![]() What are the main do’s and don’ts you’d recommend someone starting out? What has been your most painful lesson in trying to learn simulation modelling? Do share your thoughts :-) This teaches you to improve your own models (and document them well!). Especially trying to understand someone else’s model is much more difficult than you’d think. I found that taking over a model from someone else or building one collaboratively is vastly more valuable. It is so rewarding to have new challenges (new industry, new client, new research area) and apply your existing modelling skills. At some point, you won’t learn anything new. ![]() Avoid building and extending the same model for years on end.If you are not in a position to deliver that, offer pro-bono consulting. You must s tart working on real models asap. You cannot become an expert by just following training books or building toy models.Conferences, forums and personal networking go a long way.Īnd some pitfalls you might want to avoid: But a place to learn from people, share knowledge and ask questions is extremely useful. It doesn’t have to be the traditional “can you be my mentor, please” scheme. A good mentor is hard to find but very useful.Modern simulation tools continuously provide new features and some make your life so much easier! Do not stick to how you always solved problems. Even if you don’t have the luxury of doing a PhD in simulation, keep exploring and applying new features.I am by no means at the end of that journey, learning new things every day. You will need to invest time to truly master simulation. A rough estimate puts my near the famous 10,000 hour rule (do something for 10,000 hours and you become an expert in it) of using AnyLogic. Practice: do not expect to become an expert overnight.And honestly, many of my days are as described above! Here are a few “do’s” from my journey: So after finishing my PhD, I was kindly offered a job with Dave’s new company decisionLab, which is where I am Senior Modeller now. I put in all my expertise and people liked it. A few months later, he invited me to create a (then modest) simulation tool for the MoD. One day, I popped into Dave Buxton again at a conference and bluntly told him I’d like to work with him, knowing that his work days look like what I described above. I started to present at simulation conferences and networked with the developers of AnyLogic, specifically. ![]() Deciding to continue for a PhD now gave me three years to go down every alley, check out every last amazing feature (and the occasional quirk). With these foundations, I could finally start to explore the software in depth. I started to learn it by myself but luckily, that same supervisor wanted to learn it himself: he organized an official training course run by an expert in the field, Dave Buxton (whom we will meet again below). However, I first came across a proper process simulation tool at the very start of my MSc when my supervisor wanted a piece of modelling done in AnyLogic. ![]() I was used to doing lots of simulation as part of my Aerospace Engineering undergraduate degree. If only I'd have continued to perfect my Lego skills :-) My journey so far… ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |