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BACKGROUND:
Title: Human Factors/Ergonomics (MS). Contact:
Kevin M. Corker, Program Director, SJSU, ISE Dept, 1 Washington Sq., San
Jose, CA 95192-00085; 408/924-3988; kcorker@email.sjsu.edu, http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/hfe.
Est: 1993. Joint program: with Industrial & Systems
Engineering Psychology, Industrial Design, Human Performance, Economics, and
Computer, Information, & Systems Engineering. Semester. Granted
last 3 years: MS 35. Part-time: yes. Program: The
interdisciplinary nature of HF/E is emphasized through a broad curriculum and
diverse student backgrounds. Projects provide practical experience in local
(Silicon Valley) high-tech manufacturing, research, and professional workplace
settings. Emphasizes statistics and experimental design and basic human factors
and ergonomics to maintain diversity, enrollment in courses with non-HF/E
majors. Students can focus in either of two tracks: one on human factors
ergonomics, design and workspace evaluation, the other on human-computer
interaction and usability analyses. Students participate in seminar and
internship programs associated with area information technology firms or with
area governmental laboratories (e.g., NASA Ames Research Center). HFES
student chapter: no. Catalog: on line at Web site shown.
APPLICATION:
Deadlines: 2/1 (fall), 10/1 (spring). Fee:
$55. Separate applications required for university and department. See website
for application details.
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
GPA: >2.75 last 60 units. GRE: 1000 v + q
. Other: Accepts students from almost all undergraduate degree
backgrounds (e.g., psychology, industrial engineering, human performance,
industrial design, occupational therapy, industrial technology, or information
technology specializations). Upper-division statistics through regression,
correlation, and introduction to analysis of variance is recommended for
admission and required for advancement to classified standing. Upper-division
human factors course and either cognition or perception recommended; may be
taken concurrently with other courses in the curriculum. Research: low.
Work experience: medium. Letters: high. Interview:
high.
ADMISSIONS:
Students applying last year: 42. Accepted:
18. Entered program: 14. Openings/year: 15 Fall, 5
Spring.
TUITION AND FEES:
Resident: $1008.50 full-time/semester, $675.50
part-time/semester. Nonresident: same + $246/unit full-or part
time.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE:
% receiving: 50. Amounts: $7200/$10000/$14000
(depends of source and type of work). Available: RA, not tuition exempt.
Apply: with application.
DEGREE REQUIREMENTS:
MS: 30 units, thesis defense, thesis research
required, no languages or practical experience required, 2-2 1/2 years.
Nonthesis option: No.
CURRICULUM:
Required courses (units): HF Engineering (3), Design
of Experiments (3), Ergonomics for Design (3), Engineering Psychology (3), Human
Motor Development (3), HF Seminar (2), Thesis (4). Electives: HCI I & II (3
each), Safety Engineering (3), Economics of Ergonomics (3), HF Experiments (3).
Required courses outside department: 0. Recommended courses outside
department: 2. Offered: night. Class size: 18-25.
RESEARCH/TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES:
Research facilities: Human performance
labs include motor learning facility with PCs and devices to measure reaction
time, CAT, and tracking. Also energy expenditure, force platform, and
video/computer systems for motion study. IE labs focus on workplace design and
performance measurement. Equipment includes video, heart rate, time study, and
flexometer devices and PCs. Computer Engineering program has labs and software
suitable for sophisticated modeling of human-system interaction. Psychology
Program conducts research at the Aerospace Human Factors Research Division at
NASA-Ames Research Center. Industrial Design Program has access to approximately
20 high-performance Macintosh and Silicon Graphics workstations with
high-resolution color, in addition to machines available in the several
general-purpose computer labs throughout the university. The usability testing
lab at Interface Analysis Associates has frequently been available for student
thesis research that is related to Dr. Andre's evaluation and design projects.
The Human Automation Integration Laboratory (HAIL) provides human-system
simulation facilities and research assistant opportunities
(http://www.sjsuhail.org/) Teaching: None. Current research:
Freund: Economics of ergonomics, workplace and task evaluation, evaluation of
aircraft display technologies. Wughalter: Schedule of practice to facilitate
memory and performance. Jordan: Attention issues in head-up displays; scanning
visual space (attention or visual fields). Coates: Product design, including
computers, workstations, military electronics, office furniture and equipment,
seating, automotive and aircraft interiors, consumer products; quantification of
aesthetic variables for product design; designing software to help designers and
engineers achieve optimal trade-offs between ergonomic and aesthetic objectives.
Andre: Display/control compatibility, simulation of visual scenes design, visual
cues for flight control, display/control evaluation. Corker: Human-machine
interaction modeling and simulation, human automation integration, aviation
psychology and HF.
STUDENT STATISTICS:
Active: 25 men, 35 women. First-year students:
18. Mean scores: GPA 3.2, GRE 570 v, 450 q.
FACULTY:
Anthony Andre, PhD 1991, U Illinois; engineering
psychology, display/control compatibility. Del Coates, MA 1973, U
Michigan; industrial design, psychological aesthetics. Kevin Corker, PhD
U California Los Angeles, 1984; Engineering Systems and Cognitive Psychology.
Louis Freund, PhD 1969, U Michigan; industrial engineering, economics of
ergonomics, methods engineering, workplace design. Kevin Jordan, PhD
1982, Kansas State U; psychology, attention. Michael Pogodzinski, PhD 1980, SUNY
Stonybrook; economics of ergonomics. Emily Wughalter, EdD 1981, U
Georgia; human performance and motor learning.