President's Message

Well, the year is half over and it's almost time for our annual "West Coast" meeting in Grand Rapids. By now, you should have received an email from MSUG with an attachment detailing the location and time for this meeting. As last year, the meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Crown Plaza. See the notice elsewhere in this newsletter.

While we're on the subject of meetings, now is the time to mark you calendar for the MSUG All-Day Conference scheduled for Wednesday, November 1 at the MSU Conference Center in Troy, MI. This year's conference promises to be an exciting event with a lively vendor panel discussion, a competitive simulation software vendor face-off, and, as usual, excellent presentations by simulation software users like you.

While your Steering Committee is putting the finishing touches on the All-Day Conference, we can use your help and input. Anyone interested in presenting a paper or if you know of a particular application you would like to see represented, please contact Randy Combs at randy.combs@gm.com or any Steering Committee member and let us know of your interest. Help us make this All-Day Conference the best yet.

Dan Doss, President

Top

Special Guest Editorial

Khaled Mabrouk, Simulation Strategist, The Model Builders, Incorporated, has kindly agreed to allow your Editor to republish the editoral "Dear Simulation Software Vendors: 'Make Library Driven Simulation Easy and Inexpensive'", originally published in The Model Builders newsletter, Bridging the Simulation Gap&tm; 3(3)3.
Your Editor welcomes readers' comments as fuel for a "Letters to the Editor" column!
Top

Report on General Membership Meeting of May 17

The general membership meeting on May 17 covered virtual reality and three-dimensional modeling in simulation. Fifteen MSUG members attended this meeting, which was held at Deneb's offices.

The first presentation was from Yuk Mak of Deneb. He showed the capability of viewing simulation models in true 3D using shutter glasses on a power wall. (A power wall is a two or three projection wide screen system for large-scale viewing. In the VR case the audience also used shutter glasses to provide depth perception for a true 3D representation of the model.) The technology allows people to see simulation models with depth perception to provide a more realistic viewing experience.

Joe Hugan of Forward Vision gave the second presentation on the forces that cause simulation modelers to use 2D or 3D. He explained that forces such as visual accuracy and communication urge simulation modelers to use 3D, but forces such as hardware limitations and modeling effort pull simulation modelers back to 2D. It was a great explaination of the 2D versus 3D issues simulation modelers face.

Bucky Strong, Website

Top

August 9th General Membership Meeting

This meeting will be held from 4pm to 6pm in the Michigan Room of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 5700 28th Street S.E., ¼ mile east of I-96. The cost is $5 for members and $10 for non-members. The two scheduled presentations are: and Refreshments will be provided for the meeting. Afterward, attendees are welcome to be The Lanner Group's guests for dinner at Noto's, an Italian restaurant on 28th Street about 1½ miles east of the Crowne Plaza. This kind invitation was extended to Eric on behalf of MSUG by Mike Smith of Lanner.

See you there!

Eric Haan, West Michigan

Top

Schedule of Meetings and Events

The schedule for remaining meetings during 2000 is summarized in the table below:
Meeting
Date
Time
Location
General Membership
9-Aug-00
4:00-6:00
Grand Rapids1
Steering Committee
21-Aug-00
12:00-2:00
Deneb2
Steering Committee
2-Oct-00
12:00-2:00
CSI3
All-day Conference
1-Nov-00
8:00-4:00
MSU - Troy
Steering Committee
13-Nov-00
12:00-2:00
PMC4
1Detailed directions available from Eric Haan, 616-923-4641.
2Detailed directions available from Bucky Strong, 248-267-9696.
3Detailed directions available from Haiping Xu, 248-588-8670.
4Detailed directions available from Susan Khoubyari, 313-441-4460 extension 1171.
Top

Steering Committee Meeting Minutes, 26-Jun-00

The following is a brief summary of the MSUG Steering Committee meeting that took place at ASI on Monday, June 26, 2000 from noon to 2pm. The meeting was attended by:
Dan Doss, Eric Haan (via telephone), Susan Khoubyari, Lou Sahr, Cindy Schiess, Bucky Strong, Ed Williams, and Haiping Xu.
    Topics:
  1. Eric Haan raised a question concerning the Steering Committee position statement prepared by Susan Khoubyari and the by-laws. Eric's concern was that these two documents were not consistent. Dan Doss will follow up with Eric Cetlinski to revise the by-laws to match the current positions and ask Eric to send a revised by-law document to each Steering Committee member. It was also noted that the position for publicity should be identified as "Publicity" and not "Public Relations".
  2. Grand Rapids General Member Meeting discussion. The Lanner Group has agreed to sponsor this meeting. They will pay for the conference room, munchies, and refreshments. The Lanner Group will also host a dinner following the general meeting at Noto's. The two presentation and speakers for the meeting will be: "Practical Use of Simulation to Support Solution Development" by: John Gibbons Senior Analyst, Systems Alvey Integrated Business Solutions Grand Rapids, MI "Successful Supply Chain Simulation: An Industrial/Academic Partnership" by: Charles R. Standridge, Ph.D. Associate Professor Padnos School of Engineering Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids, MI. It was recommended that a note be sent to Dan Cook to allow him adequate time to get two messages out to the general membership announcing this meeting. Dan Doss will do this. Eric Haan will check with the speakers to see if they require overhead projectors, PC projectors, etc.
  3. MSUG Web Site - Bucky Strong informed us that the MSUG web site will be up and running later this week. The web site address is www.m-sug.org. Ed Williams was asked to include a notice in the next Newsletter to notify the general membership of the web site. Ed will also include a screen shot of the web site's opening page.
  4. All Day Conference Discussion -

