Sherry DiBari著

幕后故事, 安德鲁·“安迪”·柯林斯, assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, 能帮助你做出更好的决定吗.

"My research is about making methods that help make simulations become more accurate,柯林斯解释道. He uses a simulation modeling approach called agent-based modeling and enriches it with concepts from another modeling approach called game theory – creating a hybrid simulation.

The results are data-driven insights – tools that make decision-support models more accurate and enable us to live more safely and efficiently.

"Better models mean a better understanding of the world around us, and a better understanding of the world around us means we can make better choices in our navigating of the world,柯林斯说.

一些模型, such as those for traffic flow simulations used in emergency evacuations, 在灾难发生时拯救生命. 其他人帮助我们更有效率.

例如, 柯林斯 was the principal investigator for a five-year, $5 million grant-funded project working in conjunction with the Ship Maintenance Performance Group of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA). His interdisciplinary team developed a series of bootcamps on data analytics, 预测分析, 数据建模, 数据管理, 企业架构, and modeling and simulation to teach ship maintenance experts how to parse massive amounts of data and draw understanding from that data.

"The Navy hosts an incredible amount of digital information: everything from personnel and scheduling records to ships' maintenance logs,柯林斯解释道. “使用人工智能和数据建模, 这些信息可以被解析, analyzed and modeled to create more efficient workflows."

该项目源于2017年美国的一项研究.S. Government Accountability Office report aimed at making U.S. naval shipyards more efficient, was recently recognized with a 海军优秀奖.

成长的过程中, 柯林斯’ path in life was influenced by another naval shipyard – one over 3,千里之外. His father was a carpenter for the naval shipyards at 查塔姆造船厂 在英格兰. When the facility closed down, he relocated the family to Edinburgh, Scotland. "It molded me into the person I am today,柯林斯说.

这家人适应了苏格兰并兴旺起来. 柯林斯' mother worked as a barmaid at night and went to school during the day. She eventually became a personal assistant to the chief executive officer of a large healthcare insurance company. “我为她这么做感到骄傲，”他说.

In Scotland, 柯林斯 learned valuable lessons about religion, politics and acceptance.

"I was brought up Catholic and wanted to go to the Cub Scouts; however, the Catholic Cub Scout master was anti-English, 所以我没被允许加入,他解释道. "Luckily, the Protestant Cub Scout master was more welcoming, so I was able to join their pack."

作为新教部队的一员, 柯林斯 joined in Orange marches – annual parades held by Protestant organizations commemorating Prince William of Orange's victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

"In those days, the Orange march would surround St. 玛格丽特天主教堂, and it was timed to reach the church as their Sunday service ended,” effectively blocking in the Catholic churchgoers.

当我还是个孩子的时候, I just thought it was nice that the parade organizers had chosen to go past the church so that the congregation could enjoy the parade as well,他解释道. 当我们经过教堂的时候, 我向所有的教友挥手, but I could not understand why no one waved back at me."

Outside of the Cub Scouts, 柯林斯 spent many hours playing with electronics and chemistry kits. "This was back in the day when you got unsealed mercury in the kits,他说.

Although he chose mathematics as his undergraduate major, 柯林斯对这门学科的幻想破灭了. "I did not want to dedicate myself to something that does not directly help the multitude of problems our current world faces,他说. “因此, I moved away from (pure) mathematics and went into operations research – a science that overlaps with industrial engineering, engineering management and systems engineering." The discipline helps to "provide analytical support to decision-makers."

柯林斯, who earned his doctorate in operations research from the University of Southampton in 2009, ended up in Virginia when his wife took a position at the North Atlantic Treaty 组织 (NATO) headquarters in Norfolk.

在维吉尼亚州, 柯林斯 found a perfect fit at ODU's Virginia 建模, 分析仿真中心（VMASC）. He spent several years there as a research assistant professor before transitioning to the Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering in 2018.

他不上班的时候, 柯林斯花时间和妻子在一起, 两个孩子, and "an unhealthily large board game collection."