Location: San Jose, California
Department: College of Engineering
Quick links:
Directory of Graduate Programs
PROGRAM BACKGROUND
Title of program
Human Factors/Ergonomics (MS)
Joint program
With Industrial & Systems Engineering, Psychology, Industrial Design, and Kinesiology
Year human factors/ergonomics program was established
1993
Accredited by HFES?
Yes
Contact person for more information, including applications
Anil R. Kumar, Program Director, SJSU, ISE Dept, 1 Washington Sq., San Jose, CA 95192-00085; 408/924-7850; anil.kumar@sjsu.edu
Website
https://www.sjsu.edu/hfe/
Academic calendar
Semester
Human factors/ergonomics graduate degrees offered
MS HFE and MS HFE (concentration in User Experience)
Goals, objectives, and emphasis of the program
The interdisciplinary nature of HF/E is emphasized through a broad curriculum and diverse student backgrounds. Projects provide practical experience in local (Silicon Valley) high-tech manufacturing, research, and professional workplace settings. The MS HFE program emphasizes statistics and experimental design and basic human factors and ergonomics to maintain diversity, enrollment in courses with non-HF/E majors while the MS HFE concentration provides students with competency in human computer interaction (UX) through their course work and culminating project. All students are required to complete the program core, elective courses, and a 4 unit culminating project or thesis Emphasis areas are suggested such as Cognitive Psychology, HCI/UX/UI, Ergonomics, or Human Performance, but students may select electives from across all offerings. Students often work part time or full time in paid internship programs offered by area information technology firms (mainly the Big Tech) or with area governmental laboratories (e.g., NASA Ames Research Center).
Number of degrees granted during last 3 years
MS 101
Can students attend part-time?
Yes
Are required courses at night?
Late afternoon and evening
Does the university have an HFES student chapter?
Yes
APPLICATION PROCESS
Application deadline
February 1 (fall admissions only)
Application fee
$70 (nonrefundable and may not be transferred to another term).
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Minimum requirements
GPA: 3.0 last 60 units
GRE: Not required, but preferred
Other: Three reference letters, personal statement, a TOEFL score of 90 or higher (for international students) is required to be considered for the program.
Importance of other criteria as admission factors
Research: Medium
Work experience: Medium
Extracurricular activities: Low
Letters of recommendation: High
Interview: Not required
Tuition and fees
Check SJSU Web site for current fee structure: https://www.sjsu.edu/bursar/fees-due-dates/index.php
ADMISSIONS
Number of students applying to the human factors/ergonomics
program last year
246
Number of students accepted into the program last year
79
Number of students entering the program last year
79
Anticipated number of openings per year
80 per year
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Percentage of students in program receiving financial assistance
30%
Amount received per year (minimum – typical – maximum)
$7,200 – $10,000 – $14,000 (depends on source and type of work)
Types of assistance available
TA and RA (not tuition exempt)
When should students apply for financial assistance?
Upon notification of acceptance
DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
Graduate degrees offered
MS
Number of units required
30
Exams required
Oral defense of thesis
Language requirements
None
Research required
Thesis/project
Practical experience required
None
Typical number of years required to obtain degree
2–2.5 years
Is there a non-thesis option?
