Graduate School Newsblog

Tag: Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors

Tech Celebrates World Usability Day

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Thursday was Usability Day around the world, and this was the fifth year Michigan Tech was involved. The event celebrates usability, when technologies or procedures make sense to us and when we can learn–and remember–how to use them, make few errors and feel satisfied with our experiences.

We caught up with a couple of projects taking place at Tech.

The Human Interface Design Enterprise was showing off their driver simulator in Rekhi Hall.

It was one of a couple of major projects the group has taken on, according to Margo Woller-Carter, a PhD student in applied cognitive science and human factors.

“We are using a Uconnect system from Chrysler to test for driver distraction,” she said. “We designed this driver simulator to use with it, and we will also be doing some eye-tracking for them.” Uconnect was a multimedia system on steroids: entertainment, phone, navigation, voice command, controls, and wifi: perfect for testing for distractions. The Enterprise was in the second year of a three-year contract with Chrysler.

And on this day, there was plenty of distraction going on: radio playing, Uconnect with lots of buttons to play with, a road ahead on the computer screen, and many people walking in and out of the room. Students took turns behind the wheel of the 60 mph simulation. Some did a little off-roading and even off-globing.

Woller-Carter said they also have some work with the HVAC folks at Chrysler, including a smartphone app for adjusting temperature from anywhere in the car.

One key to all their app work is to keep them user friendly. “There are so many bad apps today,” said second-year computer engineering major Andrew Timmerman. He, too, took a turn on the simulator, exploring some of the features of the Uconnect: estimated time to complete the required number of laps at 60, various gauge settings, including temperature, etc.

The eye-tracking will be an interesting undertaking, the assembled students thought. Eye-tracking is a method employed in usability studies where sensors record where humans’ eyes are focused. Currently, eye-tracking uses six sensor points on the face and it loses accuracy when you move your head. That has important ramifications when you are analyzing distractions.

The HIDE plan might include adding more sensor points to prevent data loss, Woller-Carter said.

“Or we might just come up with a whole new system,” she said.

She also said it was important for the two teams (design and evaluation) to see the whole design process, to not just design or test.

Read more in Tech Today
by Dennis Walikainen, senior editor

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Department of Defense SMART

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The Science, Mathematics And Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship for Service Program has been established by the Department of Defense (DoD) to support undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines.

Eligibility:

  • a U.S. citizen at time of application,
  • 18 years of age or older as of August 1, 2012,
  • able to participate in summer internships at DoD laboratories,
  • willing to accept post-graduate employment with the DoD,
  • a student in good standing with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (as calculated by the SMART application) and,
  • pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in one of the disciplines listed on the About SMART page.

Benefits:

  • Full tuition and education related fees (does not include items such as meal plans, housing, or parking)
  • Cash award paid at a rate of $25,000 – $41,000 depending on prior educational experience (may be prorated depending on award length)
  • Paid summer internships
  • Health Insurance reimbursement allowance up to $1,200 per calendar year
  • Book allowance of $1,000 per academic year
  • Mentoring
  • Employment placement after graduation
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National Science Foundation Hands Out CAREER Awards

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The National Science Foundation (NSF) has named three assistant professors winners of NSF CAREER Awards. Veronica Griffis (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Shari Stockero (Cognitive and Learning Sciences) and Greg Waite (Geological/Mining Engineering and Sciences) received the 2011 awards.

CAREER Awards are among the most prestigious honors granted by the NSF. They recognize faculty members early in their careers who are effectively integrating research and teaching.

“The CAREER program recognizes and supports teacher-scholars who are most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century,” said David Reed, vice president for research. “These young faculty members add tremendously to the reputation of Michigan Tech.”

See Tech Today for the complete story.

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NSF Docotral Dissertation Grants in Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences

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NSF is soliciting applications for the Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate’s Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (SBE DDRIG) program. An estimated 200-300 grants will be awarded from a pool of approximately $2.5 million available annually across all programs. Grants are awarded to “doctoral students to improve the quality of dissertation research. These grants provide funds for items not normally available through the student’s university. Additionally, these grants allow doctoral students to undertake significant data-gathering projects and to conduct field research in settings away from their campus that would not otherwise be possible.”  According to the notice, “the proposal must be submitted by the dissertation advisor(s) on behalf of the graduate student who is at the point of initiating or already conducting dissertation research.” Among the programs that support dissertation research are:  archaeology, cultural anthropology, documenting endangered languages, economics, political science, and sociology.  For a full list of eligible fields, as well as detailed information on application deadlines, please see the solicitation at:  nsf.gov/pubs/2011/nsf11547.

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Students Journey to Lansing for Graduate Education Week

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Graduate students, all from Michigan, ventured to Lansing last week for Michigan Graduate Education Week in the Capitol Building.

The students met with legislators and discussed the importance of graduate education in Michigan, the nation and the world.

“We stressed the significance of Michigan Tech and how graduate education contributes to the Michigan economy and goes well beyond,” said Jacque Smith, director of marketing and advancement for the Graduate School. “The legislature was in session, and they took time out from their busy day to talk with us.”

Attending from Michigan Tech were Alicia Sawdon, a PhD candidate in chemical engineering from Lapeer; Natasha Hagadone, a PhD candidate in applied cognitive science and human factors from Central Lake; Joseph Hernandez, a PhD candidate in mechanical engineering from Port Huron; and Kaitlyn Bunker, a PhD candidate in electrical engineering from Canton.

Students had a chance to meet their legislators, too, and presented plaques to Representative David Rutledge (D-Ypsilanti) and Senator Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) for sponsoring Michigan Graduate Education Week.

“I was honored to represent Michigan Tech and my department,” said Hagadone. She spent time with Senator Howard Walker (R-Traverse City), telling him about the DeSciDE (Decision Sciences and Decision Engineering) lab at Tech and her research in personalized decision support.

Sawden concurred. “Being able to talk with a representative (Kevin Daley, R-Lapeer) about my research and school, see the capitol, and meet students from other departments made this trip worthwhile,” she said. “I hope in future years more students can experience Graduate Education Week!”

“It was a real privilege to meet and have one-on-one time with Senator [Phil] Pavlov [R-St. Clair],” said Hernandez. “We were able to discuss why I chose Michigan Tech and how my research is important to Michigan.”

Smith stressed the significance of graduate education’s impact on Michigan, the region and the nation. “$61 million in research funding at Michigan Tech comes from sources outside the state,” he said. “That’s bringing monies into the state with research done, in great part, by graduate students working with faculty.”

In addition to the research dollars, he said, the more than 850 graduate students live, pay taxes and spend money in the local economy, Smith said. “In a town of 7,000, that’s a large economic impact.”

Graduate education also contributes to Michigan’s economy by creating a highly skilled workforce, technology transfer with cutting-edge research, and future faculty to teach in Michigan schools, from K-12 through universities, Smith said.

by Dennis Walikainen, senior editor
Published in Tech Today

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Tech Students Receive NSF Awards for Grad Study, Research

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The National Science Foundation has selected three Michigan Tech students and a recent graduate to receive highly competitive awards that support their research and graduate study. Another student, now at Northern Michigan University, will use his award to pursue an advanced degree at Michigan Tech.

Master’s student Chris DeDene and recent graduate David Schaeffer have received NSF Graduate Research Fellowships. DeDene will pursue a PhD in Civil Engineering at Michigan Tech. Schaeffer will continue work on his PhD in Psychology at the University of Georgia.

Fellowship recipient Erich Petushek is completing his master’s at Northern Michigan University and will be coming to Tech, where he expects to pursue a doctorate degree in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors focusing on Biomechanics.

Graduate Research Fellowships support students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based degrees. Each fellow receives a three-year annual stipend of $30,000, a $10,500 cost-of-education allowance and access to the TeraGrid supercomputer network. The NSF selected 2,000 fellows from more than 12,000 applicants.

An additional 2,064 applicants received honorable mentions. Among them are Tech students Eric Peterson, a physics PhD student; Eric Wesseldyke, an environmental engineering PhD student; mechanical engineering student Andrew Tulgestke; and Jonathan Ebel, a master’s student in biological sciences. Anieri Morales of the University of Puerto Rico, who plans to pursue a graduate degree at Michigan Tech, also received an honorable mention.

Tech students Erin Thomas and John Lyons, who are earning PhD degrees in mathematical sciences and geophysics, respectively, were selected to participate in NSF’s East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes. The institutes place US graduate students in research labs throughout East Asia and the Pacific, to help students initiate scientific relationships that will lead to future international collaborations. The awards include airfare, lodging, living expenses and a $5,000 stipend.

