DATE: Monday, July 7, 1997                  TAG: 9707070067

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SERIES: Suffolk / Orlando 
SOURCE: By KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: ORLANDO, FLA.                     LENGTH:  143 lines

SUFFOLK WANTS TO SIMULATE CENTRAL FLORIDA'S SUCCESS A VIRTUAL MECCA OF TECHNOLOGY IS ENVISIONED.

A drive along Alafaya Trail on Orlando's east side 15 years ago was almost like riding down U.S. Route 17 in Suffolk today.

Thousands of acres of vacant land lined the two-lane rural road, interrupted only by an occasional gas station and convenience store.

Like Route 17, which leads to Tidewater Community College, Alafaya Trail had only one major institution - the University of Central Florida.

Today, that same part of Orlando is known as one of the nation's leading centers of simulation - a high-tech computer process that uses graphics and models to re-create real-life experiences.

Alafaya Trail is a six-lane highway with more than 40 research facilities that have brought millions of dollars into the Florida economy and created between 8,000 and 12,000 jobs, each paying about $50,000 a year.

Old Dominion University's Thomas Mastaglio would like nothing more than to simulate Orlando's experience and turn Route 17 into a virtual Alafaya Trail.

For now, there are no signs along Route 17 proclaiming, ``High-tech Zone Ahead.''

There are just a few rooms, some expensive computers and a few ODU professors working at Tidewater Community College under Mastaglio, the director of the Virginia Modeling Analysis and Simulation Center. Created a year ago, the nonprofit organization's goal is to bring simulation into the commercial sector. It also wants to start graduate programs in the technology.

A short distance away is the military's Joint Training Analysis and Simulation Center, which uses computers and models to train troops.

``I envision in three years a positive return,'' said Mastaglio, ``Companies who will have worked with us will be selling the simulation capability. Northern Suffolk will be a huge high-tech zone.''

ODU predicts that the facility will be a magnet for the burgeoning simulation industry and bring to Hampton Roads what it has brought to Orlando: millions of dollars, high-paying jobs and a new crop of professionals.

But that strong future, ODU hopefuls say, can transpire only with solid support from the community, businesses and policy-makers. And perhaps the belief that in the 21st century, simulation will be no fantasy world.

Fifteen years ago, Alafaya Trail was a 20-minute drive and what seemed a light-year from Disneyworld.

``There was nobody out here in '82,'' said Don Campbell, the director of the Training Simulation and Technology Consortium, a nonprofit organization that seeks to bring military simulation projects into the private sector. ``This park was just a dream.''

On 1,027 acres of once-abandoned land sits Central Florida's Research Park. With glass buildings, lakes and newly paved roads, the park is home to about three dozen of the state's nearly 150 simulation agencies and companies. More than half of the research park's 5,500 employees hold simulation jobs.

Simulation was originally used in the military to create battle scenarios and to train enlisted soldiers. Today, it is used by companies to train rescue squads, analyze traffic patterns and improve video game images.

In the not-so-distant future, experts say, it will be used to visually build homes, make the words in history books come alive, and plan vacations. For example, through simulation, vacation-goers will be able to dial up Hawaii and see the beaches and hotels they might visit.

Orlando's success in the simulation market is the result of several factors. It's the home of two of the main simulation contracting agencies for the Army and Navy. Last year, the Simulation, Training Instrumentation Command and the Naval Air Warfare Center awarded more than $1 billion in contracts.

Also, the University of Central Florida was one of the first colleges to start graduate programs in the technology. Its research lab, the Institute for Simulation and Training, has received millions of dollars from the military to improve its computer programs.

University officials complain that companies are snatching the students before they graduate.

``There just aren't many people out there to hire who have training in the technology,'' said William M. Yerkes, captain at the Navy facility.

Orlando officials say the evolution of the simulation industry has happened so fast that they haven't gotten a chance to market it or to prepare for its future.

Much of that growth has occurred within the last five years.

``We're doing a study now,'' said Dan Lynch, president of Central Florida's economic development commission. ``But we feel there are more high-tech companies here than in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina.

``We can also sell the fact that you can have your business where people vacation.''

While Hampton Roads may lack some of the appeal of Orlando, which also houses the Epcot Center and Universal Studios, Florida officials say it has a chance to become the next simulation hotbed.

``Simulation will be in every walk of life,'' said Campbell. ``With their colleges and the interest of some ranking political folks in Virginia, you almost can't miss.''

If Hampton Roads can become a major player in the simulation industry, the benefits could be tremendous.

Orlando has gained a number of spin-off companies from the technology. Lockheed Martin Corp., which has received millions of dollars in military contracts to build simulations, teamed up with the Japanese high-tech giant Sega Ltd. several years ago to produce video games - an industry niche valued at about $1.2 billion annually.

Sega writes the story line for its arcade games, and Lockheed's Real 3D company generates more realistic pictures through improved graphics.

While there's no question that the simulation industry has pumped a massive amount of money into Orlando's economy, officials say the return has been more than monetary.

Residents who have moved to the area for simulation jobs are active in the community.

Robert T. Hays, a civilian working on a simulation of a submarine for Orlando's Navy center, moved to the city 12 years ago. His youngest child just enrolled at Florida State University, and he and his wife are involved in their neighborhood association.

``When I moved here,'' said Hays, a Washington, D.C., native, ``I said it would only be for two years. But I'm still here.''

Simulation has also become a part of the public school curriculum. Every Friday during the school year, professors and research lab employees meet with high school students to help them create their own illusions. They recently built a surfing course simulator.

Some of the military's simulations will soon be used to help train Orlando's police squads and hospital medics. University students are working with the state's transportation department on building simulators to examine how the state might build better highways.

The military is even talking with Disney.

``We could steal Disney's illusion of movement, and Disney could get from us a more realistic environment, like adding to a game the odor of gunfire, '' said Alan R. Hammond, a project manager with the Army facility.

Mastaglio says Hampton Roads can accomplish even more than Orlando has.

``Orlando will be the prime builders of simulation. We will be the prime users,'' Mastaglio said.

Union Camp in Isle of Wight County can simulate its paper mill; SumiTomo can build a model of its distribution, he said.

``We will see results in three years,'' Mastaglio added.

Florida officials say Hampton Roads will need more time than that and strong staying power.

``Virginia needs to concentrate on a partnership between the university and industry. It's gonna take time. It took a long time here.'' MEMO: COMING TUESDAY

The simulation business Suffolk is developing could have far-reaching

influences. "The applications will be ennndless. It will be to us like

the Internet is today," Thomas Mastaglio said. ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO COURTESY NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER

Workers at the Naval Air Warfare Center in Orlando test a simulator

designed to teach sailors how to drive submarines. Training

simulators such as this one may be used throughout the Navy in a few

years. KEYWORDS: SIMULATION TECHNOLOGY

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