bring guests the latest news and break throughs.

Features of SW21

Two high-profile international keynote speakers
Lively panel discussions with subject experts
Technical sessions
The latest research on COVID-19 simulations, artificial intelligence, conceptual modelling, crowd control and data farming
A wide range of tutorial sessions
Two daily networking sessions to connect with peers
Poster lightning talks
Interactive sessions available to watch again after the event
And much more...

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Learn

Learn about the latest developments

High-profile speakers from all over the world will be joining us to share papers, present posters, and lead panel discussions on the very latest findings. Sessions topics include COVID-19 simulation, artificial intelligence and much more.

Connect

Connect with the simulation community

Our event attracts the brightest in the simulation and modelling community. Take advantage of the chance to raise your profile within the community at our networking session by joining lively debates and chatting with other delegates.

Focus

Focus on your personal development

With papers, posters, panels, tutorials and technical sessions, there is no end to the amount you can learn from the varied five-day programme. Learn how to successfully submit a paper to a journal with a Q&A from the editors of The Journal of Simulation.

Join

Join us online on 22-26 March

Easily take part in SW21 through our dedicated event app, designed to showcase our speakers and enhance sessions with a live Q&A. Join online from the comfort of your own home, wherever you are based, without the need to travel or stay overnight. Book here

High-quality talks – guaranteed

The conference featured a packed schedule of practitioner and researcher papers detailing applied case studies and theoretical developments in the field of computer simulation. The programme was filled with interesting papers showcasing simulation work on discrete event simulation optimisation, metamodels, system dynamics, hybrid simulation, as well as on teaching simulation in the classroom. Guests heard from authors from different destinations across the globe, USA, Europe, South Africa, India, Ethiopia, Brazil, China, Indonesia to name but a few and the UK.

Prof. Susan M. Sanchez, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA

Title of talk:
“Data farming: the meaning and methods behind the metaphor”

Dr Young-Jun Son, Systems and Industrial Engineering, The University of Arizona

Title of talk:
“A DDDAMS-based Surveillance and Crowd Control via UAVs and UGVs”

Simon J.E. Taylor,
Brunel University London

Stewart Robinson,
School of Business & Economics, Loughborough University

Celebrating 20 years: The story of the simulation workshop

This year marked the 10th Operational Research Society Simulation Workshop (SW). It is 20 years since the planning commenced for the very first SW which took place in Birmingham in March 2002.

To mark the occasion, this article presents a short history of the conference including the events that led up to the first conference, details of the first SW, a summary of all 10 SWs, and how all this led to the creation of the Journal of Simulation. As founders of the conference series we provide our personal reflections on these events.

Join our Tutorial Sessions...

Dr Kathy Kotiadis, University of Kent and co-founder of PartiSim

Dr Antuela Tako, Loughborough University

Title of tutorial:
“A Tutorial on Involving Stakeholders in Facilitated Simulation Studies”

Guests learned how to use a participative approach to building simulation models using the PartiSim Framework. The framework and some tools, and a roadmap to adopting it was explained.

Dr Christine Curry, University of Southampton

Dr Thomas Monks, University of Exeter

Title of tutorial:
“How to choose the best set up for a system”

In this tutorial, we considered the problem of finding the best set up to use for a system, where the objective is measured using the output of a stochastic simulation mode.

Prof Roger McHaney, Kansas State University, College of Business

Title of tutorial:
“Text Analytics for simulation with Python”

Learn how to use text analytics to build simulation models using sentiment analysis, social network analytics

Duncan Robertson, School of Business & Economics, Loughborough University

Title of tutorial:
“Agent-Based Models: A Tutorial”

Learn how to build agent based models. We will look at the concepts of agent, emergent behaviour, and show these concepts in three different agent-based models.

Brian Dangerfield, School of Business & Economics, Loughborough University

Title of tutorial:
“The basic principles of systems thinking and system dynamics”

You will learn the basics of System Dynamics (SD) modelling, together with an introductory section on Systems Thinking, specifically influence (or causal loop) diagrams.

What else is happening...

Poster lightning sessions

We held poster plenary lightning sessions over two days with chair Lucy Morgan from Lancaster University. The sessions will discussed the vast array of topics submitted by authors all over the world.

Special Interest Group

The Simulation Special Interest group discussed the SIGs ambitious plans, including past activities, ideas for future directions, assess the potential for hosting the flagship Winter Simulation Conference 2026 in the UK or Ireland. The session was chaired by the SIG chair Dr Stephan Onggo (University of Southampton).

Closing Panel Session

The conference closed with a topical panel session on artificial intelligence and simulation with the title Artificial Intelligence and Simulation: Friend or Foe?, chaired by Professor Simon Taylor from Brunel University.

Women in OR & Analytics Network Event

This year we hosted a Women in OR & Analytics Network event in dedication to Professor Sally Brailsford. The session discussed how to build a strong, self-supporting network, and how to set better conditions for each new generation of women entering these professions.

Participative group Modelling competition on Involving Stakeholders in Facilitated Simulation Studies

We had an exciting group modelling exercise for our guests. The exercise was handed out at the Tutorial on Involving Stakeholders in Facilitated Simulation Studies. The delegates worked in groups throughout the conference week in their own time and was an opportunity to make new contacts. A panel of experts then judged their outputs with a prize offered to the winning and runner-up team on the last day of the conference.