Thomas will be conduct research in Beijing, while Lyons will travel to Japan.

To learn more about federal funding opportunities for graduate students, attend an information session at 6 p.m., Wednesday, April 20, in Fisher 131. Faculty, advisors, undergraduates and graduate students are encouraged to attend. For more information, contact Jodi Lehman at 487-2875 or at jglehman@mtu.edu.

Published in Tech Today.

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National Institutes of Health (NIH) Ruth Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) F31 Predoctoral Fellowships

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Deadline: 2011 deadlines: 4/8, 8/8, and 12/8

The objective of National Institutes of Health (NIH) Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards programs is to help ensure that a diverse pool of highly trained scientists are available in adequate numbers and in appropriate research areas to address the Nation’s biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs.

The purpose of the predoctoral fellowship (F31) award is to provide support for promising doctoral candidates who will be performing dissertation research and training in scientific health-related fields relevant to the missions of the participating NIH Institutes during the tenure of the award. The Kirschstein-NRSA for Individual Predoctoral Fellows will provide up to five years of support for research training which leads to the PhD or equivalent research degree, the combined MD/PhD degree, or another formally combined professional degree and research doctoral degree in the biomedical, behavioral, or clinical sciences.

Applicants for the Kirschstein-NRSA F31 award must propose a dissertation research project and training program that fall in a research area within the scientific mission of the participating Institutes. The proposed predoctoral research training must offer an opportunity to enhance the fellow’s understanding of the health-related sciences and extend his/her potential for a productive, independent research career. The training should provide the applicant with the opportunity to interact with members of the scientific community at appropriate scientific meetings and workshops (including NIH-sponsored meetings, where available). The application should document the need for the proposed research training and the expected value of the proposed fellowship experience as it relates to the individual’s goals for a career as an independent researcher.

Each NIH Institute and Center (IC) has a unique scientific purview and different program goals and initiatives that evolve over time. Prospective Fellowship Applicants are encouraged to contact the relevant NIH staff for IC-specific programmatic information: Table of Institute and Center Contacts.

Citizenship: By the time of award, the individual applicant must be a citizen or a non-citizen national of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence.

Degree Requirements: A Fellowship Applicant must have a baccalaureate degree and be currently enrolled in a PhD or equivalent research degree program (e.g., EngD, DNSc, Dr PH, DSW, PharmD, PsyD, ScD), a formally combined MD/PhD program, or other combined professional/clinical and research doctoral (e.g., DDS/PhD) in the biomedical, behavioral, or clinical sciences at an accredited domestic or foreign institution. With the exception of the combined degree programs described above, the Kirschstein-NRSA F31 may not be used to support studies leading to the MD, DDS, or other clinical, health-professional training (e.g., DC, DMD, DNP, DO, DPM, DVM, ND, OD, AuD). Neither may these awards be used to support the clinical years of residency training.

Students seeking support for pursuit of a combined degree program (e.g. MD/PhD, or DO/PhD, or DDS/PhD) may be eligible to apply for the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards for Individual Predoctoral MD/PhD Fellows (F30) (PA-09-207).

Duration of Support: Individuals may typically receive up to 5 years of aggregate Kirschstein-NRSA support at the predoctoral level.

Participating Institutes & Centers:

National Institute on Aging (NIA), http://www.nia.nih.gov/
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), http://www.niaaa.nih.gov
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), http://www.nida.nih.gov/
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), http://www.nimh.nih.gov
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), http://www.ninds.nih.gov
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), http://www.nccam.nih.gov
Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), http://ods.od.nih.gov/

Estimated Stipend: $21,180.  (Note: The sponsoring institution is allowed to provide funds to the fellow in addition to the stipends paid by the NIH in accordance with its own formally established policies governing stipend support.)

Application Procedure: To submit an application, applicants should access the FOA via http://www.grants.gov/applicants/apply_for_grants.jsp and follow Steps 1-4.  Applications must be submitted electronically.

Application Guidelines: SF424 (R&R) Individual Fellowship Application Guide

Contact Information: Applicants should refer to the Table of Institute and Center Contacts to obtain participating NIH Institute scientific/research contact information.

Url: http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-09-208.html


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