Students revive Human Factors & Ergonomics chapter
 |
 t the 2010 National Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) annual meeting, held in San Francisco, California, in late September, the newly re-formed UW-Madison chapter was awarded a silver-level outstanding student chapter award.
The award, given to only a few college chapters each year, recognizes the UW-Madison chapter’s community outreach, information dissemination campaign and high level of student involvement during the past year.
Chapter president and ISyE PhD student Sacha Duff was instrumental in reorganizing the chapter after it lapsed into a brief hiatus “For anyone involved in human factors, this society is really important,” says Duff. “I think that having a group like this is important for students looking to further their studies in human factors or ergonomics.”
As Duff learned, however, re-starting a student organization was not an easy task. “There were a lot of administrative tasks that we had to complete before we could become a student organization,” says Duff. “But the club received an enthusiastic welcome from the College of Engineering and ISyE faculty. They showed a lot of support by allowing us to make announcements in lectures, offering sponsorships and generously giving their scarce personal time to attend a meeting.”
In particular, Assistant Professor Enid Montague closely advised the group. “Enid was really supportive in getting everything started this year,” explains Duff. “She has helped us get a lot of speakers and understand all the inner workings of running a chapter.”
In addition to hosting numerous speakers, the HFES chapter hosts webinars, advising sessions and various social events. “We had an action-packed, fun-filled and productive semester,” says Duff. “We’re really proud of everything we’ve accomplished.”
Currently, chapter has more than 20 active members. Most are ISyE students, though the organization is open to any student interested in human factors. “We’re really hoping to cast our net a little wider and get a lot of different degree programs represented in the club,” says Duff. “We’d also love to get more undergraduate students involved.”
For more information, go to theUW-Madison HFES site: http://www.engr.wisc.edu/studentorgs/hfes/.
|
|
