Evolving and Growing the Ergonomics Profession

Promoting the science and professional practice of human factors and ergonomics around the world.



FPE Elects New President

FPE has elected Professor Farzan Sasangohar as its new President. Professor Sasangohar’s vision is
to enhance the global impact of human factors and ergonomics (HFE) researchers and practitioners by promoting international outreach and collaboration among professional societies. Click here for more

HFES Corresponding Memberships

  • FPE provides HFES Corresponding Memberships to ergonomists living outside the United States who are interested in the discipline of human factors and ergonomics.  Currently, FPE has provided Corresponding Memberships for nine ergonomists residing in Mexico, Chile, Panama, and Colombia. Please contact us at info@ergofoundation.org to nominate a recipient or to donate to support this program.
  • Click here for a video on FREE HFES Corresponding Memberships for Ergonomists living outside the US.
Orthopedic surgery in India (Photo credit: Dr. Sharan| Copyright: © Dr. Deepak Sharan, 2025)

Impact Grants

FPE 2025-2026 Impact Grants Awarded:
  • Development of an Ergonomic Risk Assessment Tool for Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Orthopedic Surgeons in India.
  • Vigilance on the Frontline: Ergonomics Training for Healthcare Workers in Ghana, Africa.

(Photo credit:  Dr. Sharan| Copyright: © Dr. Deepak Sharan, 2025)

Students Awards

FPE sponsors the Annual Dieter W. Jahns Student Award for a student project in ergonomics that demonstrates excellence in areas of analysis, design, and integration. The 2025 Winner – Atif Ashraf: “The Skip-Order-Action Framework: An Approach to Documenting and Analyzing Deviations in Petrochemical Facility Procedures”
Professional young female designer team meeting on glass wall and looking at many sticky memo paper thinking discussing design case planning.
Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics, European Academy for Industrial Managment and Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Logo

Collaboration

FPE coordinates with several Human Factors/Ergonomics and related organizations by organizing joint webinars and sharing relevant training/educational material.

Ergonomics Toolkit

FPE and the Ergonomics Committee of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) updated the Ergonomic Assessment Toolkit with assistance from NIOSH and HFES.
Closeup photo of an electrician's hands using multimeter for detecting electrical failure.

Online Ergonomics Courses Available

If you are looking for ergonomics courses to help meet the educational requirement for BCPE certification, there are several options available. While FPE does not endorse any program, there are two that provide broad coverage of many human factors ergonomics topics, such as: engineering, design, physiology, anthropometry, biomechanics, public health, statistics, environmental health sciences, exposure, risk assessment, root cause analysis, task analysis, cognitive ergonomics, macro- ergonomics, and workplace design.

Impact Grants

Impact Grants support small projects in the quest of developing professional ergonomics around the world.  The funding preference will be given, but not limited to, applicants from the developing countries (as defined by United Nations) or proposals that help develop or grow professional ergonomics in the developing countries.  The Impact Grants are intended as seed funding for small (pilot) projects that could potentially lead to but are not required, more extensive funding opportunities from other sources in the future.  The expected budget of a single proposal should be between $500 and $2,000 USD.  For more information, contact Waldemar Karwowski, wkarwowski@gmail.com.

Interested in preparing for the BCPE exam? Take the 5+ hours set of webinars. Click here for more information.

FPE facilitates mentoring of students and early career professionals in the practice of Ergonomics, Human Factors, and User Experience. Click here

 

Want to get involved?

Andrew S. Imada, Ph.D., CPE

"After 20 years at USC, I made a career change to full time consulting. This has been most rewarding because I get to see real change that happens when human, machine and organizational systems work harmoniously as a system."

Andrew S. Imada, Ph.D., CPE
H. Harvey Cohen, PhD,CPE
"Neither my writing over 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications, 5 books, and too many book chapters to count nor having personally investigated and likely prevented thousands of injury incidents compares to the experiences I have had with early career HFE professionals over the years.  Building relationships with the dozens of students and early career professionals has made me most proud."
H. Harvey Cohen, PhD,CPE
Valerie Berg Rice, PhD, CPE, OTR/L

"What’s not to love about a job where you get to ask questions, answer them,
and then travel to explain the answers to other professionals and para-professionals,
who will use the information to make the world a better place?"

Valerie Berg Rice, PhD, CPE, OTR/L
Sheree Gibson, PE, CPE

"GOOD ergonomics is all but invisible. BAD ergonomics is not.
That is why I have spent so much of my career teaching the fundamentals to mechanical engineers and supervisors.
It expands our sphere of influence beyond our profession."

Sheree Gibson, PE, CPE
Stephen C. Merriman, M.A

"After more than 50 years as a practitioner ergonomist, I continue to find ample opportunity to improve system designs. This has helped me focus on improving the user interface, human engineering and human systems integration (HSI) requirements that are applied to complex system development projects."

Stephen C. Merriman, M.A

Contact Us

Foundation for Professional Ergonomics
P.O. Box 453
Poway, CA 92074

contact@ergofoundation.org

Who We Are

The Foundation for Professional Ergonomics was established in 2004 as a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing professionalism in ergonomics through educational activities and awards.  Our goals support the goals of BCPE, and we work closely with the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) on various ergonomics practitioner initiatives.  FPE attained an IRS 501(c)(3) status enabling tax-deductible donations from those sharing this dedication to professionalism in ergonomics. 

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