THE BEGINNING (1994 - 1998)

We began as a concept-driven need.

Due to cost considerations, a strategic shift in the 1980s caused all United States Military branches to move away from live-action military exercises and into simulation-based practice drills, done with virtual ships, planes, and soldiers. In response to the shift, the United States Atlantic Command (USACOM) established a wargaming enterprise, the Joint Training, Analysis, and Simulation Center (JTASC), in October of 1994. JTASC responsibilities included developing the processes and procedures, workforce, and facility to conduct joint simulation training exercises; however, the emphasis of modeling and simulation as a Joint Task Force (JFT) training tool was a novel, required expertise that did not yet exist. It had to be developed in an academic institution.

After the JTASC contacted resources and expertise outside of the region, it became apparent that Old Dominion University (ODU) was the institution to address their needs and requirements. Gene Newman, a senior civil servant from JTASC's Suffolk facility, presented to senior administration at ODU about their new center's training requirements. Roland Mielke, chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at ODU, had attended the presentation and had known Newman for years. The fall of 1995, Mielke and Newman worked together to produce a proposal inviting ODU to provide academic training to military personnel. At the time, ODU's Director of Military Activities, Captain Dick Whalen, USN-Ret., and ODU President James Koch, was already eager to seek opportunities for military partnerships due to tight budgets of higher education. In response, President Koch front-ended the first $500,000 when the University did not have much money, taking a tremendous risk.

Throughout 1996, several plans came to come together. The reviewal process to pick VMASC's first Executive Director began June 1, and at the end of the summer of 1996, ODU began to successfully propose the need and means necessary to support JTASC and VMASC to the Commonwealth, receiving support from Virginia Senator Frederick Quayle. On October 15, Old Dominion University and the U.S. Atlantic Command officially signed the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA). Thomas Mastaglio, a retired artillery officer in the then-hub of modeling and simulation, was hired as the new center's Executive Director and came on board November 11.

On February 6, 1997, the House of Delegates and the Senate earmarked $725,000 and $250,000, respectively, to support ODU's high-tech program's development. President Koch approved a strategic plan that month, outlining goals and establishing milestones, discussing the use of their simulation technologies to be expanded into the private sector, and developing a graduate studies program to teach the new technology. In March, the General Assembly appropriated $500,000 for VMASC, and in the following month, Lockheed Martin had already committed to participate with the consortium by a $48,000 project. During the coming summer, the Virginia Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation Center opened operations at TCC-Portsmouth's L. Cleaves Manning Building. On July 11, a ribbon-cutting ceremony, open house, and center dedication were held. A few months later, VMASC received the largest contract award in ODU's history up to that time, totaling $12.2 million over five years from USACOM, proving President Koch's tremendous risk successful.

VMASC continued its success during the first several years, gaining much media attention from several news sources. In September of 1998, their newly instituted master's program began with the admission of nine students, fulfilling another piece of President Koch's strategic plan. By all measures, the close of VMASC's first full year of operation was a success.

THE FIRST 10 YEARS (1998 - 2008)

Bringing M&S capabilities to new frontiers.

Throughout 1999, VMASC experienced the growth of their professional staff. Professor Roland Mielke was brought on as Technical Director and assisted their research agenda by identifying domains where modeling and simulation applications could benefit, such as urban development, disaster preparedness, manufacturing, supply chain management, entertainment, and training. With his new direction, VMASC was able to recruit industry partners to develop enterprise simulation demonstrations that encouraged other partners and businesses to embrace simulation technology as a management tool.

Executive Director Mastaglio hired Dr. Mikel Petty to oversee research as Chief Scientist, bringing his expertise in engineering management, computer science, and collegial teamwork that set the tone for the VMASC research agenda. Several other positions were filled: Dr. Rick McKenzie was hired in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department. Bill Younger oversaw marketing efforts, Bill Miller was appointed as the General Manager, and Ralph Rogers was appointed as the Graduate Program Director for the M&S program. By the close of VMASC's second operating year, the graduate program began to expand to include a Ph.D. degree program. The year 1999 saw VMASC's Engineering Technical Services (ETS) put into operation serving the USACOM, now designated the USJFCOM, in an honest-broker capacity that was mutually beneficial to both the USJFCOM and ODU.