    5. The responsibilities for the event were reviewed. Randy Combs is responsible to communicate with vendors and presenters, Susan Khoubyari is responsible for the printed handout materials, and Haiping Xu is responsible for the facilities.
    All Day Conference Themes - Several themes were suggested for the conference. All reflect the idea of the future of simulation. e-Simulation, Simulation at Web Speed, Simulation Odyssey into 2000, Simulation - The Next Generation
    All Day Conference Activities - Several ideas for activities for the conference were suggested and agreed to. They include: All Day Conference Keynote Speakers - Several suggestions were made for keynote speakers. The people noted in parenthesis will contact these individuals to scope out their availability and interest in being our keynote speaker. A formal invitation will be extended to the selected candidate at a later time. If there are additional suggestions, please submit to Dan Doss as soon as possible.
    All Day Conference Panel Discussion - Several suggestions were made for panel discussion participants. The people noted in parenthesis will contact these individuals to scope out their availability and interest in participating on the panel discussion. If there are additional suggestions, please submit to Dan Doss as soon as possible.
    Additional Topics and To Do Items:
  1. Randy Combs needs to send formal invitations on MSUG letterhead to selected participants for each of the following: A) Vendor exhibits, B) Discussion panel participation, and C) Vendor Face-off.
  2. Dan Cook needs to send at least two notices to the general membership announcing the August 9 Grand Rapids meeting. One notice should be about 4 weeks in advance and one notice about 1 to 2 weeks in advance. Dan Doss is to get Dan Cook the information.
  3. Randy Combs needs to pursue presenters for the All Day Conference as early as possible. Anyone who has a suggestion for a presenter should notify Randy as soon as possible.
  4. It was decided that vendor status/update/sales documents (approximately 2 pages each vendor) will be included in the All Day Conference Proceedings and that the 5-minute "quick pitch" presentation will be removed.
  5. It was also resolved that the keynote speaker's talk and the panel discussion must maintain the same topic thread. The keynote would be a high level view of simulation in the future and the panel discussion would dig deeper into this topic.
Dan Doss, MSUG President, for Eric Cetlinski, Secretary
Top

MSUG Meeting Sponsors Policy

As mentioned in our steering committee meeting minutes, the steering committee voted to allow sponsorship of MSUG general membership meetings. Honorable mention will be made to sponsors for their support to MSUG. No "sales pitches" will be permitted for that privilege.
Anyone interested in sponsoring our general meetings should contact our Facilities Chairperson (Haiping Xu, contact information at left) or other steering committee member for further details.

Randy Combs, Speakers

Top

Call to Simulation Service Providers

The MSUG Web site is under construction and we are adding a new area for simulation service providers. We will have the name of the company and a link to their web site. If you are a simulation service provider who would like to be added to our web site, or know of one, please initiate arrangements through Bucky Strong strong@deneb.com

 Bucky Strong, Website

Top

MSUG Annual Conference Software Vendor Face-Off

This year's November 1, 2000 MSUG Conference will host a "Face-off" event for vendors of discrete-event simulation software. All participants will be provided the same modeling challenge to see who can respond the quickest with the most comprehensive answer. The event will challenge all levels of discrete-event simulation (fast and detailed). Obviously, we can't disclose the nature of the modeling event in detail. However, all vendors interested in participating will want to bring their modeling wizards and hyperfast hardware. That's all you need to participate!
Hope to see you there to showcase your product(s)! Inquiries to Randy Combs (contact information at left).

Randy Combs, Speakers

Top

Call for Presentations

Your Programs chair on the MSUG steering committee eagerly and urgently invites presentation submissions for the general membership meetings on August 9  and November 1. Please send one-paragraph summaries to Susan Khoubyari (contact information at left).
Top

Report on Simulation Solutions 2000

The Michigan Simulation User Group (MSUG) was started in January, 1993 by a group of simulationists from the Detroit area. Now, in its eighth year of existence, MSUG sets a good example of what most of us need: a forum for exchanging ideas with, and learning from, our fellow simulationists. During the last eight years, there has been a significant increase in the number of Simulation Conferences. Many of these new conferences are product centered, and only serve a purpose for those people who use the specific product(s) provided by the host company. On the other hand, they are not a good forum for all simulationists (if you don’t use product X, why are you going to attend their conference).

