HFE at Tufts
The Beginning
It all starts during World War II. As advances in military technology became more and more necessary, two faculty members from Tufts University (Leonard Mead and William Biel) began to research ways to improve different aspects of military equipment. In 1942, their study on army antiaircraft artillery led to the creation of a gun-director tracking simulator, which is now used as a teaching and practice apparatus for gun-aiming.
Leonard Mead
Inspired by his research experience, Mead eventually went on to create a group at Tufts University (then called Tufts College) that specialized in human factors engineering. During his time at Tufts, Mead helped to write the Handbook of Human Engineering Data, also called the “Tufts Handbook.” Made for the Navy’s Special Devices Center, this handbook was released in 1949 and caused Tufts to be the national repository for Human Factors Engineering documentation. These documents were housed by Cousins Gym and were directed by Stanley Lippert.
Read the full digitized handbook here
Eventually, the Tufts Human Factors & Engineering Psychology Program was created, the first of its kind in the nation and the first interdisciplinary program at Tufts. It was led by Professor Phil Sampson of the Psychology Department and Professor John Kreifeldt of the Engineering Department.
Current
As the home to America’s oldest undergraduate program in Human Factors and with deep roots in the field, Tufts has been home to cutting-edge human factors research for over 75 years and has been educating leaders in the field for over 50 years.
Like the field itself, our program is interdisciplinary – involving labs and professors from a range of departments including:
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Mechanical engineering,
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Psychology,
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Biomedical engineering,
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Computer science,
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Computer engineering,
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Occupational therapy,
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Education,
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Nutrition,
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Civic engagement, and
Tufts is all about hands-on, collaborative learning
Our students apply “Human Factors Engineering (HFE) thinking” (approaches, methods, and tools) to the design, testing, and refinement of systems. Some of the systems they've worked on include:
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Mechanical systems (e.g. soft robotics),
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Digital systems (e.g. apps, websites, or user-interfaces),
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Human-machine systems (e.g. surgical robots or drones),
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Human systems (e.g. entrepreneurship or marketing campaigns),
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Social systems (e.g. social-norming campaigns or educational approaches), and
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Processes (e.g. handwashing procedures or patient check-in)
We have active research in a wide range of areas including:
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VR/AR/MR
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Driving
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Usability
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Medical devices
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Complex graphical user-interfaces
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Robotics & soft robotics
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Social robotics
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Educational technologies
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Assistive technologies
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IOT systems
… and the list goes on and on.
Human Factors Engineering is not limited to any one domain or any one class of problems. It is an exciting time at Tufts as we redefine the limits (if there are any) to our fields and pioneer advancements in the industry. So come check us out!
