PROGRAM BACKGROUND
Title of program:
Concentration in the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Year human factors/ergonomics program was established
Contact person for more information, including applications:
Hannah S. Parks
Virginia Tech Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
239 Durham Hall, MC 0118, 1145 Perry Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061
hsswiger@vt.edu
Human factors/ergonomics graduate degrees offered:
Goals, objectives, and emphasis of the program:
Human Factors Engineering and Ergonomics (HFEE) at VT is concerned with ways of designing jobs, machines, operations, and work environments so they are compatible with human capacities and limitations. The breadth of the field is emphasized, as HFEE researchers and practitioners are 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. Accredited by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
Number of degrees granted during last 3 years:
Can students attend part-time?
Are required courses offered through distance learning?
Are required courses offered at night?
Are required courses offered during summer?
Does the university have an HFES student chapter?
APPLICATION PROCESS
Application deadlines:
January 16 (fall), September 1 (spring)
Application fee:
$75
Are separate applications required for university and department?
No
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Minimum requirements:
- Grade point average (last 4 yrs: A = 4.0): 3.0
- GRE is no longer required, but optional
Importance of other criteria as admission factors:
- Previous research activity: high
- Relevant work experience: low
- Extracurricular activities: low
- Letters of recommendation: high
- Personal Interview: N/A
Tuition and fees:
- In-State – $8,261.00
- Out-of-State – $15,721.50
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:
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Percentage of students in program receiving financial assistance:
50% overall, nearly all PhD students
Amount received per year:
$33,000 – $35,000 (includes in-state tuition)
Types of assistance available:
Teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and graduate fellowships (all include in-state tuition)
When should students apply for financial assistance?
At the same time as submitting application for admission; all applicants are considered for financial assistance.
DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
Graduate degrees offered:
- MENG (non-thesis), MS (thesis), and PhD
- MENG (non-thesis)
Number of units required:
- MEng (non-thesis): 31 credit hours
- MS (thesis): 31 credit hours (21 coursework hours)
- PhD: 91 credit hours (36 coursework hours)
Exams required:
- MS (non-thesis): none
- MS (thesis): oral defense of thesis
- PhD: preliminary exam (1 written and 1 oral), oral dissertation defense
Language requirements:
- Minimum TOEFL requirement for international students is 90 with at least a score of 20 on each subsection. TOEFL waived for BS or MS received at US university.
- MENG (non-thesis)
Research required:
- MS (non-thesis): none
- MS (thesis): thesis research – 10 hours
- PhD: dissertation research – 30 hours
Practical experience required:
Typical number of years required to obtain degree:
- MS (non-thesis): 1.5
- MS (thesis): 2
- PhD: 5 post BS, 4 post MS
Is there a non-thesis option?
- MENG Degree is non-thesis
CURRICULUM
Required courses (units):
- ISE Seminar, ISE 5604 Human Information Processing, ISE 5605 Human Factors System Design I, ISE 5614 Human Physical Capabilities, ISE 5615 Human Factors Research Design
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 HFEE program is a consortium of state-of-the-art, faculty-directed laboratories: Auditory Systems Lab, Cognitive Engineering for Novel Technologies Lab, Human-Computer Interaction Lab, Occupational Ergonomics and Biomechanics Labs, Cognitive System Engineering Lab; Mind, Machine, and Music Lab; Healthy Work Design Lab, and Safety Engineering Lab. In addition, students often work at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. Other facilities include those normally found at a major University and include dedicated multimedia classroom space, computer laboratories, libraries and faculty and student office space.
Teaching opportunities available to students in the program:
Graduate students have opportunities to teach as GTAs. Senior doctoral students have the opportunity to take full responsibility for an undergraduate course, with the assistance of a faculty mentor.
Current research activities and projects being carried out by program faculty and/or students:
Research project are ongoing in many HF/E areas: aging, audition auditory perception and auditory displays, warning signals, cognitive performance, construction safety and health, consumer product design, healthcare systems, human-computer interaction, industrial ergonomics, input/control devices, locomotion and balance, musculoskeletal disorders, occupational biomechanics, safety, sociotechnical (macro) systems, training, visual perception, virtual/augmented reality, wearable computing, and workload assessment.
STUDENT STATISTICS
Current number of active students in program,by gender:
Current number of first-year students in program:
Based on current graduate students in the program, the mean score on admission tests andundergraduate GPA by degree being sought are:
- Mean GRE Verbal: 156
- Mean GRE Quantitative: 160
- Mean GRE Analytical: 305
- Mean undergraduate
- GPA: 3.72
Number of current HF/E postdocs:
Of the number of those graduating in the past year, what percentage gained employment in:
- Academia: 50%
- Industry: 50%
- Government: 0%
Faculty-to-student ratio:
FACULTY
John G. Casali, PhD 1982, Industrial Engineering, Virginia Tech; HFES Member; product/systems design, acoustics and hearing protection, auditory displays, warning signals, aviation/driving human factors, forensics and litigation
Deborah E. Dickerson, PhD 2007 Industrial Engineering, Virginia Tech; healthy work design, health behaviors, health promotion, innovation acceptance, training system design, work organization
Joseph L. Gabbard, PhD 2008 Computer Science, Virginia Tech; HFES Member; Usability engineering, human-computer interaction, cognitive human factors
Charlie Klauer, PhD 2005 Industrial & Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech; HFES Member; driver distraction and fatigue, novice teen driver
Brian M. Kleiner, PhD 1990 Industrial Engineering, SUNY Buffalo; HFES Member; macroergonomics, computer-supported collaborative work, HF in complex work systems
Myounghoon "Philart" Jeon, PhD 2012, Engineering Psychology and Human-Computer Interaction, Georgia Tech; sound and music computing, affective computing, assistive technologies, automotive user interfaces, aesthetic computin
Nathan Lau, PhD 2012, Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto; cognitive engineering, human performance, interface design, situation awareness
Sol Lim, PhD 2019, Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan; Ergonomics & human factors, wearable technology, predictive modeling, occupational health and safety, healthcare ergonomics
Michael L. Madigan, PhD 2001, Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University; occupational biomechanics and ergonomics, slips/trips/falls, aging, obesity
Maury A. Nussbaum, PhD 1994 Industrial & Operations Engineering, The University of Michigan Ann Arbor; HFES Member; occupational biomechanics, industrial ergonomics, human simulation, fall prevention
Rafael Patrick, PhD 2018 Industrial and Systems Engineering, North Carolina A&T State University, Applied psychophysics, auditory situation awareness, human-machine-systems, sensory and perception
[Updated June 2022]