At the beginning of 2000, VMASC took the lead in medical simulation training by hosting the nation's first demonstration of medical training using virtual reality technology by the University of Michigan. VMASC also participated in the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC), breaking ground as the only exhibitor to demonstrate a function CAVE (fully immersive environment). During the coming summer, Executive Director Thomas Mastaglio stepped down to start a new simulation and visualization company called Mymic. R. Bowen Loftin, who previously served as the Chair of Computer Science at the University of Houston and director of the NASA/University of Houston Virtual Environments Research Institute, was brought on as Mastaglio's replacement and assumed the position as the second Executive Director of VMASC on July 24. Loftin became fully immersed just a few weeks after his arrival at VMASC and helped the new M&S Ph.D. program, which began that fall. In December of 2000, eight students graduated with the first master's degree in M&S in the nation.

By the year 2001, VMASC's international acclaim was well underway. There were many significant accomplishments that year; however, the development of the VMASC Battle Laboratory was the most influential and recognized VMASC as an international leader. In the fall, VMASC applied for and was awarded a Commonwealth Technology and Research Fund (CTRF) grant, with matching funds from ODU, totaling $904,000, to fund the VMASC BattleLab/Commercial Decision Support Center. The BattleLab, led by Mark Phillips, was conceived as an innovative computer simulation laboratory designed to provide the advanced M&S infrastructure necessary to support VMASC's core research areas. It would also provide enterprises with new methods of conducting and evaluating their business practices.

VMASC's fifth year increased project revenue by sixty-three percent, and for the third consecutive year, VMASC was the largest research producer at ODU. The BattleLab was fully operational and played a crucial role in designating VMASC as a cutting-edge research facility, hosting the GIS Research Lab, Human-Factors Engineering Lab, Constructive Modeling Lab, Operations Research and Analysis Lab, and $500,000 of software and hardware. Additionally, at the beginning of 2002, ODU and the Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) launched a joint program funded by the Department of Defense to advance the use of M&S in medicine called the National Center for Collaboration in Medical Modeling and Simulation.

Year six began the appreciation for VMASC's functionality and contribution within the M&S community. John Sokolowski received the first Ph.D. awarded in the M&S graduate program by Chief Scientist Dr. Mikel Petty. VMASC also collaborated with General Dynamics in developing a Joint Transformation Data Support System (JTEDS). Its success fostered a positive professional relationship among the institutions involved, yielding several M&S students and bringing publicity and potential business relationships.

The Economic Impact and Cluster Study was finalized in 2004 and found MS&V activities contributed $413 million in total regional economic output and accounted for more than 4,000 regional jobs. This study served as a powerful lever for Governor Mark Warner to fund the future of M&S and expand VMASC's future.

At the beginning of the year, VMASC was awarded a contract worth almost $10 million by the USJFCOM to support the command's M&S efforts. The major contract was only the beginning of VMASC's year ahead. A $2 million Emergency Response Grant from the Hampton Roads Planning District and a $22 million five-year contract to support USJFCOM with the C4ISR program expertise was awarded to VMASC. The second M&S Ph.D. program student, Eric Weisel, graduated May 8. A couple of days prior, Governor Mark Warner joined Suffolk Mayor E. Dana Dickens to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the VMASC BattleLab's official opening.

In April of 2005, Virginia Governor Mark Warner announced a $145 million state initiative to market and promote the Hampton Roads region and establish a national institute for Homeland Security and Crisis Management in northern Suffolk. On August 31, a ceremony was held to recognize the national institute, called the Emergency Management Training, Analysis, and Simulation Center (EMTASC). That summer also marked the beginning of development plans for VMASC's new location at the Tri-Cities Center. Executive Director Dr. Loftin stepped down to accept a position at Texas A&M University. Taking his place, Col. Michael McGinnis was named Executive Director in November.

Michael McGinnis was officially welcomed as the new Executive Director on June 12, 2006. A few months later, the developer of VMASC's new home unveiled the city's technology center's plans, a $219 million project beginning construction in the fall. Furthermore, in December, VMASC was given a significant role with a $1.75 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security to fund a Critical Infrastructure Resiliency project.

