Conference Courses

Conference courses will be held on Monday 31 May 2010.

Note 1 - Professional Certification Skill Group Applicability (HF = Human Factors, IS = Instructional Systems, MS = Maintenance Support, P = Policy, PM = Project Management, SE = Systems Engineering)

Note 2 - SIAA Professional Development and Continuing Education Units

The SIAA Professional Development Program encourages individuals to undertake ongoing professional development. Certified individuals will be required to earn Currency Units (CUs) to qualify for renewal of their certification every two years. The annual SimTecT Conference forms an important part of this ongoing program and CUs will be awarded for attendance at the Conference and participation in selected activities such as courses. Details for SimTecT 2008 will be posted on the SimTecT and SIAA websites.

To remain current, 24 CU must be earned every two years. At least 8 CU must be applicable to the Skill Group for which certification has been awarded. Attendance at SimTecT exhibition and papers earns 6 CU per day. Attendance at SimTecT Courses earns 6 CU per half-day. The applicability of SimTecT 2008 Courses to Skill Groups is as listed in the above Table. CUs may also be earned through other activities and workplace experience.

Attendance at the Introduction to Simulation in Australia course (either at SimTecT, or held at other times and places throughout the year) is a pre-requisite to attaining Certification.

General information regarding the SIAA Professional Certification Program and currency requirements are available from the SIAA website.

C1. SIAA Introduction to Simulation in Australia - Tutorial

Registration Codes

• C1A - Course Only - $325

• C1B - Course plus entry to the SIAA's Certification Program - $425

Presenters

This tutorial will be delivered by members of the SIAA Professional Development Committee, led by Phil Wallace. The Committee members are highly experienced participants in the field of simulation in Australia and actively involved in advancing the skills of those involved in the field.

Outline of Course

This half-day tutorial is an endorsed activity of the SIAA Professional Certification Program and designed to introduce people new to the field of simulation to its practice in Australia. Key organisations, standards and underpinning concepts are introduced through reference to Australian applications. Participants also undertake interactive activities to explore pathways for their professional development in the field.

Who Should Attend

This is an introductory-level tutorial aimed at people who have existing expertise which they wish to apply to the field of simulation, or who are undertaking entry-level formal qualifications in the field.

Benefits of Participation

This tutorial is a pre-requisite to award of the SIAA Simulation Introduction Certificate. Participants in this tutorial will gain a fundamental understanding of the field of simulation and its application in Australia. Participants will also be provided with guidance on how to access resources and make informed decisions regarding their further professional development options.

Outcomes for Participants

Participants will be able to:

• Describe the context of simulation in Australia
• Apply fundamental simulation concepts in the workplace, and
• Utilise the resources available to simulation professionals in Australia

Outline of Program

1. Context of simulation in Australia
   1. The SIAA and SimTecT 
   2. Simulation definitions 
   3. Forms and uses of simulation 
   4. Range of simulation applications in Australia 
2. Fundamental simulation concepts
   1. Fidelity 
   2. Resolution 
   3. Simulation and human behaviour 
   4. Verification, Validation and Accreditation 
   5. Effective deployment 
   6. Simulation and modelling standards 
   7. Simulation specifications 
3. Resources available to simulation professionals
   1. SIAA resources. 
   2. Other organisations and events 
   3. The SIAA Professional Development and Professional Certification Programs

C2. Simulation Support to Operations - Tutorial

Outline

This course will provide an overview of the key issues and concepts associated with the use of simulation for Military Operations. This includes areas such as Mission/Tactical Preparation and Mission Rehearsal. The course will provide an introduction and case studies/ lessons learnt from key practitioners in the field.

Presenters

• Michael McGarity
• MAJGEN (ret) Jim Molan

MAJ GEN Jim Molan (retd)

Major General A.J. (Jim) Molan AO DSC retired from the ADF in July 2008 after over 40 years service. In that period he commanded everything in the Army from a 30 man platoon to the Army’s 15,000 strong division. He has deep experience in the command and management of joint forces, including three years as commander of the Deployable Joint Force Headquarters when he commanded or had under his control the full range of Australian and foreign joint forces, even including US and Australian submarines. He commanded the joint evacuation forces from the Solomons in June 2000 and has seen active service with joint and coalition forces in East Timor and in Iraq where, as chief of operations, he controlled the operations of all coalition and Iraqi forces (joint forces of over 300,000 personnel). For this service he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for ‘command and leadership in action’ by the Australian government and the Legion of Merit by the US government. As well, he was commander of the joint Australian Defence Colleges which include the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies, the Australian Command and Staff College, the Centre for Command and Leadership Studies and the Australian Defence Force Academy. Before retiring he was the Adviser to the VCDF on Joint Warfighting. 

