DATE: Friday, October 3, 1997               TAG: 9710030640

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   55 lines

ODU LANDS TECHNOLOGY PACT FIVE-YEAR NAVY CONTRACT WILL CREATE HIGH-PAYING JOBS

A Suffolk-based simulation facility designed to help spin military technology into the private sector will soon be doing exactly the opposite.

Old Dominion University, which operates the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center, has received a five-year contract from the Navy to evaluate commercial computers and programs that might be of interest to the military.

The contract could total up to $12.2 million, which would be the largest in ODU's history.

It will enable the center to hire eight to 12 new engineers, with an average salary of $50,000, by the end of the year, officials said.

The center will provide engineering services to the Norfolk-based U.S. Atlantic Command.

Thomas Mastaglio, the director of the nonprofit simulation facility, said he and his staff will evaluate new technologies in which the military is interested. The center will also determine how new computers or systems might be integrated with the Atlantic Command's current technology.

``This contract gives the government easy access to expertise across the spectrum,'' Mastaglio said. ``It completes the cycle for VMASC. We were working on'' transferring technology from the government to the commercial sector.

``Now it'll be from the commercial sector to the government,'' he said. ``This proves that ODU is a key player in technology.''

Eugene Newman, technical director for the Suffolk-based Joint Training Analysis and Simulation Center - which is where the military uses computers, models and simulators to train troops for war - said awarding the contract to ODU provides an opportunity to draw on the talents of the school's professors.

The state-run simulation facility, just off College Drive near Tidewater Community College, is minutes away from the military's joint training simulation center.

The state center's goal is to use the high-tech computer modeling processes that originated in the military and find ways the private sector can use them to increase productivity.

ODU predicts that in the future, companies will use simulation to train rescue squads, analyze traffic patterns, and more efficiently operate their facilities. The university has estimated that the facility will help attract hundreds of companies and millions of economic development dollars to the region.

Mastaglio said that, while the contract will include researching several types of technologies, it also will help promote simulation.

The second-largest contract awarded to ODU was from NASA in 1992. The nearly $10 million multi-year contract was to provide engineering services. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

Thomas Mastaglio and his staff at the Virginia Modeling, Analysis

and Simulation Center will evaluate new technologies for the Navy.

The deal will create eight to 10 engineer jobs.

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