At the beginning of VMASC's tenth year, ODU and Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) officials signed a milestone education and research agreement that would foster greater collaboration between universities. VMASC also held the first annual MS&G Student Capstone Conference, which was an annual competition offered to students from universities throughout the U.S. to present their M&S research. The following month a $1 million award from the Office of Naval Research was given to VMASC to understand the effects of physical training and predict mission readiness. VMASC hosted the three-day MODSIM World Conference and Expo, and two weeks later, VMASC started operating in their new building, successfully ending their summer. On November 16, ODU formally opened the new VMASC headquarters with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the Tri-Cities Higher Education Center.

After waiting for the new building to open, VMASC held its tenth anniversary on April 9, 2008. That same month, the USJFCOM signed a Cooperative R&D Agreement with ODURF to utilize emerging technology to support joint training experimentation using M&S. VMASC won a massive success in October: a $35.6 million contract award made VMASC the "go-to" organization to satisfy DHS M&S requirements. VMASC ended the year with Governor Tim Kaine unveiling a $2.1 million 2009 budget proposal in continued state support for VMASC.

THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY (2008 - 2018)

Working hard to innovate locally and transform globally.

Many successes in 2009 laid out new challenges and new opportunities for the following year. On February 3 and 5, VMASC researchers, as part of the delegation led by the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation, demonstrated an evacuation simulation model of the Hampton Roads area in advance of different category strength hurricanes. That same month, the Boeing company awarded ODU a $100,000 grant as an investment in its M&S engineering graduate program. A couple of months later, ODU's Board of Visitors unanimously endorsed the creation of an undergraduate program in modeling and simulation engineering, and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) approved the Bachelor’s in Science degree in M&S engineering on July 14.

In June, Executive Director Dr. McGinnis resigned and relieved his duties to Dr. John Sokolowski as interim executive director. Not long after, a $640,000 contract was awarded by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to create codes of conduct & best practices for modeling and simulation. From June 22 to June 26, VMASC hosted the first Game Development summer camp, where students ages 12 to 16 learned about game design and 3D-modeling. Finishing off the year, VMASC and the Hampton Roads Partnership joined forces to develop a strategic plan to see that the M&S industry reaches its full potential in Hampton Roads with the inaugural Modeling and Simulation Strategy Meeting held December 16.

The year 2010 possessed a sluggish economy; however, VMASC still had a prosperous year in funded research and various activities they supported throughout the year. Previously serving as VMASC's interim executive director, Dr. John Sokolowski was named Executive Director on March 8. As Executive Director, Dr. Sokolowski helped build several applied research areas and strengthened the long-standing VMASC initiatives in military/homeland security and medical modeling and simulation. Five months after his appointment, Dr. Sokolowski named Dr. Yiannis Papelis VMASC's Chief Scientist on August 10. The following month, the new Bachelor’s in Science in M&S engineering program came to fruition. VMASC also held an innovative first-of-its-kind Adaptive Adversary Workshop on October 21, attracting leading researchers and national security experts from across the country. The workshop attendees discussed various threats to the U.S., including chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear, and high-explosive terrorism. VMASC's contract with the DoD from the previous year was approved for a second year, totaling another $800,000 in November. The same month, VMASC, EVMS, and New Jersey's Englewood Hospital and Medical Center began research on a patient blood management simulation after a multidisciplinary award grant. At the end of the year, VMASC researchers completed and presented an assessment of the various major transportation network construction alternatives proposed by the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization (HRTPO).

The year 2011 was a dynamic one for VMASC; many changes in the realm of modeling and simulation took place, especially in Hampton Roads. At the end of the summer, USJFCOM announced its closure, allowing VMASC to focus on other applied modeling and simulation research domains. Before VMASC knew of the closure, they had already begun their branching out. In January of 2011, VMASC unveiled a new modeling and simulation applied research area for the study and application of interoperability issues, led by Dr. Saikou Diallo. The new area dealt with theoretical frameworks, tool development, and applications to solve interoperability issues and would bring in $1,000,0000 in investments over just two years.