He has conducted and participated in numerous joint wargames of all kinds in training and on combat operations. In the US, he participated as a commander in the two year US Warfighter Program, culminating in probably the most sophisticated Warfighter simulation. Throughout 2007 and 2008 he worked for extended periods with the Joint Decision Support Centre during its formative period, including further development of the ADF Campaign Concept and the missile defence studies. He currently lectures on the one and two star operations course (OBOE) on Complex Operations and delivered the Complex Operations elective (soon to be called “Operational Art”) in 2008 and 2009 to the students on the Defence and Strategic Studies Course and the Command and Staff College, utilizing facilities such as the Joint Decision Support Centre.

C3. Using Simulation in a Training Environment - Tutorial

Outline

This course will provide an overview of the key issues and concepts and devices associated with the use of simulation for Training applications. This will cover low-level Computer-Based Training and games to sophisticated mission simulators and embedded training applications. The course will provide an introduction and case studies / lessons learnt from key practitioners in the field.

Presenters

• Elyssebeth Leigh
• Jo Thyer

C4. The Support of Training Systems – Issues - Tutorial

Outline

This course will provide an overview of the key issues and concepts associated with the through-life support of simulation software, hardware and data. This will cover a range of training devices and mission areas from low level Computer-Based Training to sophisticated mission simulators. The course will provide an introduction and case studies / lessons learnt from key practitioners in the field.

Presenters

• Roger Mulligan
• John Whelan
• Jawahar Bhalla

C5. Human Factors – An Introduction - CANCELLED

Outline

This course will provide an overview of the key issues and concepts associated with the deployment of Human Factors in areas related to Simulation Technology, such as Training, as well as other areas. It is a broad introduction to the field and will look at all issues involving the integration and inclusion of humans in the system life-cycle.

Presenters

• Matthew Thomas

C6. Training Needs Analysis for Simulation Systems - Interactive

Outline

Before the appropriate simulation systems and techniques can be identified for training, it is necessary to identify what training is required and what factors will drive training strategies and resources. Training Needs Analysis (TNA) provides an objective basis for determining what needs to be trained, the determination of suitable training media (including simulation) and the design of training programs to focus on those skills most critical to operational effectiveness.

This session will provide a comparison of past and current approaches to TNA and simulation and a panel of invited speakers will lead discussion of key issues.

Presenters

• Phil Wallace - Principal Consultant, Learning Systems Analysis Pty Ltd
• Dr Gerald Sterling - Senior Research Engineer, Air Operations Division DSTO
• Jon Blacklock - Senior Research Scientist, Air Operations Division DSTO
• Ed Choice - Manager Business Development - Military, CAE Australian and Oceanic

C7. Teaching and Assessing "Soft Skills" in Simulation Environments - Interactive

Outline

While task-specific technical skills are acquired in formal learning environments; context specific "non-technical skills" are often expected to be gained informally "on the job". These skills – known as "human factors" or "non-technical" skills (including "emotional intelligence" "soft skills" and "interpersonal capabilities") are often neglected until such time as emergencies, disasters or ‘near misses’ make their importance self-evident.

This course provides participants with tools for use in simulated settings to train for - and assess - "soft skills". It provides guidelines for designing training for, and assessing acquisition of, "soft skills" capabilities including interpersonal and intrapersonal awareness and group based performance.

Presenters

• Dr Elyssebeth Leigh
• Werner Naef

C8. Environmental-Modelling Infrastructure for Simulation Applications - Tutorial

Outline

Modelling of the environment (weather, climate, terrain, surface cover, and population) is a necessity for many of the simulations used in both training and analysis applications. In many simulation products, however, rudimentary or highly idealised models of, for example, the atmosphere are used, because of the effort and expense involved in generating a high-fidelity representation of the environment. This course covers application areas, approaches and standards concerning environmental modelling and data in simulation.

Presenters

• Jawahar Bhalla
• Jennifer Palmer
• John Wharrington
• Don Perugini

C9. Simulation – Predicting, Measuring and Presenting the Return on Investment - Tutorial

Outline

How does an organisation know they are receiving the expected outcomes from their training investment. Traditionally it has seemed to hard to examine return on investment / expectation in relation to training and basic reactive evaluations are commonly used. This session examines the importance of analysing training to determine if the expected behaviour changes have occurred and if there is a ROI / ROE on the investment associated with the training.

Presenters

• Deanna Hutchinson
• Kellie Lister
• Deb Jones

C10. Getting Training Right the First Time – Making Training Preparation and Planning Count - Tutorial

Outline

All training may be reviewed as a cycle of: Prepare/Plan - Conduct - Debrief. The Prepare/Plan phase is often neglected with often more attention focussed on conducting training sessions and debriefing them. Preparation and planning are required to define what the intent and training outcomes for the training session will be, to define the appropriate scenarios and to ensure that the appropriate data and infrastructure are in place to support the desired training. Without these steps training can result in the wrong outcomes and training that is not measurable. The course will provide an introduction and case studies/ lessons learnt from key practitioners in the field and provide the key steps to Preparation and Planning.

Presenters

• Greg Martin
• Dr Michael McGarity
• Richard Brougham
• Bill Dahl
• Michael Hall
• Luke Paterson

©2010 Simulation Industry Association of Australia
Updated: 6 May 2010