PROGRAM BACKGROUND
Year human factors/ergonomics program was established:
Contact person for more information, including application:
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
Human factors/ergonomics graduate degrees offered:
Goals, objectives, and emphasis of the 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.
Number of degrees granted during last 3 years:
- MS 12
- ME 4
- MPH 0
- MSPH 0
- PhD 2
Can students attend part-time?
Are required courses offered at night?
Are required courses offered through distance learning?
Does the university have an HFES student chapter?
APPLICATION PROCESS
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Minimum 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.
Importance of other criteria as admission factors:
- Research: high
- Work experience: medium
- Letters: medium
- Interview: medium for engineering programs, high for MPH/MSPH programs
Tuition and fees:
- Resident: $2,332/semester
- Nonresident: $7,383/semester
ADMISSIONS
Number of students applying to the human factors/ergonomics program last year:
Number of students accepted into the program last year:
Number of students entering the program last year:
Anticipated number of openings per year:
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Percentage of students in program receiving financial assistance:
75% (at present, all full-time U.S. citizens are fully supported)
Amounts received per year:
Types of assistance available:
Fellowship, TA, RA, scholarship, all tuition exempt
When should students apply for financial assistance?
DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
Graduate degrees offered:
Graduate degrees offered:
Number of units required:
- MS: 37
- ME: 30
- MPH: 38
- MSPH: 48
- PhD: 47
Exams require:
- MS: oral thesis defense, comprehensive exam
- ME: comprehensive exam
- MPH: comprehensive exam
- MSPH: comprehensive exam
- PhD: qualifying exam, oral proposal defense, oral dissertation defense
Language requirement:
None
Research required:
- MS: thesis research
- ME: applied project research
- MPH: thesis project
- MSPH: thesis research
- PhD: dissertation research
Practical experience required:
No
Typical number of years required to obtain degree:
- MS: 2
- ME: 2
- MPH: 2
- MSPH: 2
- PhD: 4
Is there a non-thesis option?
MSPH: Yes
CURRICULUM
Required courses (units):
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)
Number of courses outside department that are required:
Number of courses outside department that are recommended:
Average or typical class size in a required course:
RESEARCH/TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES
Research and support facilities available to students in the program:
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 opportunities available to students in the program:
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 activities and projects being carried out by program faculty and/or students:
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
Current number of active students in program, by gender:
Current number of first-year students in program:
Current number of first-year students in program:
Based on current graduate students in the program, the mean score on admission tests and undergraduate GPA by degree being sought are:
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]