Yes (project)
CURRICULUM
Required courses (units)
HF Engineering (3), Design of Experiments (3), Human Factors Experiments (also meets writing requirement) (3), Engineering Psychology (3), Human Motor Development (3), HF Seminar (2), Thesis or culminating project (4)
Electives (units)
Three of the following or other approved courses: Human Computer Interaction (3), Advanced Interaction Design (3), Safety Engineering (3), Ethnographic Studies (3), HF in Design (two courses; 3 each), Usability Testing (3), Seminar in Cognition (3), Seminar in Perception (3); Medical Errors Reduction and Patient Safety Engineering (3)
Number of courses outside department that are required
2: Engineering Psychology (3), Human Motor Development (3)
Number of courses outside department that are recommended
4
Average or typical class size in a required course
30-40
RESEARCH/TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES
Research and support facilities available to students in the program:
Numerous lab available to students with different focus:
- The Human Factors/Ergonomics Lab which has the capability of supporting student research in the fields of ergonomics, workplace design, usability, and interface design. The lab is equipped with a state-of-the-art wireless EMG recording system, mobile and base mount eye trackers driven by Imotions software (includes affective modules), a driving simulator (270 degree), instruments to measure physiological and neurophysiological measures, electrically adjustable workstation, an Oculus Rift HMD, cameras, Wi‐Fi, and related support computers and software. The lab is being retrofitted to include capacity for in‐house user centered design studies, including multiple user studies, various healthcare settings, basic physical ergonomic research tasks, and various simulation facilities.
- The mission of the Behavior, Accessibility, and Technology (BAT) Lab is to develop next-generation human-machine systems that can assist and support humans with technology in a wide range of application domains and to enhance human performance and optimize human well-being. The areas of research include human-automation interaction, automated driving, aging and technology, human-machine interface and human behavior modeling.
- The Virtual Environments, Cognition, and Training Research (VECTR) Lab which gives students hands‐on experience with all aspects of the research process, with an emphasis on applied experimental research psychology.
- Memory, Learning, and Motivation (MLM) Lab which addresses research questions related to human behavior and cognition,
- Learning, Attention, Vision, and Application (LAVA) with focus on Human Factors, Visual Attention, Gamification, and Data Visualization.
Teaching opportunities available to students in the program:
None
Current research activities and projects being carried out by program faculty and/or students:
- Kumar: Human-Machine Interaction design, PAPRS design, Trust Transfer across Mobility, Driver Situational Awareness, Remote Human Factors Validation
- Huang: Human-automation Interaction, (semi)Autonomous Driving, Successful Aging, Multimodal Displays, Adaptive Automation
- Schuster: Cognitive factors in cybersecurity, human performance implications of video game experience, human-robot interaction, individual and shared cognition in complex environments, training
- Nathan-Roberts: affective design, sociotechnical systems, human factors in healthcare systems
- Palmer: Visual Attention, Gamification, and Data Visualization
- Andre: Display/control compatibility, medical device design and evaluation
- Feria: Visual perception and attention
STUDENT STATISTICS
Current number of active students in program, by gender
15 men, 57 women
Current number of first-year students in program
79
Based on current graduate students in the program, the mean score on admission tests and undergraduate GPA by degree being sought are
GPA 3.3, GRE not required
FACULTY
Anthony Andre, PhD 1991, U. of Illinois; engineering psychology, display/control compatibility, medical device design
Cary Feria, PhD, 2004, UC Irvine; perception
Gaojian Huang, PhD, human-automation interaction, (semi)autonomous driving, successful aging
Anil Kumar, PhD, 2007, Western Michigan U.; product design and development (medical devices), human factors and automation (autonomous vehicles)
Sean Laraway, PhD, 2003, Western Michigan U.; cognition, experimental design
Yue (Lyla) Luo, PhD, 2023, U of Florida; Human Factors and Ergonomics, Injury Prevention, Aging Health, Human-Robot Collaboration, Human-Machine Interaction, Wearable Technology, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented reality (AR), Biomechanics, Motion Analysis, Data Analytics
Abbas Moallem, PhD, U. of Paris; cybersecurity, human computer interaction
Dan Nathan-Roberts, PhD, 2012, U. of Michigan; ergonomics, home healthcare systems
Evan Palmer, PhD, 2003, U. of Michigan; visual perception and attention, gamification and motivation, human factors in healthcare
Daniel Rosenberg, MS, Tufts U.; interaction design, user experience, visual design
David Schuster, PhD, 2013, U. of Central Florida; applied experimental and human factors psychology
Emily Wughalter, PhD, 1981, U. of Georgia; human performance and motor learning
[Updated Feb 2024]