PROGRAMS

NEW: Dieter W. Jahns Student Practitioner Award

The Foundation for Professional Ergonomics (FPE) has initiated the Dieter W. Jahns Student Practitioner Award. The award, named in memory of Dieter W. Jahns, a life-long advocate of the practice of Ergonomics and a leader in Ergonomics Certification, is an annual award and is given to the student (or group of students) for an Ergonomics project that demonstrates the major practice areas of Ergonomics: Analysis, Design, and Evaluation. The purpose of the award is to advance professionalism in Ergonomics by recognizing educational activities that demonstrate how professional ergonomists serve to make our lives at work and at home healthier, safer, more productive, and more satisfying. This award is open to students (M.S. or Ph.D.) in Ergonomics and Ergonomics-related programs. Students who have completed their graduate degrees in the past year are also eligible. Click here for complete details on criteria and format.

Important Dates

Submission Deadline: June 30, 2010
Notification: July 31, 2010
Award Presentation: September 28, 2010

The Award and cash prize of $500 (US) will be presented at the BCPE Reception during the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, September 27-October 1, 2010, in San Francisco, California, USA.

Criteria

As this is a practitioner award, the student (or students) should describe and document a research or intervention project that exhibits:

-   the major practice areas of Ergonomics: Analysis, Design,
    and Evaluation
-  direct, practical application
-   final design recommendations or a description of how the
    resulting information can be applied to design

Entries will be judged by the Board of Directors of the FPE.

Submissions

Submissions can be made individually or as a group (maximum size is five participants).

1.  Submissions should provide adequate descriptions, illustrations or
     photos, and details that address the judging criteria.
2.  Please include an abstract/summary suitable for dissemination,
     i.e., to be read at an awards ceremony or printed in a publication.
3.  The Ergonomist Formation Model will serve as the foundation for
    determining whether or not the submitted project falls within
    the broad category areas of Ergonomics and is a viable submission.
4.  Submission should be sent electronically to:

Robert J. Smillie, PhD, CPE

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Ergonomists Without Borders

Two years ago, the FPE joined with the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) in offering professional consultant services to ergonomics societies and other groups in industrially developing countries (IDCs). Communicating with ergonomists in IDCs, the IEA creates an awareness of these services and disseminates information on how to access them. More recently, Ergonomists Without Borders was created to specialize in the focus of these ergonomic efforts. Hal Henrick, PhD, CPE is a past President of both the IEA and FPE, and currently heads this joint IEA-FPE project.

The mission of Ergonomists Without Borders is to improve human performance by providing ergonomics expertise and resources to agriculturally and industrially developing communities (IDC), globally. This mission is supported through four principal objectives:

1) Provide ergonomic support to individuals and groups in IDCs through the organization, planning and execution of workshops, seminars and activities.
2) Promote ergonomics excellence through the advancement of the application of ergonomic awareness and design.
3) Support the development and implementation of sustainable ergonomics systems, processes and programs.
4) Collaborate with research bodies, associated international organizations, societies and technical committees to aid in the contribution to related scientific research and the ergonomic discipline.

Ergonomists Without Borders is currently developing a website and promotional literature. For more information, please contact Jenny Crawford at  

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Student Mentoring

Bob Smillie, PhD, CPE heads the Awards and Recognition Committee which has focused on establishing an FPE sponsored Intern Program which exposes interns to experiences in accordance with the various components of the Ergonomist Formation Model. These students are not necessarily human factors students, but may be students in psychology, engineering or other related fields. It is hoped the internship exposure will encourage them to pursue a career as (or further education towards becoming) an ergonomics practitioner. The first enactment of the program began with Pacific Science & Engineering, with the plan to expand this program to other companies. Anyone interested in becoming involved with the student mentoring program should contact Bob Smillie at

Preparatory Classes for the BCPE Exam

Each year a BCPE preparatory class is offered at the Applied Ergonomics Conference. Valerie Rice, PhD, CPE taught the 8-hour course in San Antonio, TX as part of the Applied Ergonomics Conference on 22 March 2010. Six students attended the preparation class. The small size of the review class made it possible to target the class to the audience's needs by answering specific questions and practicing human factors problem solving scenarios. Attendees included individuals with educational backgrounds in occupational and physical therapy, safety, and human factors engineering. The diverse backgrounds of attendees demonstrate that the profession remains one in which some individuals enter via higher education in human factors, while others enter from other professions. The FPE and BCPE acknowledge the board members of the Applied Ergonomics Conference(AEC) for choosing to offer the class despite its small number of attendees, recognizing that this is the only preparation class offered. The AEC board members feel that it is important to encourage professionalism through the credentialing process, as do the board members of the Foundation for Professional Ergonomics. Anyone interested in this course should contact Valerie Rice at .

The FPE is also engaged in reviewing an on-line preparatory course. The developers of this course asked FPE for a review and potential endorsement. The course is aimed at preparing ergonomists for taking the BCPE certification exam, but also can potentially serve as a good comprehensive refresher course for any ergonomist. This review is being performed under the direction of Hal Hendrick; please contact him if you have questions at .

Foundation for Professional Ergonomics
  P.O. Box 2176
  Bellingham, WA 98227

info@ergofoundation.org

Last modified 05/01/10