Teaching system modelling and simulation through Petri Nets and Arena

This paper describes our experience teaching discrete-event simulation to several Engineering branches and Computer Science students. In our courses we emphasize the importance of conceptual modelling rather than the simulation tools used to build a model. We think that in discrete-event simulation university courses it is more important to provide knowledge to students to develop and analyze conceptual models than focusing in a specific simulation tool that will be industry dependent. Focusing in conceptual modelling with the support of a well-known simulation software provide the student with skills to create a model and then translate it to any simulator. Our courses use the Petri Net (PN) methodology by incrementing the complexity of models and PN using: Place-Transition PN, Timed PN and Colored Timed PN. A PN simulator is used to analyze the conceptual model and different rules and procedures are provided to match PN conceptual model to Arena simulation software.