NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY
Raleigh, North Carolina
Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

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BACKGROUND:
Title: Ergonomics (MS, MIE, PhD)
Joint program: with Department of Psychology
Est: 1966
Semester
Granted last 3 years: MS 9, MIE 3, PhD 5
Part-time: yes
Distance learning available: yes
HFES student chapter: yes
Program: Program emphasis is on industrial ergonomics/biomechanics, cognitive engineering/HF in systems design, and occupational safety and health. Students gain a breadth of knowledge of ergonomics and an understanding of flexible approaches to address challenging interface problems in human-machine systems and complex task environments. The goal is broad preparation in ergonomics; courses emphasize contemporary theory, concepts, and principles; research techniques and observational methodologies; and the systems approach and computer modeling. Additional courses may be taken in a variety of fields, including, architecture, computer science, epidemiology, noise control, product design, and public health. Students from psychology and IE programs take several courses in common and may choose to work on research with faculty members from either department. For superior students, a direct-track PhD program exists; the MS degree is not a prerequisite. Accredited by: HFES, Ergonomics Society (UK).
Contact: David Kaber, NCSU, Dept. Industrial Engineering, 400 Daniels Hall, 111 Lampe Dr., Raleigh, NC 27695-7906; 919/515-5281; dbkaber@ncsu.edu, http://www.ie.ncsu.edu/ergolab.
Catalog: (online) http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/grad_catalog/catalog.htm

APPLICATION:
Deadlines: 2/1 for financial awards; 6/25 for fall admission
Fee: $55 U.S., $65 international

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
GPA: 3.00
GRE: 450 v, 680 q, (4.5) 550 a
Other: TOEFL 575 (paper), 233 (computer), TWE 5.0, 2 years calculus (including matrix/linear algebra), 1 year statistics
Recommended: undergraduate major in engineering or behavioral, physical, or biological science; experimental psychology (sensory-perceptual processes, learning, cognition); physics; and anatomy or physiology
Research: medium
Work experience: medium
Letters: high
Interview: medium

ADMISSIONS:
Students applying last year: 20
Accepted: 14
Entered program: 5
Openings/year: 6

TUITION:
Resident: $2019/semester
Nonresident: $8043/semester

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE:
% receiving: 80
Amount: $10000/$14400/$17400
Available: Fellowship, TA, and RA, all tuition exempt. Also offer positions through the NIOSH-sponsored training program in occupational safety and ergonomics.
Apply: with application

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS:
MS: 30 units, thesis research, oral defense of thesis, no languages or practical experience required, 2 years
Nonthesis option: no
MIE: 33 units, no exams, languages, research, or practical experience required, 1 1/2 years
Nonthesis option: yes
PhD: 72 units beyond BS, qualifying exam, oral defense of dissertation proposal, dissertation research, oral defense of dissertation, no languages or practical experience required, 3 1/2 years beyond MS.

CURRICULUM:
Required courses (credit hours): HF in Systems Design (3), Occupational Biomechanics (3), Area Seminar in Ergonomics (1), Human Performance (3), Experimental Statistics II (3)
Electives: Occupational Safety Engineering (3), Upper-Extremity Biomechanics (3), Spine Biomechanics (3), Systems Safety (3), Human-Computer Interaction (3), Ergonomic Performance Assessment (3), Human Information Processing (3), Warnings & Risk Communication (3), Research Practicum in Occupational Biomechanics (3), Safety Practicum (3), Psychological Survey Operations (3)
Required courses outside department: 3 (minor required)
Recommended courses outside department: 3 (minor required)
Offered: night; statistics in summer
Distance learning courses: Occupational Safety Engineering (IE 541), Occupational Biomechanics (IE 544). No distance degrees currently offered.
Class size: 6-25

RESEARCH/TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES:
Research facilities: Industrial Ergonomics Lab has state-of-the-art equipment for lab and field biomechanical analyses, including lumbar and wrist motion monitors, 10-channel EMG collection/processing system, 16-channel EMG collection/processing system, lumbar (asymmetric reference frame) dynamometer, Kin/Com 125e dynamometer, two 32-channel A/D data acquisition systems, two Bertec 3D force platforms, keyboard keying force measurement system, 16-sensor Ascension Flock of Birds magnetic motion analysis system, and video analysis systems. Lumbar and wrist motion monitors capture 3D joint kinematics in lab and field studies. EMG, force platform, and dynamometer systems allow detailed lab evaluation of strength, fatigue, and joint loading. The lab also has a network of 8 PCs (NT/2000) connected to the university network. Cognitive Engineering Lab contains major research instrumentation for study of human-automation interaction in complex systems control, human factors issues in virtual environment interface design for machine systems and training, and dual-task/team performance in synthetic representations of real-world systems (ATC, commercial aircraft, telerobotics). State-of-the art resources include two Intergraph (dual-processor) VisualiZe workstations; Stereographics active, light shutter glasses; Silicon Graphics (dual-processor) ZX10 visualization workstation; VirtualResearch VR8 Head-mounted Display, Polhemis FastTrak, 6-degree-of-freedom (DOF) motion sensor; Ascension Technologies 6-DOF mouse; Biodex Rehabilitation Treadmill (RT400) for research on locomotion interfaces to virtual reality; Logitech Wingman Formula GP driving simulator interfaces; two licenses of Sense8 WorldUp and one license of WorldToolkit, high-resolution digital-8 camcorder and high-resolution digital still camera. All lab equipment is integrated and networked with three additional PC workstations, large Snap server volume, and color and laser printers.
Teaching: TAships available at 1/2 or 1/3 time, most involving large undergraduate courses and/or lab sections (Ergonomics, Work Design and Measurement); some teach sophomore-level courses such as Engineering Economy & Facilities Design. Advanced students may have opportunity to teach junior/senior-level ergonomics course.
Current research activities: engineering design of ergonomic interventions, ergonomics in construction, agriculture, and furniture manufacturing industries; stochastic nature of biomechanical loading during manual materials handling tasks; situation awareness implications of automation in complex systems (aircraft, ATC); telepresence in virtual environment applications for telerobotics; multimodal interface design for complex system operator awareness and performance; impact of adaptive automation on human information processing; office ergonomics and issues associated with laptop computer use; evaluation of psychosocial characteristics and impact on worker health; computer interfaces (keyboard and keypad key design; use of auditory cues). Also see NCSU psychology program.

STUDENT STATISTICS:
Active: 9 men, 7 women
First-year students: 5
Mean scores: MS: GPA 3.31, GRE 520 v, 690 q, 690 a; PhD: GPA 3.20, GRE 560 v, 700 q, 700 a

FACULTY:
Mahmoud A. Ayoub, PhD 1971, Texas Tech U; biomechanics, CTDs.
Simon M. Hsiang, PhD 1992, Texas Tech U; cognitive engineering, occupational biomechanics, virtual reality, data mining, system identification, human safety/reliability.
David B. Kaber, PhD 1996, Texas Tech U; cognitive ergonomics, human-automation interaction, human-machine interface design.

[Updated Summer 2007]