Communications of the ACM
Simulating Worst-Case Scenarios
Joshua Epstein
Keith Weller
Johns Hopkins University recently launched the Center for Advanced Modeling (CAM) in the Social, Behavioral and Health Sciences, which will focus on advanced computer simulation and modeling technology.
"With the launch of this center, Johns Hopkins is firmly planting its flag in the ground and saying we are going to be a mecca for groundbreaking research and applied work in the field of agent-based modeling," says Johns Hopkins professor Joshua M. Epstein. He says the center will unite some of the U.S.'s leading experts in fields such as emergency medicine, disaster health, social behavior, supercomputing, and economics to advance the agent-based modeling field. The agents used in CAM simulations are programmed to respond to real or imagined threats in the same way that actual people would.
Epstein says CAM simulations could help predict how societies will react to disasters such as infectious disease outbreaks, toxic chemical spills, or natural disasters. "I see this as a place where the top professors and researchers from around the country, indeed the world, will want to come and work on collaborative projects, participate in symposia or develop entirely novel lines of research," he says.
From Johns Hopkins Gazette
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