Satellite 2019 — Free Pass to Meet Us There

You know the drill: your department needs new equipment now, but the budget, or the grant, only goes so far. That’s why so many emergency services teams apply for what they can get today, with plans to expand when more funding comes through.

The good news? Funders are often open to a phased approach, as long as you spell it out clearly. When you show that your gear can scale with your needs, you’re not just being budget-savvy. You’re showing long-term thinking, operational resilience, and responsible use of public funds.

In this post, we’ll walk you through the three most important things to include in your grant proposal, so you can get the equipment you need now, and build on it later.

If you’re part of an engineering team, you know the story too well: the prototype works fine, but once you move toward production, everything starts to fall apart. The part you counted on goes end-of-life. Licensing costs balloon out of nowhere. Thermal issues show up in the field that you never saw in the lab. Suddenly your carefully built timeline slips, and you’re the one explaining delays and budget overruns to leadership.

The hard truth? Most of these headaches can be traced back to hardware decisions made early in R&D.

Earlier this month, innovators and defense leaders gathered in Norfolk, VA for MODSIM World 2025, an event dedicated to modeling, simulation, and digital twin technologies. For those who couldn’t attend, here’s a look at the standout themes, conversations, and connections that shaped this year’s conference.