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Battle Stations 21 Trainer (US Navy RTC at Great Lakes, IL)

Imagine a 12-hour long escape room, themed around a US Navy guided missile destroyer that has been attacked by an unknown enemy vessel. During the voyage you have to fight fires in the galley, stop a flooding ammunition compartment, escape a room that is filling with smoke when the compartment door is blocked by fire, crawl through a destroyed section of the ship in search of casualties, all while conducting yourself with a military bearing. During this over-night event, recruits are put to the test to show they have what it takes, not only to do what Navy sailors do, but to do it under pressure. This is the BST-21 training simualator at the US Navy Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, IL. It's built like a theme park attraction, equipped with automated special effects equipment such as fire, floor, smoke, scent, and floor shakers. Sounds like fun! But this show is visceral as F@$#!

(Learn more here)

Common Driver Trainer (US Army National Guard)

This simulator places the trainee in a full-scale vehicle cab mounted to a large-capacity Stewart Platform (Hexapod) providing 6 degrees of freedom of motion, with intense acceleration and jerk capabilities. The cab can be configured on-the-fly for multiple different military vehicles, including Abrams Tank, Abrams Engineering, Stryker, MRAP, Medium and Heavy Tactical Wheeled vehicles. As Lead Environment Artist, my principle role was to model the surrounding environment using procedural terrain generation tools (e.g. Terra Vista, CityEngine, Maya, and custom C++ code). As such, it was part of my responsibility to ensure that the motion base moved in sync with the shape of the terrain through a combination of animated motion profiles and interactive physics engine.

Convoy Operations Trainer (US Army National Guard)

As Lead Environment Artist, I used procedural terrain modeling tools (e.g. Terra Vista, CityEngine, Maya, and custom C++ code) to create virtual twins of several US Army bases, as well as foreign cities where familiarity of roads and geotypical areas were critical for mission success. I also worked to ensure that the motion base moved in sync with the shape of the terrain through a combination of animated motion profiles and interactive physics engine.

US Navy Aircraft Carrier Launch Operations Trainer (11F12)

The 11F12 Catapult Launch System Trainer simulates aircraft carrier launch operations in a safe and secure environment that places students in a completely immersive 3D environment, complete with surround sound. Training coordinator Lieutenant Alan Chuderski described the system this way: “We can simulate all types of weather, wind conditions and aircraft weights. We can also do nighttime operations. About the only thing we don’t do is spray the students with saltwater to simulate mist coming in over the bow.”