Thomas R. Waters Memorial MSD Scholarship Award

Thomas R. Waters was a scientist at NIOSH and was the mastermind behind the NIOSH Revised Equation for the Design and Evaluation of Manual Lifting Tasks. This contribution has been adopted by governments and industries all around the world and its applications have prevented countless numbers of back injuries and human suffering over the years. The Waters family would like to encourage the furthering of science in this area and thus sponsor a scholarship for students and recent graduates to further stimulate creative research associated with the prevention of back disorders. 

The Thomas R. Waters MSD Memorial Scholarship Award is a realization of the Waters family's wish to enable students and recent graduates to continue the research to help understand and control MSDs in the workplace. The following procedures apply to the award.

Criteria for the Award:  
Research that significantly advances the science underpinning physical manipulation of people and materials research. The criteria are intentionally broad to enable scientific understanding about how the human system's (physical and/or cognitive) interaction with physical manipulation tasks could influence the risk to the human musculoskeletal system.

Criteria for Applicants - Eligibility:

• Graduate Student (currently enrolled and in good standing or recently graduated - 1 year)
• Journal article, written proceedings or conference abstract published since the last IEA Triennial Congress
• Must have letter of recommendation preferably from faculty or a professional in the field

Selection Process
The Chair of the award will form a selection committee that includes one sponsor representative.  The Selection Committee selects finalists and suggests them to the sponsor, who must approve the selection committee's recommendation.  The monetary award for 2024 will be US $3,000

Application Deadline

Applications for 2024 are due January 15, 2024. Please send to pastpres@iea.cc with copy to kmosier@sfsu.edu.