National Center for Simulation

National Center for Simulation
Company type	Nonprofit
Industry	Research and development; Engineering; Science; Economics; Public policy; Defense
Founded	1993
Headquarters	Orlando, Florida, USA
Key people	Mr. George Cheros President & CEO, Dr. Neal Finkelstein Chief Operating Officer, & Lindsey Spalding, Director of Education and Workforce, Abbie Easter, Business Operations Manager, Lana Wallis, Deputy Director of STARBASE, and Chris Voltzke, Lead STARBASE Instructor
Website	www.simulationinformation.com

The National Center for Simulation (NCS) is a trade association of Modeling, Simulation, and Training (MS&T) companies, government, academic, start-up companies, and industry members. With a focus on advancing the MS&T industry, NCS promotes outreach, technology transfer, education, and business development opportunities for government, industry, and academic partners. Located in Orlando, Florida, and a partner to Team Orlando, NCS is a vital link between the military, government entities, MS&T industry, and academia; it plays a crucial role in the research, development and application of simulation technology.

NCS is not just a connection; it is a bridge between “traditional” defense simulation organizations and diverse simulation-related communities of interest, from Artificial Intelligence, Aviation & Aerospace, Data Analytics Digital & Gaming, Education, Emergency Services, Entertainment Homeland/Cyber Security, Manufacturing, Medical Technology, Optics & Photonics, Space, and Transportation. NCS facilitates collaboration and innovation across all of these sectors. NCS is located in the Central Florida Research Park, adjacent to Naval Support Activity Orlando, and the simulation headquarters of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and the Joint Program Office for Medical Simulation, Army Futures Command Synthetic Training Environment (STE) and an Army Contracting Command Office in Orlando, Florida, USA.

The center is a catalyst for technology transfer from the military out to industry and industry bringing innovative technologies into Team Orlando. Additionally, supporting the development, understanding, and advancement of simulation and defense technologies. Its many goals include improving defense readiness, and facilitating other sectors of industry to extend their knowledge and applications of simulation.^[1]

History

NCS was created in 1993 to support collaboration among the NASA, defense industry, government, and academia.

NCS is headquartered in the Central Florida Research Park in Orlando, Florida which is home to the world's largest cluster for computer simulation and modeling,^[2] and more than 370 companies that are members of NCS. The ecosystem includes approximately $7 billion in procurement dollars for modeling, simulation, and training companies, supported by the military simulation and training commands for the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force , and the U.S. Marine Corps. U.S. Coast Guard interests are handled by a liaison officer and staff embedded in the Navy's training systems organization.

Mr. George E. Cheros became President and CEO in July 2019. Dr. Neal Finkelstein became Chief Operating Officer in October 2019, https://militarysimulation.training/technology/ncs-hires-former-army-research-lab-chief/

Team Orlando

NCS is part of the "Team Orlando" partnership between military organizations, the modeling and simulation industry, and academic institutions working together to leverage resources and contribute to the overall security of the United States. Besides NCS, charter members of Team Orlando include the U.S. Army's Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO-STRI), the U.S. Navy's Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD), the U.S. Air Force Agency for Modeling and Simulation (AFAMS), the U.S. Marine Corps Program Manager for Training Systems (PMTRASYS), the Joint Program Office for Medical Simulation, the United States Army Simulation and Training Technology Center (STTC), the U.S. Coast Guard Liaison Office at NAWCTSD, and the University of Central Florida's School of Modeling, Simulation and Training.^[3]