TUFTS UNIVERSITY
Medford, Massachusetts
Department of Mechanical Engineering

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BACKGROUND:
Title: Human Factors (MS, PhD)
Est: 1969
Semester
Granted last 3 years: MS 8
Part-time: yes
Distance learning available: no
HFES student chapter: yes
Program: Engineering and research oriented, with emphasis on medical product and interface design, complex human-machine systems. Design or design research dissertation.
Contact: Caroline Cao, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02115; 617/627-3239; caroline.cao@tufts.edu, http://www.tufts.edu/as/stu-org/hfes.
Catalog: (free) Graduate Application Office, 120 Packard Ave., Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155; http://www.tufts.edu/as/stu-org/hfes/.

APPLICATION:
Deadlines: 10/15 (spring), 2/15 (fall)
Fee: $50

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
GPA: MS 3.5
GRE: recommended
Other: undergraduate degree in engineering or computer science, PhD students must be engineering undergraduates
Research:high
Work experience: medium
Letters: high
Interview: high

ADMISSIONS:
Students applying last year: 5
Accepted: 2
Openings/year: variable

TUITION AND FEES:
Resident/nonresident: $3400/year
Part-time: $2700/course

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE:
% receiving: 100
Amount: tuition remission + stipend (minimum $1556/month)
Available: fellowship, TA, RA, scholarship, plus tuition exempt
Apply: with application

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS:
MS: 10 units including 8 courses, seminar attendance, proposal, research (2 units), and oral defense of thesis; no languages or practical experience required, maximum 5 years
Nonthesis option: no
PhD: 20 units including 5 courses, seminar attendance, oral qualifying exam, 2 seminars, research, and oral defense of dissertation; no languages or practical experience, maximum 7 years

CURRICULUM:
MS required courses (programs and courses are ordinarily determined after interview with student): HF in Product Design, Human-Machine System Design, Research & Analytical Methods in HF, Advanced Probability and Statistics I & II, User Interface Design
PhD: courses determined by background and dissertation topic, with breadth in 2 subdisciplines and mathematical preparation
Required courses outside department: 4
Recommended courses outside department: 0
Offered: summer (infrequently)
Class size: less than 10

RESEARCH/TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES:
Research facilities: Software, hardware, computational labs, machine shops.
Teaching: TA/RA sometimes available. Human factors courses.
Current research: HF in medical systems with focus on endoscopic applications, spatial visualization and control in remote environments, information visualization, decision making in the OR.

STUDENT STATISTICS:
Active: 1 man, 6 women
First-year students: 1
Mean scores: MS: GRE n/a, GPA 4.0

FACULTY:
Caroline Cao, PhD 2002, U Toronto; mechanical and industrial engineering, HF

[Updated Winter 2007]