Mike Eakins is the Creative Lead of the Mixed Emerging Technology Integration Lab (METIL) at the Institute for Simulation & Training and has 9+ years of experience in the field of 3D modeling and animation for simulation and gaming. He received his M.F.A. in Digital Media at the University of Central Florida in 2017. Since joining the lab, he and his team have made numerous contributions to projects with their work in virtual and augmented reality, medical and healthcare simulations, interactive decision-based simulations, interactive narrative, game design, instructional design, and other METIL research initiatives. His work has been presented at MODSIM World, I/ITSEC, MedBiquitous, Training Magazine, as well as on various local and international news outlets such as BBC Click.