New Beta Tester Intro

[Evelyn L. Brannon]

Hi!  

I'm Evelyn Brannon.   I work with Don Duffield, a research associate on a 
project  funded by the National Textile Center (NTC).  The NTC is a  research
consortium of  four universities (Auburn, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, 
and Clemson) which have strong degree programs related to the textile/apparel 
industry.  The funding comes through the Department of Commerce (for as long 
as that entity lasts).  Our team completed a project on computer-integrated
forecasting during the first three years of  the consortium.  During that time
our reading led us to an interest in complex systems and artificial life 
simulation.   Don and I attended one week of the Complex Systems Summer School
in 94, I  returned for another week this summer.  There I saw Chris and Nelson
demonstrate SWARM and I have been anxiously awaiting the chance to work 
with it.  We are in Year 1 of our current project looking at the feasibility 
of using simulation in strategizing about the textile/apparel marketplace.

Our initial work with SWARM will be to simulate diffusion of innovation within
various social systems.  The theoretical basis has been around for 
several decades and many research projects have been done based on these 
theories.  From this background we can deduce the rules underlying the 
systems and some of  the variations involved--different categories of agents,
different percentages of  these categories in various cohort groups, 
innovation introduced at various locations within the system, different 
timing in the introduction of innovation to the system.  Observation of  
these systems in the real world has reached a kind of dead end.  By
building on the empirical work already done but in a simulation environment 
where we can vary the initial conditions, observe emergent behaviors, and 
replicate the trials, we hope to build a better understanding of the 
system dynamics.  We have some other ideas for simulations involving 
relationships between the firms (fiber, textile, fabric, apparel manufacturers
and retailers) in the textile/apparel pipeline.   

Don and I are primarily responsible for the project but we work with an 
interdisciplinary team that includes consumer researchers, an industry 
historian,  and a specialist in management information systems.   

Our interest in complex systems as they apply to our field led us to conduct a
workshop for  25 researchers from universities outside the NTC 
consortium.  They will be lending their expertise to the designing and 
evaluating of our simulation efforts.  In Year 2 (beginning March, 1996), we 
hope to involve some industry experts in evaluating our simulations and 
brainstorming ways to study the dynamics of  the textile/apparel marketplace.

We are glad to have you all to talk with as we begin working with SWARM!

Happy holidays!

Evelyn and Don