Despite USJFCOM's closing, the summer brought many awards: a $400,000 grant from Virginia's Office of Commonwealth Preparedness (OCP) to test local government officials' response to various scenarios, and a $113,000 grant from the Perry Fund for the Study of Critical Issues on planning assistance for medically fragile and vulnerable populations. VMASC also achieved significant success in its bid to become a prime contractor under the Seaport Enhanced (Seaport-e) Multiple Award Contract (MAC) vehicle program. Seaport-e is a web-based, e-business procurement portal designed to make the Navy more efficient and effective in contracting professional support services and enhancing small business participation. In the fall, a VMASC research faculty member, Dr. Andrew Collins, received a Governor's Technology Award for a collective research project on the study of homeowner's strategic mortgage defaults using modeling and simulation. A month later, VMASC held its first open house with members of federal, state, and local governments, military, and other industries in attendance. VMASC closed off the year by promoting Dr. Barry Ezell to Chief Scientist.

USJFCOM's closure continued to affect VMASC in 2012 positively. VMASC had previously diversified in three areas: homeland security, transportation, and medical M&S, and continued to build research depth in these areas while still supporting modeling and simulation research for the DoD. Continuing to support the DoD and building depth in the medical area, VMASC received about $2,000,000 in grant funding from the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) (DoD) to create a highly interactive training software program for Navy and Army nurses promoting core medical/surgical skills. VMASC also garnered funding, a $600,000 grant from the Virginia Office for Economic Adjustment, for the National Center for Collaboration in Medical Modeling and Simulation (NCCMMS) to develop a medical simulation laboratory to provide unbiased assessments of medical simulation capability for hospitals and medical schools across the country. The area of transportation saw significant developments, three of which was the formation of the Center for Innovative Transportation Solutions (CITS), the designation as a One Tier University Transportation Center, and the $50,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) for the Hurricane Evacuation Encouragement Demonstration (HEED) project. In the homeland security area, VMASC developed several M&S initiatives for Virginia that addressed critical infrastructure security. The research featured in the first few pages of the DHS's Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment Comprehensive Preparedness Guide.

The next year, 2013, was one of the busiest ever for VMASC from a research perspective. Several significant projects that year covered all four of VMASC's applied research areas: military, homeland security, transportation, and medical modeling and simulation. Many of the projects crossed boundaries across their research areas, showing their work's relevance from a multidisciplinary perspective. VMASC had several goals that year, one of which was enhancing VMASC's visibility inside and outsides the modeling and simulation field. They were awarded a significant transportation project to enhance a transportation evacuation model, called RtePM, done in partnership with John Hopkins University and the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Real-time evacuation Planning Model (RtePM) is a simulation program that allows emergency managers to investigate and analyze evacuation scenarios for any region in the country. VMASC also concluded a major study on underserved populations within the Hampton Roads area by Dr. Joshua Behr and Dr. Rafael Diaz. The study gathered data from over 7,000 individuals across the region to document their needs and behaviors when faced with a disaster scenario to paint a picture of the size, needs, and motivations of underserved populations during a disaster event.

A second goal was to produce tangible M&S products that would lie beyond the original research project. One of the products was the program mentioned above, RtePM, but there were several others. They also completed the development of a web-based patient blood management training simulation and were developing an ultrasound proficiency simulation targeted at medical students. Another product they were creating was an immersive training environment for military trauma nurses. As VMASC moved into the next year with goals and challenges ahead, they continued to diversify their funding sources to mitigate the sequestration effects at the time.

As research funding became scarcer during the sequestration, VMASC continued to look for new opportunities where modeling and simulation could make an impact in 2014. They saw several initiatives that year and the next, adding three new applied research areas based on emerging trends: big data, cybersecurity, and bio-engineering simulation. VMASC also made a significant contribution to ODU's sea-level rise initiative. On December 2, 2014, participants from a wide range of emergency response agencies, academics, industries, and local governments convened at ODU for a White-House sponsored event on sea-level rise preparedness mitigation. VMASC researchers modeled the impact of rising water on populations in the area, especially those considered underserved. In VMASC's education area, three significant events occurred. First, VMASC continued to partner with the Virginia STEAM academy and hold their games and robotics summer camps. Second, the VMASC Industry Association (VIA) donated textbooks to the Discrete Event Simulation class to lower financial burdens and strengthen their interest in modeling and simulation engineering by providing the highest quality literature. Third, a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 21 marked the unveiling of a new certificate in M&S from ODU developed specifically for Navy personnel in support of NAVAIR University. Several award contracts were given that year, two of which were a two-year grant of more than $400,000 to develop better ways to assess smart manufacturing methods, and a $250,000 contract from NASA to investigate sub-scale unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to help design the next generation of the National Airspace.

