June 24, 2021
Society News
Don't Miss Today's Webinar: Physical and Psychological Impacts of Racial Injustice
Don't miss today's webinar, "The Physical and Psychological Impacts of Racial Injustice," starting at 1:00 pm ET.

As noted by many human factors professionals, technology is often created from the perspective of the designer without adequate attention to the mental models of intended users. One aspect of user mental models that that may be overlooked is related to the work systems in which racial and ethnic minorities are embedded. In this webinar, we will discuss the case study of consumer health information technology and note that calls to enhance culturally competent care also apply to the virtual world as health IT increasingly becomes a substantive part of the healthcare ecosystem. In particular, we'll discuss approaches for incorporating the needs of racial and ethnic minorities into the design process and how such needs should be accounted for in design choices related to the technology platform, functionality, content, and interface. 
Leadership Development Committee: Call for Input 
 
As one of its wider efforts to foster the successful future leaders of the HF/E community, the HFES Leadership Development Committee is establishing a virtual tutorial program that will be made available to all society members. To ensure this program’s comprehensiveness, we would like to solicit your input regarding the qualities, processes, and procedures integral to an effective leader, both overall and specifically within the HFES organization. Your suggestions will help shape the breadth, depth, and focus of the core modules.

Any insight is much appreciated and may be sent directly to [email protected].  
Save the Date for the 65th International Annual Meeting:

Live Meeting in Baltimore - October 4-7, 2021

Virtual Edition October 25-27, 2021
 
We are excited to proceed with planning our 65th International Annual Meeting and hope that this year’s two-part format will enable everyone to attend and engage in the manner most feasible and comfortable to them. Here are the details:
 
  • Live Meeting: October 4 - 7, 2021, Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland. Registration opens June 30.
  • Online Meeting: October 25 - 27, 2021. Registration opens in July.
  • Those who register to attend the live meeting will be enrolled for the online meeting at no additional fee.
  • Individuals who do not attend our live meeting may register for the online meeting. Registration will include access to sessions recorded in Baltimore. 
  • All registrants will have access to the recordings from both meetings via the HFES Learning Center for a full year.
  • All paper authors whose submissions were accepted will see their papers published together in one volume of the meeting proceedings publication.
  • Accepted student-led submissions are encouraged to submit their applications for the Alphonse Chapanis Award by July 23. View more information on the award and download the application here.

Please watch your email inbox for information about meeting registration and hotel reservations. We look forward to both parts of the 65th Annual Meeting this year and hope you will make plans to participate!
President Biden Releases FY 2022 Budget Request
On May 28, 2021, President Biden released the full details of his first budget proposal to Congress. Unrestrained by legally imposed budget caps for the first time in a decade, President Biden proposed an 18 percent boost in discretionary spending for a total of $1.522 trillion.  President Biden’s top fiscal year (FY) 2022 budget priorities include public health, climate and clean energy, innovation, and education.  This is a sharp contrast from the Trump Administration, which prioritized defense spending and proposed major cuts to other domestic programs.  President Biden’s proposal would provide $769 billion in non-defense spending—a $123 billion increase or 16 percent increase over the FY 2021 enacted level.  In contrast, the proposal would provide $753 billion for defense spending—a $13 billion or 1.7 percent increase over the FY 2021 enacted level.  This would be the first time in more than a decade that non-defense spending would exceed defense spending.  
HFES Accepting Applications for Student Travel Grants to 65th Annual Meeting
HFES is pleased to offer opportunities for students to apply for funding to assist them in attending the 65th Annual Meeting. Applications for both awards are due by Monday, July 19, 2021 by 11:59 PM EDT.

The Travel Award for First Year Graduate Students provides $500 for graduate students who are in the first year of their academic program (entered the program no earlier than fall of 2020) to support their travel to the annual meeting. Students must be members of HFES at the time of application. Applicants who submit completed applications will be selected randomly. Application form: Application for Travel Award for First Year Graduate Students.

The Student Presenter Award provides $500 to students who are authors of accepted papers or posters for the HFES Annual Meeting to support their travel related expenses. The student must be listed as the presenting author of the associated work at the time of submission. Students must also be members of HFES at the time of application. Nominations for this award must be submitted by a faculty member in the student's program. The nominator does not have to be an advisor or coauthor of the work. Travel awards will be assessed based on need and, in the case of multiple qualified applicants, randomly. Full details and the application form: Student Presenter Award Application.
Senate Passes U.S. Innovation and Competition Act of 2021
The Senate took a major step to advance the Endless Frontier Act (EFA), passing it as part of a giant package of innovation, trade, and research security legislation called the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 (USICA) on June 8. The bipartisan vote of 68-32 indicated strong support for investment in research and technology development as key planks for enhanced competitiveness and economic development. The core of the legislation was not changed during Senate consideration. The bill would authorize $81 billion for NSF over five years, a large portion of this which would be used to establish a new Directorate for Technology and Innovation. This new directorate would prioritize efforts in ten key technology focus areas such as artificial intelligence, advanced computing, resilience, advanced communications, wireless research, energy innovation, and biotechnology. The bill would also authorize additional funding for research at the Department of Energy (DOE) and capacity building through a Regional Technology Hub program at the Department of Commerce, among other provisions.
HCTG Announces Robert L. Wears Early-Career Award

The Health Care Technical Group (HCTG) is pleased to announce a new annual award, the Robert L. Wears Early-Career Award. Each year an HCTG committee will grant this award to one academic and one practitioner that has unique achievements in their early career. 

