Collaborative Analysis Centers
APL’s Collaborative Analysis Centers (CACs) are dynamic, state-of-the-art facilities for analysis, modeling, simulation, and gaming. CACs provide a location for an organization to examine complex problems by bringing together subject-matter experts with different backgrounds, perspectives, and agendas to exchange qualitative and technical information in an informal, but structured, manner. The Laboratory has two CACs: CAC Laurel, located on our main campus in Laurel, Maryland, and CAC Crystal City, located in our Crystal City, Virginia, field office.
CACs are ideal locations to identify future needs and capability requirements; examine the utility of various system concepts; develop and examine operational concepts; evaluate science and technology solutions; and identify and prioritize issues for decision makers. Some examples of past users and projects are:
- Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology, Ballistic Missile Exercise
- Office of the Secretary of Defense, Economic Seminar/War Game
- Tenth Fleet, Cyber Technical Exchanges
- APL, Future Navy Capabilities Exercise

CAC Laurel
CAC Laurel features:
- Fifty-three electronic seminar support workstations running groupware
- A 50-seat observer gallery
- A separate planning room area with 20 seats, 10 additional electronic seminar support workstations, and 4 plasma displays
- Four large projection screens
- Four plasma displays for defense exercises
- 3-D scenario modeling and visualization
- Classified and unclassified teleconferencing and video teleconferencing
- Extensive information/database access and network capability
- Multilevel security

CAC Crystal City
CAC Crystal City features:
- Extensive information/database access and network capability
- Twenty-three electronic seminar support workstations running groupware
- Two large presentation displays and a separate secondary flat-panel auxiliary display
- A 15-seat observer gallery
- Classified video teleconferencing functionality
- Multiple breakout rooms adjacent to the CAC, with observation display capabilities for the conferences taking place in the CAC
- Unclassified video teleconferencing capabilities in the main breakout room