Dr Nura Abubakar
Associate Lecturer (Education)

Research area(s)

Dr Abubakar built and demonstrated a cloud-based distributed simulation system that represents a world first in the area. Distributed simulation involves linking many simulations in real time — for example, simulations of hospitals across London — as though they were a single, unified system. The challenge is that the simulations and the computers they run on are traditionally difficult to access and expensive to scale. Cloud computing offers a compelling alternative: simulations can be run in the Cloud, accessed by all authorised users, and the underlying infrastructure hired only for the duration of each run, making it extremely cost-effective.

Prior to this research, no published framework existed for implementing cloud-based distributed simulation at scale. The research proposed a development framework — the Distributed Simulation Cloud Architecture for Experimentation (DICE) — to guide both experienced and non-technical analysts in implementing Cloud-Based Distributed Simulation (CBDS). Experimental results demonstrated feasibility and showed how Cloud infrastructure can support high-performance simulation at scale.

Selected Publications

• Taylor, S.J.E., Anagnostou, A., Abubakar, N.T. et al. (2020). Innovations in Simulation: Experiences with Cloud-Based Simulation Experimentation. Proceedings of the 2020 Winter Simulation Conference, IEEE, Orlando, Florida, USA.
• Anagnostou, A., Taylor, S.J.E., Abubakar, N.T. et al. (2019). Towards a Deadline-Based Simulation Experimentation Framework Using Micro-Services Auto-Scaling Approach. Proceedings of the 2019 Winter Simulation Conference, IEEE, Washington DC, USA.
• Abubakar, N.T., Taylor, S.J.E., Anagnostou, A. (2018). Cloud-Based Modelling & Simulation: Introducing the Distributed Simulation Layer. Proceedings of the 2018 Winter Simulation Conference, pp. 4218–4219.

Research Awards

• Best Research Poster — Student Research Conference, Brunel University London (2018)
• Best Research Poster — PhD Doctoral Symposium, Brunel University London (2020)
• 2nd Position and People's Choice — Three Minute Thesis (3MT), Brunel University London (2019)

Research Interests

Cloud Computing, Distributed Simulation, Agent-Based Modelling, Cybersecurity, and AI in Education, Health, & Business.