ISE has moved up 3 places in the U.S. News and World Report.
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APM Named Outstanding Chapter
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Sherali and colleagues win IFORS Prize
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ISE's and the Hokie Nation rally around Paul Torgersen
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ISE Faculty Generate 3 Best Paper Awards
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Undergraduate student team wins national facilities design competition sponsored by the College Industry Council on Material Handling Education (CICMHE) and Bastian Material Handling (BMH)
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Human Factors Engineering and Ergonomics (HFEE) is concerned with ways of designing jobs, machines, operations, and work environments so they are compatible with human capacities and limitations. The HFEE practitioner is called upon both to apply existing human performance knowledge to the design or modification of equipment and also to generate new experimental data required for design.
The Ph.D. degree in the HFEE option emphasizes both methodology and content areas. Foundation coursework includes a detailed study of existing research, design, and evaluation methods that are appropriate to human factors engineering and ergonomics. Additionally, content courses include sensory ergonomics dealing with sensory capabilities and limitations of humans, physical ergonomics dealing with biomechanics and work physiology, cognitive ergonomics dealing with human information processing, and macroergonomics dealing with group processes. This course work is supplemented by supporting courses in a variety of human factors engineering and ergonomic application areas including auditory communication, computer displays, industrial safety, training, and transportation systems. Emphasis is placed upon specific content area courses, elective courses in the student’s area of interest, and laboratory research under the direct guidance of an HFEE faculty member.
The HFEE option will accept outstanding applicants, typically upon request of the student, directly into the PhD program (post-BS). Only the most outstanding applicants will be considered. Decisions regarding MS requirements, for all students directly admitted into the PhD program, will be made by the HFEE application review committee. Some students, particularly those without prior research experience, will be required to complete an MS degree prior to continuing on for the PhD (though formal reapplication for the latter will not be needed). In cases where exceptional students are not required to obtain the MS first, their progress through the program will be closely monitored by the option coordinator and faculty advisor. It will be expected that these students maintain at least a 3.5 grade point average, complete a program of a study within two semesters of commencing the program, and show evidence of early research participation.
Each human factors engineering and ergonomics PhD advisory committee must satisfy the following requirements: 1) have at least two current HFEE full-time instructional faculty; 2) have at least three members from the ISE teaching faculty; 3) have at least four total members. In addition, the chairperson or co-chairperson of the Ph.D. committee must be a current HFEE full-time instructional faculty. The remaining members of the advisory committee may be teaching members of the human factors and ergonomics faculty or may be from other options in Industrial and Systems Engineering, other types of positions, other departments, or from other organizations providing they meet graduate school requirements for eligibility. Research professors approved by the option may substitute for one of the two required HFEE full-time instructional faculty, though may not serve as chair.
Every student should be able to demonstrate basic computer proficiency. Students who have previously taken courses equivalent to those required may be exempt from such requirements as determined on a course-by-course basis. Students petition for substitution of these equivalent courses in their Program of Study. This petition must be approved by the Virginia Tech instructor for the course(s) in question, the HFEE Option Area Coordinator, and the ISE Graduate Program Director. ISE 3614 (pass/fail), or an equivalent course taken previously, is an HFEE graduate program requirement that must be satisfied no later than the end of a student’s first fall semester.
The Ph.D. curriculum builds upon the M.S. curriculum, and assumes the graduate student has already had behavioral research experience and developed engineering skills with a thesis. The Ph.D. program is heavily oriented toward independent research and the development of expertise in a particular area of ergonomics. This expertise is demonstrated by in-depth interdisciplinary coursework and dissertation research. Doctoral students are encouraged to become involved in laboratory research during the first year in the graduate program so that by the time they begin dissertation research they will have one to three years of laboratory experience.
| COURSE# AND TITLE | HOURS |
|---|---|
| All of the following or their equivalent are required: | 25 |
| ISE Seminar | 0 |
| ISE 5604 Human Information Processing | 3 |
| ISE 5605 Human Factors System Design I | 3 |
| ISE 5614 Human Physical Capabilities | 3 |
| ISE 5615 Human Factors Research Design I | 4 |
| ISE 5644 Human Audition and Auditory Display Design | 3 |
| ISE 5694 MacroErgonomics | 3 |
| ISE 6604 Human Factors in Visual Display Systems | 3 |
| ISE 6624 Advanced Topics in Human Factors | 3 |
| Elective Courses: | ≥24 |
| See expectations below | |
| Total Coursework Credit Hours | ≥49 |
| ISE 5994, 7994 Research and Dissertation (Maximum 10 hours of ISE 5994 not used to satisfy MS requirements) | ≥30 |
| Total Hours | ≥90 or 60 post MS |
Note: Deviations from this curriculum are possible with approval of the student’s committee, the HFEE option coordinator, and the ISE Graduate Program Director.
