Alion Part of Winning Team Receiving National Training and Simulation Award for Navy Recruit Training Game

MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alion Science and Technology, an employee-owned technology solutions company, was part of the winning team that received the 2010 National Training and Simulation Association (NTSA) Award for Outstanding Achievement in Modeling and Simulation in the “Training” category. The award was presented at the annual NTSA Leadership Reception & Executive Dinner held on November 30, 2010 in conjunction with the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC).

“How to Create an Award Winning Serious Game.”

Alion developed the Damage Control Trainer, in partnership with Raytheon BBN Technologies, to prepare Navy recruits for deployment. The Trainer teaches recruits how to navigate a ship, follow communication protocols, perform damage control operations and train on real-life scenarios such as floods, fires and mass casualty exercises.

A study conducted at the University of Central Florida found that recruits who used the Damage Control Trainer for just one hour improved their performance in essential training areas by 50 to 80 percent. The Trainer had previously won the “Serious Games Challenge” in the Business category at I/ITSEC 2009.

“This second award for the Damage Control Trainer reinforces our belief that a well-designed game can provide measurable results in the real world,” said Rear Adm. Richard Brooks, Alion Senior Vice President and Manager of the Distributed Solutions Group. “Designing an effective game requires more than exciting graphics. It has to engage the user while teaching skills in such a way that those lessons are retained. The Damage Control Trainer is helping prepare recruits for real-life situations, and that can mean much lower risk to both the sailors and the fleet.”

Other team members include IDSI, UCF and IDEAS.

Designing and developing award-winning serious games is nothing new for Alion’s serious game experts, who have presented on various serious game topics at the conference, including this year’s “How to Create an Award Winning Serious Game.” Alion Project Engineer Curtiss Murphy was interviewed by NTSA about the elements of making a game effective for training; the interview is available on the NTSA’s YouTube channel.

Alion has also led I/ITSEC’s “Modeling and Simulation 101” class for 11 years and the company’s experts have written numerous publications in top gaming textbooks.

NTSA provides a focused, formal forum for training and simulation organizations to represent and promote their business interests in the marketplace.

I/ITSEC promotes cooperation among the armed services, industry, academia and various government agencies to improve training and education programs, identify common training issues and develop multiservice programs.

About Alion Science and Technology

Alion Science and Technology is an employee-owned technology solutions company delivering technical expertise and operational support to the Department of Defense, civilian government agencies and commercial customers. Building on almost 75 years of R&D and engineering expertise, Alion brings innovation and insight to multiple business areas: naval architecture & marine engineering; defense operations; modeling & simulation; technology integration; information technology & wireless communications; and energy and environmental sciences. Based in McLean, Virginia, Alion employee-owners are located at major offices, customer sites and laboratories worldwide. For more information, call 877.771.6252 or visit Alion online at www.alionscience.com.

This press release contains information about management’s view of Alion’s future expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of risk factors and uncertainties discussed in documents periodically filed by Alion with the SEC. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.