This document compares notable network simulators and lists top research projects using network simulators in MATLAB. It outlines popular simulators like OPNET, QualNet, OMNeT++, NS-3, and NS-2. Five research areas using MATLAB are listed: reliable data aggregation in smart grids, energy consumption routing protocols in mobile ad-hoc networks, HTTP adaptive streaming using video quality adaptation, traffic reduction for process-level network availability, and seamless redundancy modeling for real-time situation awareness systems. Emerging topics covered include stochastic geometry approaches for vehicular safety communications, consistent policy updating for software-defined networking, routing protocols for sparse and dense delay-tolerant networks, simulation tools for InfiniBand interconnection networks