Society News

Table of Contents

• In Recognition of National Native American Heritage Month
• Featured Technical Group of the Month
• Celebrate World Usability Day With HFES
• A Month of Gratitude: Celebrating HFES Affinity Groups and Our Culture of Belonging
• Are You an HF/E Practitioner? We Would Like to Hear from You!
• Help Us Plan #ASPIRE25
• FPE Looking for New Directors
• FPE Impact Grant Projects in Malaysia/Thailand and India Completed
• SUNY Buffalo Students Win Award
• Upcoming Webinars
• HFES On-Demand Learning Center 
• Call for Papers: Special Issue in Human Factors: Lessons Learned From COVID-19
• Call for Papers: Special Issue of the Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making
• Call for Papers: Special Issue in Human Factors Investigating the Human Factors of AI Use
• Upcoming Meetings and Activities
• Community Updates
• Renew Your Membership

In Recognition of National Native American Heritage Month

Once again, in accordance with HFES’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, we recognize National Native American Heritage Month this November as well as National Indigenous Peoples’ Day that was on October 14. As the October 11, 2024 White House Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples’ Day states, “On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we honor Indigenous peoples’ strength, courage and resilience. We celebrate the vast contributions of Indigenous communities to the world. And we recommit to respecting Tribal sovereignty and self-determination and working to usher in a new era of our Nation-to-Nation relationships.”

Featured Technical Group of the Month

The Extended Reality Technical Group (XRTG) focuses on human factors issues associated with human-virtual environment interaction. These issues include maximizing human performance efficiency in virtual environments, ensuring health and safety and circumventing potential social problems through proactive assessment.

HFES is pleased to spotlight Dr. Ziho Kang, associate professor at the University of Oklahoma, as an esteemed member of the XRTG. Dr. Kang, director of the human factors & simulation laboratory, is pushing boundaries in educational technology with groundbreaking research in smart learning algorithms for immersive, multi-person virtual reality (M-VR). Supported by an NSF CAREER Award, his research integrates advanced neuroimaging, eye tracking and haptic feedback to create personalized, interactive learning environments that adapt to each student's needs.

Continue reading for a closer look at Dr. Kang’s innovative approach to multi-person VR learning.

Celebrate World Usability Day With HFES

HFES is celebrating World Usability Day on November 14—a day dedicated to improving usability in products and services, making our everyday interactions with technology simpler and more intuitive.

To mark this occasion, HFES is highlighting the Users' Guides to Human Factors and Ergonomics Methods series as a valuable resource for members. This methods series is designed to equip HF/E professionals with the latest insights, research and methodologies on topics ranging from crafting effective questions and diagnosing workload challenges to evaluating the usability of products, services and systems.

Available guides include:

• Questionnaire Design
• Risk Management
• Situation Awareness Measurement
• Task Analysis
• Usability Assessment
• Workload Assessment

A Month of Gratitude: Celebrating HFES Affinity Groups and Our Culture of Belonging

As we embrace November’s themes of gratitude and belonging, HFES is proud to highlight the invaluable contributions of our Affinity Groups. In honor of World Kindness Day on November 13, we extend heartfelt thanks to the chairs of each group for fostering an inclusive community that actively supports and empowers HFES members.

This month of gratitude is a reminder of how our active engagement builds a culture of belonging for all. Whether you’re new to HFES or a long-standing member, we invite you to join an affinity group to deepen connections and become part of a community dedicated to making a difference.

See the full list of HFES Affinity Groups and join a group today.

Are You an HF/E Practitioner? We Would Like to Hear from You!

Help the HFES practitioner group better serve you by completing a brief interest survey. Your responses will guide us in developing resources and engagement opportunities that align with your interests.

Please complete the survey by Monday, November 18.

Help Us Plan #ASPIRE25

HFES is committed to gathering input, receiving feedback and constructively engaging with everyone who contributes to organizing an outstanding ASPIRE 2025, the 69th HFES International Annual Meeting. Your support and participation are greatly appreciated.           

ASPIRE Office Hours

Please make plans to contribute to the scientific program and to attend ASPIRE 2025 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago Hotel, October 12-17, 2025. Join us each Friday at 12:00 p.m. ET for ASPIRE Office Hours and help us organize an outstanding HFES International Annual Meeting.

Technical Program Committee Monthly Meetings

Technical Program Chairs are encouraged to join us each month for in-depth discussions of the submission and review phases along with other important topics. These meetings are held from 7:30-8:30 p.m. ET on the first Wednesday of each month.

ASPIRE Engagement Forum

Join us on Thursday, November 14 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. ET for a discussion on how HFES is being accountable for feedback and concerns with the goal of full transparency. You can submit your questions ahead of time through this form.

FPE Looking for New Directors

The Foundation for Professional Ergonomics (FPE) is inviting nominations for its board of directors. Board members meet monthly via Zoom to support initiatives that promote HF/E worldwide. Programs include awards, grants, mentoring and resources for HFE professionals.

If interested, contact Bob Smillie at robert.smillie@cox.net.

