News and Events

June 2, 2026 School’s almost out for summer! But VDMC is still making waves in the classroom and inspiring the next generation of maritime professionals! Curriculum Coordinator Jennifer Renne spent the day at Smithfield Middle School, where students participated in The Incredible Bulk activity as part of their maritime studies unit. The Incredible Bulk activity is a hands-on STEM and…

May 22, 2026 By Joy Vann   As the maritime industry looks to build its future workforce, Old Dominion University is helping high school students dive into shipbuilding, engineering and emerging technology through its annual Digital Ship Challenge. Organized by the University’s Virginia Digital Maritime Center (VDMC), the challenge drew more than 120 local high school students together for a hands-on…

May 17, 2026 VDMC had a great time at the “Weld It, Build It, Sail It!” event presented by Nauticus, Hampton Roads Workforce Council, and the Hampton Roads Maritime Training System – HRMTS. VDMC had a design challenge where participants had to design and build a Sphero-powered watercraft that can transport cargo across the AquaTrak. While at the event, VDMC…

April 30, 2026 The Virginia Digital Maritime Center (VDMC) hosted its Third Annual Digital Ship Challenge on Saturday, April 25, 2026. With over 120 students from around Hampton Roads participating this year, it was a true success! For this year’s Challenge, we had three separate divisions: Design, Systems, and Technology. The Design Division participants, which included 25 teams, were tasked…

December 3, 2025 VDCM team members were at the Interservice / Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference this week to learn from the M&S pros! They were there to see what defense and healthcare simulation has figured out about workforce development and training pipelines that we can bring back to maritime. But it’s a two-way street! We’ve got maritime domain…

November 21, 2025 Our Executive Director Mark Whitney served on a panel at the Defense TechConnect Innovation Summit & Expo in National Harbor, MD this past week. The panel, Industry Spotlight: Leveraging AI-Driven Technologies to Enhance Public Shipyard and Depot Operations, focused on how the Navy’s exploding use of emerging technologies to accelerate weapon system design, streamline construction, and enhance…

November 17, 2025 Grassfield High School Programming students visited the ODU Office of Enterprise Research and Innovation and got to spend some time in the SEALab. Students got the chance to speak with Hector Garcia and John Shull with the SEALab about their projects and their work with Unity. After the presentation, students participated in a Maritime Maintenance Programming Challenge, where…

November 13, 2025 Old Dominion University’s Dr. Jessica M. Johnson Ph.D, Ed.S (ODU Office of Enterprise Research and Innovation) and Andwele Grant (CCAM – Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing) are partnering with maritime training leaders at the Virginia Digital Maritime Center to bring Neurable EEG into an Industry 5.0 pipeline for skilled trades training research and design. Their pilot tackles…

November 11, 2025 VDMC hosted Isle of Wight County Schools STEM, Coding, Computer Science, and CTE teachers for Professional Development Day. Facilitated by VDMC Curriculum Coordinator Jennifer Renne and Research Assistant Professor and Director of the Applied Cognitive Engineering and Simulation Lab (ACES Lab) Dr. Jessica M. Johnson, the PK-12 teachers learned about the free resources available to them through www.maritimeeduhub.org/,…