In March, I was lucky enough to attend the IIE-sponsored 2nd annual Simulation Solutions Conference. This conference was very reminiscent of my previous experience with MSUG. There were many application-oriented presentations and simulation skills oriented presentations that allowed me to gain more wisdom about how I can better apply simulation technology. There were many opportunities outside of the actual presentations where people were able to discuss the challenges they encounter as simulationists. They were then able to get new ideas from other simulationists on how to deal with these challenges. For those people who were lucky enough to be heavily involved in organizing this conference, they were able to gain even more wisdom because of the higher interaction level they had with other simulationists.

The day after the conference ended, I received the following comments from one of the attendees (this individual has attended many simulation conferences):

There are several characteristics of SimSol that I think are great, including:

These comments capture the most important aspect of this conference in that it was a great place to exchange ideas and gain wisdom from your fellow simulationists (plus we had a lot of fun).

Khaled Mabrouk, President, The Model Builders

Top

Sixth International Conference on Manufacturing
2000 Pacific Conference on Manufacturing

Michigan Simulation User Group members are encouraged to seize the opportunity to attend this conference, held in even-numbered years. The conference venue is normally a city on the Pacific Rim, but in 2000 the conference comes to the Detroit area - specifically, the Westin Hotel, 1500 Town Centre, Southfield, September 6-8. Lawrence Technological University is the conference host. Extensive further information is available at the conference web site (actual web address http://www.pcmm.com.au).

Dr. Sanaa Taraman, Senior Technical Specialist, Ford Motor Company

Top

Winter Simulation Conference Report

Attendance at the Winter Simulation Conference, held in Phoenix, Arizona December 5-8, 1999, was an exciting, instructive experience. The conference comprised special Sunday afternoon tutorials, a Ph.D. colloquium, a poster session, a keynote address (The Use of Simulation in Call Center Optimization by Dr. Jon Anton of Purdue University), twelve concurrent tracks (I was track co-ordinator of the Manufacturing Application track), an exhibit hall, and vendor-user meetings Tuesday evening. Attendance was high -- well over 700.

The next Winter Simulation Conference will be held in Orlando, Florida; December 10-13, 2000. More information is available at their web site (actual web address http://www.wintersim.org).

Edward Williams, Senior Technical Specialist, Ford Motor Company

Top

2000 WITNESS© Simulation Users Association Conference

MSUG members are cordially invited to attend the 2000 WITNESS© Simulation Users Association Conference, scheduled for September 13-14 at the Marriott Eagle Crest Resort in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
With increased technical content, top industry speakers, informative panel discussions, and training available for all levels of WITNESS© users, this year's WSUA Conference promises to be even better than the last.
For complete registration information, please visit our web site (actual web address http://www.WitnessUsers.org).

Susan Hall, Lanner Group Incorporated

Top

Help Wanted Adlets

Policy: These help wanted adlets are free to MSUG members, but they do not have "inertia." They must be renewed for each issue via e-mail to the Newsletter editor.

  1. I have openings for simulation analysts. Please submit your credentials to:

    2. Louis Sahr
    CCO HQ
    30007 Van Dyke Ave
    MC 480-205-G43
    Warren, MI 48090
    Lou Sahr

     

  2. CKGP & Associates seeks simulation, IE, Paint, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing, Conveyor, and CAD expertise. Please submit credentials to:

    3. Karl V. Groth, Senior Project Engineer
    CKGP & Associates, a division of RDS
    31333 Southfield Road
    Beverly Hills, Michigan 48025-5440
    Telephone 248-642-7970; fax 248-642-1303 or 248-642-8927
    Web site http://www.ckgp.com
    Email groth@ckgp.com

     

  3. Design Systems, Incorporated solicits simulation expertise. Please submit credentials to:

    4. Cindy Schiess
    38799 West 12 Mile Road, Suite 200
    Farmington Hills, MI 48331
    Fax: 248-489-4321 Email cschiess@dsi-solutions.com

     

  4. Production Modeling Corporation has openings in the areas of discrete-event and robotics simulation, and Industrial, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering. Please submit credentials to:

    5. Susan Khoubyari
    Production Modeling Corporation
    3 Parklane Boulevard, Suite 1006W
    Dearborn, Michigan 48126
    Email susan@pmcorp.com
    Fax 313-441-6098
    Web site http://www.pmcorp.com

     

  5. The Model Builders is recruiting simulation engineers and project managers. Contact information is:

    6. Khaled Mabrouk
    The Model Builders
    321 South Main, Suite 201
    Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
    Phone: 734-998-5560
    Fax: 734-998-5561
    Email KhaledMB@cs.com
Top

Position Wanted Adlets

Policy: These position wanted adlets are free to MSUG members, but they do not have "inertia." They must be renewed for each issue via e-mail to the Newsletter editor.

  1. I have some résumés of recent graduates I recommend available.

    2. Edward Williams, 313-592-2374.
Top