UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
Salt Lake City, Utah
Department of Mechanical Engineering

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BACKGROUND:
Title: Ergonomics and Safety (MS, ME, MPH, MSPH, PhD)
Est: 1981
Semester
Granted last 3 years: MS 12, ME 4, MPH 0, MSPH 0, PhD 2
Part-time: yes
Distance learning available: no
HFES student chapter: no
Program: Each student's program is structured to take advantage of his or her past education and experience. Students in the engineering programs are required to have an engineering undergraduate degree or demonstrate competency in the basic engineering sciences. At the master's level, the program is designed to produce graduates with basic analytical and management skills in ergonomics, safety, and industrial hygiene. Close cooperation with Industrial Hygiene, Occupational Medicine, and Occupational Health Nursing in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine facilitates the interdisciplinary emphasis of the program. Many students also take advantage of physiology and biomechanics courses in the Departments of Bioengineering and Exercise Science. PhD students are focused in the engineering sciences with emphasis in occupational biomechanics.
Contact: Donald S. Bloswick, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University of Utah, Mechanical Engineering, 50 South Central Campus Dr., Rm. 2202, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9208; 801/581-4613; bloswick@eng.utah.edu
Catalog: ($7.99) University Bookstore, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, http://www.bookstore.utah.edu/utah/home.aspx

APPLICATION:
Deadlines: flexible
Fee: $45

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
GPA: 3.0
GRE: 700 q for engineering students, required for MSPH and MPH students
Other: Incoming students in engineering are required to have competency in the basic engineering sciences. This competency may be demonstrated through (1) graduation from an engineering curriculum, (2) completion of the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam, (3) record of appropriate coursework, or (4) successful completion of appropriate coursework while in residence. Incoming students in the MPH or MSPH programs are expected to have a basic science background.
Research: high
Work experience: medium
Letters: medium
Interview: medium for engineering programs, high for MPH/MSPH programs

ADMISSIONS:
Students applying last year: 4
Accepted: 3
Entered program: 3
Openings/year: 5

TUITION AND FEES:
Resident: $2332/semester
Nonresident: $7383/semester

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE:
% receiving: 75 (at present, all full-time U.S. citizens are fully supported)
Amount: $13334/$20772
Available: fellowship, TA, RA, scholarship, all tuition exempt
Apply: with application

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS:
MS: 37 units, oral thesis defense, comprehensive exam, thesis research, no languages or practical experience, 2 years
ME: 30 units, comprehensive exam, applied project research, no languages or practical experience, 2 years
MPH: 38 units, comprehensive exam, thesis project, no languages or practical experience, 2 years
MSPH: 48 units, comprehensive exam, thesis research, no languages or practical experience, 2 years
Nonthesis option: yes
PhD: 47 units, qualifying exam, oral proposal defense, oral dissertation defense, dissertation research, no languages or practical experience, 4 years

CURRICULUM:
Required courses: Ergonomics (3), Introduction to Industrial Safety (3), Reliability (3) or Quality Assurance (3), Human Factors Engineering (3), Occupational Health and Safety Solutions (3), Work Physiology and Occupational Heat Stress (2), Systems Safety (3), OHS Industrial Hygiene (2), Introductions to Biostatistics (3) or Experimental Design and Analysis (3), Noise and Other Physical Agents (2) or Industrial Ventilation (2), Occupational Safety and Health Field Trips (1), Design Implications for Human-Machine Systems (3, PhD), Advanced Ergonomics and Occupational Biomechanics (4, PhD), Systems Safety (3, PhD), Computer Applications and Research Methods in Health and Safety (3), Musculoskeletal Functional Anatomy for Engineers (3, PhD), Biomechanics (3, PhD), Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (2, PhD), Epidemiology I (3, PhD), Quantitative Methods I, Inferential Statistics (3, PhD), Quantitative Methods II, ANOVA and Multiple Regression (3, PhD), Statistics elective (3, PhD)
Required courses outside department: MS 4, PhD 9
Recommended courses outside department: MS 4, PhD 9
Offered: night (approx. 30%)
Class size: 20

RESEARCH/TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES:
Research facilities: The Ergonomics and Safety Laboratory is housed in a 1500-square-foot facility equipped with a force plate with computer-based data acquisition system, a computer-based position detection system, load cells, video equipment, and still camera equipment. Additional PC-compatible and Macintosh computers, printers, and plotters are dedicated to ergonomics and safety students and lab use.
Teaching: Students serve as instructors, guest lecturers, lab instructors, TAs, and graders, and perform field evaluations of patients with occupational traumas. Advanced students participate in and provide consultative services to local industry.
Current research: Task predictors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders, effect of load and body dynamics on joint moments during lifting, effect of wrist flexion on vibrotactile sensitivity, effect of keyboard tray design on body posture and performance.

STUDENT STATISTICS:
Active: 5 men, 2 women
First-year students: 1
Mean scores: n/r

FACULTY:
Stacy Bamberg, ScD, Harvard/MIT; bio-instrumentation, gait analysis, motion tracking, rehabilitation engineering, medical therapeutics
Don Bloswick, PhD 1986, U Michigan; occupational biomechanics, ergonomics, slip/fall safety
Charles Elliott, PhD 1993, U Utah; reliability, quality assurance
David Hoeppner, PhD 1966, U Wisconsin; reliability, quality assurance
Gary Sandquist, PhD 1964, U Utah; quantitative risk assessment
Richard Sesek, PhD 1999, U Utah; industrial safety, industrial ergonomics
Robert Tuckett, PhD 1972, U Utah; cumulative trauma disorders

[Updated Winter 2007]