Chief Game Designer
Center For Advanced Preparedness & Threat Response Simulation, Leiria, Portugal
Micael Sousa, Chief Game Designer for the Center for Advanced Preparedness and Threat Response Simulation (CAPTRS), develops serious games for emergency management education and training, strategic planning, and decision-making. Portuguese civil engineer with degrees in history, master's degrees in energy and environment and heritage studies, and a PhD in spatial planning. His decade-long research, published in international academic conferences and journals, focuses on serious and simulation games as decision-making and collaborative planning tools for municipalities, governments, and EU projects. In postdoctoral research at University College Dublin, he explored public participation in urban and environmental projects through games.
Micael served as deputy councilor for territorial, environmental, and urban planning in Leiria, Portugal, and as a construction project manager. Invited professor at several Portuguese universities teaching on serious and simulation games. Associated researcher at CITTA - University of Coimbra, is an International Association of Simulation Games (ISAGA) member, and serves on the Portuguese Society for Videogame Science board. Associate Editor of the Simulation & Gaming Journal. Certified Ad-hoc Urbact expert. Winner of the Portuguese national prize “Trainer of the Year” in 2019 and the Polytechnic of Leiria Alumni Career Award in 2024.
Serious Simulation Gaming: A Smarter Way to Train for Real-World Emergencies
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM PST