I’m at the UK’s bi-annual “Simulation Workshop” and most “off piste” conversations seem to be about Agent Based Simulation (I’ll find a link for you).  But what I’m really grateful for is comments being made in the main “Agent vs Discrete” panel session – along the lines of “Agent Based is so difficult – that is what is constraining it – why can’t someone do for Agent Based Simulation what SIMUL8 did for Discrete Event” – wow – thanks – we feel really honored that you think that much of our product.  OK – this is what we aimed to do, but to hear that people feel it enabled to industry to grow in the way it has is, frankly, very rewarding.

…so then the chairman of the panel (Mike Pidd) looked down to the back of the audience to where he knew I was sitting and set us at SIMUL8 a small challenge!

OK – so we are now thinking about how to respond to that.  Perhaps a joint vendor-academic-ABS consultant project to work up some prototype ideas. (But not on academic time scale (the research institutes are too slow)…. More on this idea soon.
Mark