In 2015, VMASC continued expanding its applied research areas in big data, cybersecurity, and bio-engineering simulations through several funded crosscutting research projects. In the area of cybersecurity, VMASC partnered with Norfolk State University, Tennessee State University, and the Air Force Research Laboratory and was awarded a Cooperative Agreement by the DoD to establish a new Center of Excellence in Cyber Security. The funding totaled $4,984,352 for five years of performance. Modeling and simulation experts at VMASC also began a joint work effort with a government agency to create new models to predict the behaviors that lead to insider threats within an organization. Lastly, ODU announced they would be offering a Cyber Security major in the fall of 2015 to train students for careers in high demand fields such as digital forensics, analysis, information system security, and network security administration.

In the bio-engineering simulation area, VMASC partnered with members of the Institute for Bio-Medical Study of Religion to work on the Modeling Religion Project (MRP), receiving a $2,000,000 grant from the John Templeton Foundation. VMASC continued to diversify its funding sources, adding several new funding partners such as the Office of Housing and Development (HUD), which awarded VMASC $175,000 to design models identifying the planning practices necessary to facilitate the recovery of housing after a disruptive, severe storm event. VMASC's education program also received a massive achievement when ODU became the first university in the U.S. to have its Modeling, Simulation, and Visualization Engineering (MSVE) program certified by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).

VMASC had another busy and successful year in 2016. They continued to expand upon their three new applied research areas, hiring a well-funded faculty member with significant expertise in the area of cybersecurity, Dr. Sachin Shetty. Additionally, they were not a part of three cybersecurity centers of excellence. On the resiliency side, VMASC researchers played a prominent role by modeling and simulating the impact of recurring flooding throughout the Hampton Roads region. This initiative was spearheaded by ODU, with a total of more than $120,000,000 flowing to the region from the National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC), sponsored by HUD with assistance from the Rockefeller Foundation. VMASC added a focus area near the end of the year: criminal justice. It was a critical component that affected their homeland security and cyber-efforts. One effort that included criminal justice was a $250,000 grant from the DHS, allowing them to determine which of its substantial investments in keeping the U.S. safe have worked the best. It was clear that their new capabilities would continue to grow over the next several years.

After fifteen years at VMASC and seven as executive director, Dr. John Sokolowski retired in late April of 2017. Due to Dr. Sokolowski's time at VMASC, researchers diversified their breadth of applied research areas, especially with the unenviable closure of the U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM). VMASC would continue to explore the intersection of modeling and simulation and related technology areas, with Dr. Eric Weisel assuming the interim executive director position on June 10.

Many projects that year in a variety of research areas came about. An initial contract with the Port of Virginia totaled $65,000 to identify environmental risks as the port prepared for significant growth in demand over the next half-century. Two years prior, VMASC collaborated on the Modeling Religion Project (MRP), sparking a partnership with the University of Agder in Norway to simulate the cataclysmic effects of people trapped in the refugee migration process. In the medical area, VMASC researcher Dr. Bridget Giles received a $65,000 seed grant to develop a working videogame called ZAP (Zika Awareness and Prevention), educating users on the mosquito-borne Zika virus. Dr. Joshua Behr contributed to the vulnerability sector of research by examining why populations ignore hurricane evacuation orders. At the end of the year, engineering students led by VMASC research professor Dr. Yiannis Papelis transformed a WAM-V into a USV as part of ODU's ongoing relationship with the CDD's Unmanned Surface Vehicle Navy Laboratory. One of the project's goals is to have the transformed WAM-V compete in the 2018 International Maritime Robot-X Challenge.

