U-M HFES Student Chapter and IOE students recognized at HFES annual meeting

HFES recently recognized the U-M student chapter, Yifan Li, Kamolnat Tabattanon and several other U-M IOE students and alumni for their contributions to human factors and ergonomics.

The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) has awarded the U-M student chapter and several individual U-M Industrial and Operations Engineering (IOE) students, including PhD students Yifan Li and Kamolnat Tabattanon, for their contributions to human factors and ergonomics.

HFES at U-M wins the Outstanding Student Chapter Silver Award

The U-M Student Chapter of HFES was awarded the 2019 Outstanding Student Chapter Silver Award. This award is designed to recognize student chapters of HFES that have made significant contributions to the discipline, HFES, their campus or their community in a particular year.

“Our chapter feels honored to receive the Outstanding Student Chapter Silver Award,” Na Du, U-M IOE PhD student and the U-M HFES student chapter president, said. “It acknowledges that we have made significant contributions to the discipline and HFES community in the past year. We will keep working and make HFES better.”

“Our chapter feels honored to receive the Outstanding Student Chapter Silver Award. It acknowledges that we have made significant contributions to the discipline and HFES community in the past year. We will keep working and make HFES better.”

Na Du
PhD Student and U-M HFES Student Chapter President, U-M Industrial & Operations Engineering

Yifan Li and Sol Lim receive the Occupational Ergonomics Technical Group Best Student Research Paper Award

Yifan Li was awarded the Occupational Ergonomics Technical Group 2019 Best Student Research Paper Award for his paper on the quantification of in situ tremors in microscopic surgery. The main focus of his research was to apply markerless tracking in microscopic surgery to quantify tool tremor, specifically in retinal surgery. 

Li and his previous research team at the University of Wisconsin–Madison were able to successfully quantify tremor in situ as well as determine that tremor is reduced with a fully supported wrist. He is currently continuing his research under the guidance of U-M IOE Assistant Professor Clive D’Souza.

“I am very honored to have received this award,” Li said. “I am excited to have been able to share my research with all the experts in my field. I look forward to building off this success from my previous work and carry it into future work with Dr. D’Souza.”

“I am very honored to have received this award. I am excited to have been able to share my research with all the experts in my field. I look forward to building off this success from my previous work and carry it into future work with Dr. D’Souza.”

portrait of Yifan Li

Yifan Li
PhD Student, U-M Industrial & Operations Engineering

Sol Lim, a recent U-M IOE alumna and current University of Arizona Systems and Industrial Engineering assistant professor, also won the Occupational Ergonomics Technical Group 2019 Best Student Research Paper Award for her paper on gender and parity in statistical prediction of anterior carry hand-loads from inertial sensor data, which she co-authored with D’Souza.

“I am honored to receive this best student research paper award from a research work performed as part of my dissertation,” Lim said. “I am looking forward to transferring my knowledge and experience gained from a doctoral program at U-M IOE to my new students at the University of Arizona. I am thankful to my adviser Prof. Clive D’Souza for his support, advice and guidance along the way.”

“I am honored to receive this best student research paper award from a research work performed as part of my dissertation. I am looking forward to transferring my knowledge and experience gained from a doctoral program at U-M IOE to my new students at the University of Arizona. I am thankful to my adviser Prof. Clive D’Souza for his support, advice and guidance along the way.”

portrait of Sol Lim

Sol Lim
PhD Graduate, U-M Industrial & Operations Engineering

Kamolnat Tabattanon wins the Perception and Performance Technical Group Student Essay Contest

Kamolnat Tabattanon won the Perception and Performance Technical Group Student Essay Contest for her essay on accessibility within the future of human-machine interaction research. The essay discusses the importance of early research on accessibility within Human-Machine Interface (HMI) and the profound need for HMI research specific to people with disabilities and older adults in order to ensure that all users will have inclusive access to these exciting new technologies.

“This honor was greatly encouraging that the community is interested and invested in ensuring accessible and inclusive designs for the future of HMI,” Tabattanon said. “With this award, I was able to attend the annual meeting and present my work to professionals I might otherwise not have had the opportunity to meet.”

“This honor was greatly encouraging that the community is interested and invested in ensuring accessible and inclusive designs for the future of HMI. With this award, I was able to attend the annual meeting and present my work to professionals I might otherwise not have had the opportunity to meet.”

portrait of Kamolnat Tabattanon

Kamolnat Tabattanon
PhD Student, U-M Industrial & Operations Engineering

Additional recognition within the U-M IOE community

In addition to the U-M student chapter, Li, Lim and Tabattanon, HFES recognized several other U-M IOE students and alumni for their research. Albert Fu, U-M IOE PhD candidate, was named as a finalist in the Alphonse Chapanis Student Paper Contest. Neal Wiggermann, U-M IOE alumnus, received the Alexander C. Williams, Jr., Design Award. Lastly, Divya Srinivasan, U-M IOE alumna, received the William C. Howell Young Investigator Award.

About HFES

HFES is a scientific association for human factors and ergonomics professionals that aims to promote and advance the discovery and exchange of knowledge concerning the characteristics of human beings that are applicable to the design of systems, products, tools and environments of all kinds.