The Robert L. Wears Early-Career Award aims to highlight the achievements of academics and practitioners within six years of their graduation. 

The two awardees will be announced during the HFES annual meeting. The HCTG is looking forward to seeing your achievements. 

Nominations are due August 31, 2021.
HFES Career Center: Advance Your Career in Human Factors and Ergonomics

We encourage all members to explore the HFES Career Center. This portal, for employers and job seekers, aims to connect professionals with positions in human factors/ergonomics, as well as provide resources to help users improve job or talent search performance.
 
What the Career Center Features:
  • Job searching features include the ability to view detailed job listings, post a resume, and apply to positions through the portal.
  • Learning Center which offers helpful presentations designed to help job seekers stand out, develop strong networks, and improve their interview performance.
  • Resume searching features that allow employers to find qualified candidates.
  • Employer resources include articles and videos on government compliance, the candidate experience, and how to create job postings to attract top talent.
Deadline Extended to June 30, 2021 for Submissions for Human Factors and Ergonomics in Space Exploration

In spaceflight, human factors are critical to achieving mission objectives and maintaining crew health and safety. Humans must live and work in an inherently hostile environment, which impairs cognitive and physical readiness due to isolation and confinement, radiation, microgravity, sleep deprivation, vibration, and communication complexities. Astronauts use bulky, constraining, yet life-sustaining equipment, tools, and systems. For example, spacesuits used for extravehicular activities restrict gross body coordination and fine motor skills due to the necessary rigidity of the material to protect from the vacuum of space. Helmets restrict vision and communication. Strategic and evidence-based human factors design of space systems are needed to mitigate the risk to the humans in the system, particularly on long-duration missions in which small stressors may accumulate.

The deadline to submit a full manuscript is June 30, 2021.

For more information, contact: Eduardo Salas, Ph.D. | [email protected]; Lauren Landon, Ph.D. | [email protected] ; Jessica Marquez, Ph.D. | [email protected]
Call for Papers: Special Issue of the Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making on Human-AI Teaming

Building upon advances in machine learning, software that depends on artificial intelligence (AI) is being introduced across a wide spectrum of systems, including autonomous vehicles, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, aviation, and military systems. AI systems may be unreliable or insufficiently robust, however, due to challenges in the development of reliable and robust AI algorithms based on datasets that are noisy and incomplete, the lack of causal models needed for projecting future outcomes, the presence of undetected biases, and noisy or faulty sensor inputs. Therefore, it is anticipated that for the foreseeable future, AI systems will need to operate in conjunction with humans in order to perform their tasks, and often as a part of a larger team of humans and AI systems. Further, AI systems may be instantiated with different levels of autonomy, at different times, and for different types of tasks or circumstances, creating a wide design space for consideration.

This special issue will cover new research designed to better integrate people with AI in ways that will allow them to function effectively.

Manuscripts are due by October 1, 2021.
Member News
Volunteer of the Month: Nancy Stone
Nancy Stone served from Technical Group Program Chair to Technical Group Chair, E&T Committee Chair, and now Awards Chair. "If you are not sure where to start, start with one of your Technical Groups. This will help connect you with other people and how HFES works. This service activity normally leads to other opportunities," says Stone. She is a Professor at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. She is currently working on understanding what the best environment is for effective learning when studying online. She is also working on an interdisciplinary team studying how to mitigate the consequences of natural hazards by helping individuals understand the efficacy of various protective actions.

Nancy enjoys helping people succeed whether that is encouraging them to submit their work to the HFES Annual Conference, acknowledging their successes with award nominations and/or receiving the ward, or providing them with additional training.
Changwon Son to Join Texas Tech University Industrial, Manufacturing, & Systems Engineering Department as a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor
Changwon Son will be joining Texas Tech University Industrial, Manufacturing, & Systems Engineering Department as a tenure-track assistant professor in fall 2021. Changwon will lead Safety, Human factors, And Resilience Engineering (SHARE) Lab at Texas Tech and conduct research on team resilience and systems safety with diverse lab members and faculty.
HFES Members in the News

HFES wants to promote the important achievements of our members in the bi-weekly Bulletin. Appropriate topics include research milestones or other significant achievements, professional accolades, awards or recognitions, promotions or new positions, and similar professionally-oriented topics. If you would like to share news with the HFES community, please fill out the form. 

Additionally, if you are made aware of the passing of any members of HFES, please let us know. Contact HFES Executive Director Steven Kemp at [email protected].
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