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Experts in computer simulation head to Orlando today for a summit to highlight the importance of the multi- billion dollar industry.

Simulation is used in a wide range of applications- including the theme park industry.

As theme parks build bigger and better rides- they’re turning to the kind of computer simulations used by the aviation industry and the military.

Michael Tschanz, Disney’s Director of Technology and Analysis, Design and Engineering, is giving the keynote speech at the Florida Simulation Summit.

“We’re getting ready to open a park in Shanghai,” said Tschanz.

“We have members of our team that have been embedded in that group right now, that have been using simulation analysis techniques to help bring those rides and shows online,” he said.

Tschanz said simulations also help figure out how big groups of people move through a park or interact with a new attraction.

Orlando is home to the National Center for Simulation- a collaboration between the military, academia and businesses in the simulation industry.

Retired Col. Tom Baptiste, president of the center, said simulation has come ‘full circle’, and now the military is looking to game engines to help soldiers train.

“The military is leveraging the power of game engines,” said Baptiste.

“For a reasonable price, you can get the rights to use the engine- you repopulate the game with serious material and you can create an immersive environment that looks just like an urban environment in Afghanistan or Iraq,” he said.

Baptiste will also address industry experts at the one day summit.