Facilities and Equipment
SIMULATION EXPERIENCE AND ANALYTICS LAB (SEAL)
A dynamic, multi-disciplinary collaborative working space showcasing the spectrum of research across all research enterprises of VMASC, the SEAL facilitates transformative research and development throughout its 7,500 sq. ft. of space and dedicated equipment which can be configured and zoned for both short- and long-term R&D efforts.
Some of the SEAL highlights include Full sensory immersion from simulation design to insight generation, seamless data collection (real, simulated, emulated, etc.) and analysis capability, as well as working and meeting space. The SEAL also provides usable equipment like simulators, 3D scanners and printers, sensors, large-scale printing, and laser cutting. SEAL also provides support for robotics, machine learning/AI testing environment and workshops. There is also a dedicated workspace for students.
5G SECURITY LAB
VMASC researchers have access to a 5G Digitalization Lab that provides the means to measure the benefits of 5G and NextG systems from open-sourced solutions to high-end commercial solutions.
The lab contains a mix of commercial, open-source, and closed source off-the-shelf hardware. The lab also contains an Ericsson High powered radio system, an Ericsson DOT indoor 5G system, and a Raymond RF Quietbox-AR isolation chamber.
ROBOTICS & VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT LAB (R&VE)
The Robotics and Virtual Environment Lab focuses on applied research development in autonomous systems, robotics and virtual environments, frequently leveraging research in all areas to develop novel solutions to a wide range of problems across many disciplines.
REGULATED RESEARCH COMPUTATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
VMASC has access to the Regulated Research Computational Environment (RRCE), which serves as a virtual laboratory environment for researchers to access computation and storage resources to analyze regulated data sets, such as Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) data.
RRCE offers various capabilities, including high-capacity storage and state-of-the-art Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), which accelerate Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning research, data science, and High-Performance Computing (HPC).
This lab features:
- Hyperconverged virtual environment in secure, segmented network,
- 240 computation cores
- 12 Nvidia A100 GPUs
- 17TiB of memory
- 330TiB of usable storage (including 30TiB of SSD), and
- NIST 800-171 and CMMC level 2 compliance.
RESEARCH COMPUTING SERVICES
VMASC has access to the ODU Research Computing Services, which supports researcher’s needs by providing:
- high performance computing clusters,
- support for sensitive and regulated date research, and
- storage for research data.
Other amenities include:
- support of several specialized environments, sensitive and regulated data including CUI and HIPAA, and
- a multi-terabyte storage access network (SAN) which is available to provide research activities with secure storage of research data.
VMASC Centers and Enterprises
CMAS is the core enterprise of VMASC, staffed with research faculty and project scientists.
DR. BRIDGET GILES
Assistant Director of Special Programs & STEM Outreach; Research Assistant Professor
Dr. Bridget Giles leads operations of STEM outreach activities and workforce readiness programs for VMASC and the Brooks Crossing Innovation Laboratory. She also leads MODSIM World STEM outreach activities. MODSIM World is a unique multi-disciplinary conference for the exchange of modeling and simulation (M&S) knowledge, research, and technology. These events provide opportunities for high school students throughout the Hampton Roads region to participate in the interchange of information, knowledge, and technology related to M&S. Dr. Giles additionally leads a growing partnership between VMASC and the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula and manages VMASC summer camps.