Engineering education practitioners continue to identify novel mechanisms to dramatically increase the effectiveness of next-generation training towards vocational preparation and workforce development.  To this end, the broad discipline of Modeling & Simulation (M&S) remains a valuable resource that enables learners to bridge the gap between conceptual experimentation and “real world” implementation.  Over the last decade, engineering education research efforts have incrementally focused on the implementation of Serious Play, where graphics tools and gaming engines (e.g., Unity, Unreal) have emerged as powerful resources for advanced training.  During this same timeframe, the emerging technique known as Gamification (i.e., incorporating typical elements of game playing, including rewards to motivate, point scoring, and group competition) continues to gain recognition as an invaluable mechanism for educators.  Gaming experiences that incorporate physics-based modeling and high-fidelity simulation effectively blend synthesis and analysis in a manner that empowers students to modify parameters - and observe downstream impacts – all in real-time.

Towards Innovating & Accelerating Training and Adapting to an Unexpected Future with respect to engineering education effectiveness, we describe the design and pilot deployment of an innovative Gamification-based experiential learning pedagogy.  We establish a targeted series of assessment materials based on the present state-of-the-art in the literature to reliably measure key outcomes (e.g., conceptual knowledge, learner engagement, and eventually - self-regulated learning) from our novel implementation.  For this paper, the disciplinary focus area is emerging practices in Transportation Systems Engineering, including an experimental pilot deployment within one professional engineering club, and two graduate-level engineering courses.  Our presentation will include: preliminary results (including statistics and correlations), a discussion of challenges encountered, and overview of lessons learned.  To conclude our paper, we propose a “Theory of Change” for planned best practices for broader educational impacts, content validity, and long-term program sustenance and feasibility.