In July of 2018, VMASC celebrated its 20th Anniversary with ODU President John R. Broderick, Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, past executive directors Thomas Mastaglio, R. Bowen Loftin, Roland Mielke, Michael McGinnis, and John Sokolowski, and nearly one-hundred others in attendance. In the past twenty years, VMASC contributed $100 million in research, created a steady stream of qualified graduates ready to work in the government and private sectors, and benefited the University, the region, and the Commonwealth through innovative research and as an economic engine for Hampton Roads. In July, ODU announced that VMASC would serve as the executive agent to the Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC), one of only thirteen University-Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) in the country. The DoD established UARCs to encourage collaboration among thirty participating universities and provide DoD and other federal agency research opportunities. ODU also updated its agreement with the Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC), continuing a nearly 20-year partnership.

VMASC furthered its efforts to support the Commonwealth's economy and to contribute to the development of a high-tech workforce through leadership roles in two of the inaugural GoVA projects, receiving nearly $1.3 million in funding. The first project created the Hampton Roads Cyber Collaboration Laboratory (HR Cyber Co-Lab), focusing on innovation in cybersecurity, data analysis, autonomous vehicles, and virtual technology markets in Hampton Roads. The second project established the Virginia Digital Shipbuilding Workforce Program (VDSP), which created a regional and statewide pipeline program to train about 8,500 workers to work in the new digital manufacturing environment with hands-on learning at VMASC's Digital Shipbuilding Laboratory, sponsored by the U.S. Navy. Aiding to the medical field, VMASC's Dr. Sachin Shetty partnered with Sentara Healthcare on a three-year project to develop a blockchain-empowered cybersecurity solution to monitor network activities of mobile devices and provide real-time alerts of unauthorized devices or communications. Sponsored by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), VMASC was also awarded just over $2 million to develop courses in data analytics, predictive analytics, data modeling, data management, enterprise architecture, and modeling and simulation to teach professional training courses to NAVSEA staff at all four naval shipyards. Dr. Yiannis Papelis led the last project of the year, his team of engineering students transformed and competed with their USV in the third Maritime Robot-X Challenge, winning $5,000.

Finally, in November of 2018, Dr. Eric Weisel was officially named executive director of VMASC after an international search.

THE PAST FEW YEARS (2018-2020)

A pillar on which the economy is going to rest.

As the new executive director of VMASC, Dr. Eric Weisel sought to lead VMASC to continue its research diversity mission. In February of 2019, a team of ODU students joined two other Virginia universities to deliver their CubeSats to Nanorocks in Houston, Texas, as part of a collaborative project with the Virginia Space Grant Consortium (VSGC). Several months later, the Virginia SmallSat Data Consortium (VSDC) was awarded $1.5 million in grant funding from the Virginia Research Investment Fund. The grant supported the consortium launch, which also included the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority and NASA Langley Research Center.

The same month, nearly 400 people, from community members and educators to dignitaries and students, attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Brooks Crossing Innovation and Opportunity Center (BCIOC), a STEM-hub for the peninsula. The fall proved to be a busy time for VMASC, with three significant events. On October 10, the newly established Virginia Institute for Spaceflight and Autonomy (VISA) appointed the former director of NASA's Langley Research Center, Dr. David Bowles, as executive director.

Eight days later, ODU announced they received a $1.5 million grant from the Virginia Research Investment Fund to help launch the Commonwealth Center of Innovation for Autonomous Systems. Moreover, ending October, researchers at VMASC received $1.5 million in funding for the U.S. Department of Defense Minerva Research Initiative to study the capacity of regions to provide for displaced populations from neighboring areas. This was the first Minerva grant VMASC had received, ending their most recent year in success.

Although 2020 is not yet over, it has thus far been an eventful several months. At the end of 2019, a new coronavirus, COVID-19, was identified in China that soon became a massive pandemic across the globe. Once the pandemic reached such a status, the United States government required non-essential businesses to continue their work through teleworking methods. VMASC did and continue to do their best to aid the community and local governments during the pandemic.

Researchers developed a real-time platform that predicts the disease's spread down to the city and county level. The Virginia County COVID-19 Daily Case Total Forecaster was developed by Ross Gore and Christopher J. Lynch to provide a platform where the public can explore COVID-19-related model forecasts. VMASC also put their staffs' expertise in additive manufacturing and laser cutting to create 3D-printed N95 masks to help healthcare workers with their Personal Protective Equipment shortage.