FPE Impact Grant Projects in Malaysia/Thailand and India Completed

The Foundation for Professional Ergonomics (FPE) has successfully completed two impact grant projects aimed at reducing work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in Malaysia, Thailand and India. In Malaysia and Thailand, researchers assessed ergonomic risks among manufacturing workers, finding high MSD rates linked to poor posture and low PPE use, particularly in Thailand. The project in India focused on designing an ergonomic hand tool for cashew workers, reducing strain and improving comfort. These pilot projects highlight the potential for targeted ergonomic interventions to improve workplace safety and productivity across diverse industries.

SUNY Buffalo Students Win Award

Congratulations to Zahra Vahedi, Mohammad Shakiba and Setareh Kazemi Kheiri, PhD students in Industrial and Systems Engineering at SUNY Buffalo, for winning the 2024 Dieter W. Jahns Student Practitioner Award. Their project, guided by Professor Dr. Lora Cavuoto, developed a mathematical model to predict fatigue patterns in dynamic tasks, highlighting how factors like BMI, task pace and rest intervals influence energy levels.

Upcoming Webinars

HFES Practitioner's Committee Webinar: The Mindset of Inquiry: Contextual Inquiry, Systems Thinking and Decision-Making in Complex Human Factor Events

Thursday, November 14 at 1:00 p.m. ET

Presented by the HFES Practitioner's Committee

Drawing from his experience in policing, military special operations and expert witness work, Dr. Black will illustrate how the practice of inquiry enhances our perceptual understanding of both clients and ourselves.

Through practical examples, participants will be given perspectives and frames to apply inquiry, enhancing and focusing on understanding before we attempt to solve a common flaw often found in inquiry.

HFES Webinar: Usability Evaluations and Key Performance Indicators

Tuesday, November 19 at 1:00 p.m. ET

Presented by Product Design Technical Group, User Experience Technical Group, Usability Systems and Evaluation Technical Group 

Explore key methods and metrics for usability evaluations to ensure products and systems meet user needs effectively and efficiently. Learn about usability laboratories, their setups and equipment to control evaluations and minimize distractions during testing.

This webinar is open to all audiences.

HFES Extended Reality Training Group Webinar: Exploring the 2024 Extended Reality (XR) TG Student Best Papers

Wednesday, November 20 at 1:30 p.m. ET

Presented by HFES Extended Reality Training Group

This webinar will feature the submissions of the students who won the best paper, second place, and honorable mention at ASPIRE 2024 iin September. The presenters will review their papers in a more casual setting to encourage a discussion with other HFES members and guests.

If you’re interested in organizing a webinar for HFES, please fill out this form.

You will receive a calendar invite from HFES staff within 48 hours of submitting it.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding webinars, please contact education@hfes.org.

HFES On-Demand Learning Center

The HFES On-Demand Learning Center is an extensive library of webinars and recordings designed to support your professional growth. Members can explore a wealth of knowledge anytime and anywhere.

Looking for specific content? Use filters to sort by format, including webinars, special summits and conference recordings. You can refine your search further by sorting through categories like occupational ergonomics, healthcare, sustainability and more. The Learning Center makes it simple to find exactly what you need to enhance your HF/E expertise.

Call for Papers: Special Issue in Human Factors: Lessons Learned From COVID-19

This proposed special issue invites submissions of original theoretical and empirical works related to the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of all HF/E domains.

All submissions must explicitly demonstrate knowledge that yields design principles; enhances training, selection and communication; and ultimately improves human-system interfaces and sociotechnical systems that lead to safer and more effective outcomes.

The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2025.

Call for Papers: Special Issue of the Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making

The Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making invites submissions for a special issue addressing the ethical and performance challenges associated with AI-enabled systems across all domains, with special emphasis on high-consequence environments such as healthcare, aviation, military operations, driving and others.

This issue seeks to explore how AI technologies can be designed and implemented in ways that allow for seamless integration with human operators, while incorporating ethical principles such as lawfulness, traceability, transparency, reliability and bias mitigation.

The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2025.

Call for Papers: Special Issue in Human Factors Investigating the Human Factors of AI Use

This special issue aims to bring together the most current research investigating the implications of using artificial intelligence (AI) for human performance and behavior across different human factors fields. Theoretical, methodological and empirical contributions from all areas of human factors are welcome. Topics of interest may include but are not limited to:

• Effects of AI on cognitive performance and behavior
• Benefits and potential unintended consequences of AI use on work performance and innovation
• Organizational issues resulting from broader AI use in the workplace
• Safety risks associated with AI use across human factors domains
• Ethical consideration of AI for the human factors practice

The deadline for submission is June 1, 2025

Upcoming Meetings and Activities

Attention chapters, technical groups, affinity groups and beyond: HFES is pleased to post information concerning upcoming meetings, webinars or other events you wish to raise awareness about on our events listing page. We also will post meetings of allied societies provided they do not occur close to any HFES-organized activity.

Let us know about your meetings and other events. Email us at info@hfes.org.

Community Updates



HFES wants to promote the important achievements of our members in the biweekly Bulletin. Appropriate topics include research milestones or other significant achievements, professional accolades, awards or recognitions, promotions or new positions and similar professionally oriented topics.

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Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

Tel.: +1 (202) 367-1114, Monday-Friday: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET | Fax: +1 (202) 367-2114 | E: info@hfes.org