Institute for Simulation & Training

Celebrating excellence and innovation across the Modeling, Simulation & Training community!

UCF’s Institute for Simulation and Training is pleased to support the 2026 National Center for Simulation Modeling & Simulation Hall of Fame as a sponsor.

This annual event provides an opportunity to recognize the visionaries whose work has helped move the MS&T field forward and inspire the next generation of innovation.

This event is especially meaningful to our team, as our Director, Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, is a past NCS Modeling & Simulation Hall of Fame inductee, recognized for her contributions and impact on the MS&T community.

We look forward to joining our colleagues across the community in celebrating this year’s Hall of Fame inductees!

Our Director of the Urban Digital Twin Lab, Dr. Soheil Sabri, recently joined Team Orlando News on the AIM on MS&T podcast!

Dr. Sabri shared his expertise on urban digital twins, their real-world applications, and how emerging technologies like AI are expanding what digital twins can do.

Listen below!

Our newest episode of the "AIM on MS&T" is out now!

Director of the UCF IST Urban Digital Twin Lab talks about how digital twins and geospatial technologies are shaping the future.

Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0tUrK4KziV6uNYc063gezU?si=in_Bh4C0T9aRJTPEX591Hg

UCF leaders and researchers contributed to key conversations at TechNet Orlando 2026, sharing insights on training analytics, readiness, research, and defense experimentation.

Dr. Christina Bouwens, Director of Special Projects at UCF’s Pegasus Research Institute, participated in the “Turning Training Data into Decisions: Analytics and Readiness at Scale” panel.

Wayne Fogel, Deputy Director of the UCF Institute for Simulation & Training, and Mohsen Rakhshan, Ph.D., Director of UCF’s Laboratory for Interaction of Machine and Brain (LIMB) and IST Research Faculty, joined the “From Research to Mission: Building Florida’s Distributed Defense Experimentation Ecosystem” panel.

Their participation highlights UCF’s commitment to connecting research, innovation, and collaboration to advance the future of modeling, simulation, training, and defense. Special thanks to AFCEA Orlando and Central Florida Tech Grove for making this event possible!

Meet Dr. Mohsen Rakhshan, assistant professor and director of the Laboratory for Interaction of Machine and Brain (LIMB) at the UCF Institute for Simulation and Training.

His research spans intuitive prosthetics, immersive training, human-AI teaming, and intelligent robotics.

"In the real world, people encounter things like extreme heat, cold, stress, and other physical sensations that influence how they perform. We're interested in incorporating those sensory experiences into training environments so people build the memory of what those situations actually feel like before they encounter them in reality."

Through hands-on research and mentorship, he is shaping the future of human-machine interaction while preparing the next generation of innovators.

This week, our IST team will be attending the Digital Twin Consortium in Leeds, UK from September 15-17, 2026!

We're looking forward to connecting with industry leaders, researchers, and innovators to explore the latest advancements in digital twin technologies, collaboration, and digital engineering. Events like these provide valuable opportunities to exchange ideas, build partnerships, and help shape the future of digital transformation.

We hope to see you there!

Central Florida’s role in the future of space innovation continues to expand.

The UCF Institute for Simulation and Training (IST) was pleased to have leaders and researchers in attendance last week for the signing ceremony of the SpaceWERX East Coast Innovation Gateway at UCF.

The Gateway creates new opportunities to connect SpaceWERX’s innovation efforts with UCF’s research capabilities and Central Florida’s established modeling, simulation, and training community.

As the partnership develops, IST looks forward to supporting opportunities that bring together research, experimentation, simulation, and training to address emerging needs in the space domain and advance technologies toward real-world mission applications.

Congratulations to UCF and SpaceWERX on the launch of the East Coast Innovation Gateway!

Innovation happens when research meets real-world needs. At the UCF Institute for Simulation & Training, researchers are advancing simulation, artificial intelligence, and human performance to develop solutions for today’s most complex challenges.

Through collaboration with industry, government, and academic partners, IST is turning research into impact across fields ranging from healthcare and training to national defense.

Discover more about what we do at https://www.ist.ucf.edu/.

Congratulations to the eight UCF faculty members selected for the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida’s 2026 class!

We’re especially proud to recognize two inductees associated with the UCF Institute for Simulation & Training (IST): Ivan Garibay, Ph.D., and Jayanta Kapat, Ph.D.

Garibay leads IST’s Complex Adaptive Systems Laboratory, which focuses on modeling and simulation of complex socio-technical and economic systems. Kapat leads IST’s Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research, advancing research in turbomachinery, energy systems and advanced propulsion.

Congratulations to all eight inductees on this well-deserved recognition!

https://teamorlando.org/eight-ucf-faculty-members-named-to-academy-of-science-engineering-and-medicine-of-florida/

Today is the UCF Institute for Simulation & Training’s Founder’s Day!

In 1982, IST was founded as a research unit dedicated to advancing simulation and training technology.

Now, 44 years later, the organization continues to push the boundaries of simulation, modeling, training, and human-centered technology while shaping the future through research, innovation, and collaboration.

Here’s to the people, partnerships, and breakthroughs that have made the journey possible — and to the innovations still ahead!