SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY
San Jose, California
College of Graduate Studies

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BACKGROUND:
Title: Human Factors/Ergonomics (MS)
Joint program: with Industrial & Systems Engineering Psychology, Industrial Design, Human Performance, Economics, and Computer, Information, & Systems Engineering
Est: 1993
Semester
Granted last 3 years: MS 35
Part-time: yes
HFES student chapter: http://www.sjsuhfes.org
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).
Contact: Louis E. Fruend, Program Director, SJSU, ISE Dept, 1 Washington Sq., San Jose, CA 95192-00085; 408/924-3988; lfruend@email.sjsu.edu, http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/hfe.
Catalog: online at Web site shown

APPLICATION:
Deadlines: 2/1 (fall), 10/1 (spring)
Fee: $55. Separate applications required for university and department. See Web site 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 on 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 1984, UCLA; engineering systems, 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 Stony Brook; economics of ergonomics
Emily Wughalter, EdD 1981, U Georgia; human performance and motor learning