Students are expected to have completed several core engineering courses appropriate to their major, and are expected to have completed previous technical communications and project / design assignments. It is assumed that students have prior experience in team-based projects.

The specific focus of this course is on human factors approaches to engineering design, so students should have prior exposure to and/or interest in human factors engineering.

This course is a capstone design course in human factors engineering. In other words, the point of this class is to give you experience in tackling a "real-world" (that is, unconstrained, with no single correct answer) problem requiring a human factors and systems engineering design orientation. I have the following goals for this class:

Experience working in a group to organize, complete, and document a task Use library, online, and other sources to independently identify and utilize existing knowledge and past experience Present material in a variety of communications styles: oral, technical, executive Complete a quality project that can be presented at a professional conference or corporate review Recognize barriers and difficulties associated with real-world design problems

The following statement indicates which of the following considerations are included in this course: economic, environmental, ethical, political, societal, health and safety, manufacturability, sustainability.

Course includes specific and integrated discussions of economic, ethical, and societal issues in engineering design. Projects are discussed and developed with an emphasis on sustainability, user-centered design principles and ethical concerns.

A major focus of the course is the role of engineers to communicate and translate to a non-engineering audience, and consider the importance of non-engineering considerations in the design process.

1.Apply Knowledge of Math, Science, Economics, and Engineering Principles to Solve Engineering Design Problems.

2.Use Appropriate Techniques, Skills, and Tools to Identify, Formulate, Analyze, and Solve Engineering Design Problems. --Know what information is necessary and sufficient for the design context --Choose, apply, constructively critique, and potentially adapt or extend appropriate techniques --Recognize, describe, predict, and analyze systems behavior

3.Design a System, Component, or Process to Meet an Identified Need. --Integrate problem solutions into a proposed action program or plan --Select and evaluate off-the-shelf solutions and new proposals --Design human tasks for minimal stress and maximum performance --Understand physiological & cognitive aspects of humans as components in complex systems --Maintain a systems level perspective, yet have an appreciation for product design and operational level issues --Identify opportunities for system improvement

Providing opportunities for 'real-world' engineering practice