Robert Gutzwiller
Arizona State University
Associate Professor, Human Systems Engineering
PhD, Cognitive Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 2014
M.S., Cognitive Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 2011
B.S., Psychology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, 2008
I am excited about my nomination to serve! I joined HFES in 2009 and made it my professional home, serving the society’s vision for many years, rising to leadership positions within technical groups, conference chairing, judging for awards, and in journal editorial board roles. My career has been heavily applied, first working with various DOD elements as a civilian scientist, and continuing to support them in my current role as a tenured professor of human systems engineering.
I want to emphasize my ongoing passion for human factors and human systems integration principles. My hope is to enable responsible growth for the benefit of our membership and the field at large. The HFES agenda, to make systems work for people, should also aim inward to make the society work for its members. I will be an accessible point of approach to make this happen; bring me any issue, any time.
I promise to always welcome input from you and reflect your responses directly to the Executive Council. We must ensure that our society realizes major growth, while reflecting the majority views of our membership. Help me steer the ship with the rest of the EC leadership.
**ASPIRATIONS** Below are meaningful goals I would work toward in this role if elected.
*A member-driven/voted set of standard annual meeting/conference elements and requirements* The society’s membership could have a voting stake in whether significant changes are made regarding the core conduct of the society’s various meetings. Feedback and transparency are starting to emerge here, but I want to know from the members if they feel this feedback has been heard, and whether the transparency has been useful to them.
*An evaluation of what membership means, resulting in a high return on investment* We have lots of categories… but it is unclear what we gain with them. Membership should be simple and should provide a high return on investment. This is judged by you, the members, and by prospective members. I believe we can improve this and look at highly successful societies for inspiration.
*A clear vision for scientific engagement* We have tons of untapped potential cutting across a diverse span of disciplines, domains, and expertise. Let’s work together to chart maps of connection between these and the broader scientific, engineering, and practitioner communities. This is the most urgent around AI in technology; you will have seen the trend of ‘re-inventing the wheel’ from other disciplines, because they are unaware of our contributions.