Episodes

Dr Karl Bridges is the Managing Director of HFEx, based in New Zealand. He is a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of New Zealand (HFESNZ) and is a past president too. He is also a fellow of the CIEHF.In a wide ranging discussion,

Being the CIEHF president is no mean undertaking, its a three year commitment, being the face of the Institute and representing members at different meetings and other organisations. But this year has been even more challenging because of the Pandemic. Amanda Widdowson was president-elect when the pandemic started and took over at the 2020 AGM from Bob Bridger. In this interview, we talk about how she has found being president during the pandemic and the unique challenges that has brought. We also talk about her "presidents project", Design for Everybody where she is encouraging everyone to collect anthropometric data. Amanda's LinkedIn is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-widdowson The link to the Design for Everybody project is here: https://www.ergonomics.org.uk/common/Uploaded%20files/CIEHF%20Design%20for%20Everybody%20Guidance.pdf

Being the CIEHF president is no mean undertaking, its a three year commitment, being the face of the Institute and representing members at different meetings and other organisations. But this year has been even more challenging because of the Pandemic. Amanda Widdowson was president-elect when the pandemic started and took over at the 2020 AGM from Bob Bridger. In this interview, we talk about how she has found being president during the pandemic and the unique challenges that has brought. We al...

Being the CIEHF president is no mean undertaking, its a three year commitment, being the face of the Institute and representing members at different meetings and other organisations. But this year has been even more challenging because of the Pandemic. Amanda Widdowson was president-elect when the pandemic started and took over at the 2020 AGM from Bob Bridger. In this interview, we talk about how she has found being president during the pandemic and the unique challenges that has brought. We al...

From engaging with "Commander Data" as a colleague, to future aggressors being machines like the Terminator, the Borg or Hal, the idea that computers will become more like humans and engage with us more naturally that a keyboard and mouse has generally...

From engaging with "Commander Data" as a colleague, to future aggressors being machines like the Terminator, the Borg or Hal, the idea that computers will become more like humans and engage with us more naturally that a keyboard and mouse has generally been the area of science fiction.  But in some respects the reality is closer than we think, from the chatbot you use on a company Facebook page, to the experimentation that is going on to capture, not only what people think, but the way people think is very much on todays agenda.  This interview with David Burden, MD of Daden Ltd (https://www.daden.co.uk/) , and co-author of the book, Virtual Humans highlights the current development, but also a lot of the issues that have come to the surface as a result, including digital immortality and the ethics of using the data that is derived. The book and more information about the work that David and Maggie Savin-Baden have been doing can be found here: http://virtualhumansbook.blogsp…

2020 certainly delivered its own curveball challenges on many working fronts and trying to do Continuing Professional Development (CPD) from the bedroom or kitchen table was certainly "interesting". In this podcast, I am joined by Martin Thody,

2020 certainly delivered its own curveball challenges on many working fronts and trying to do Continuing Professional Development (CPD) from the bedroom or kitchen table was certainly "interesting".  In this podcast, I am joined by Martin Thody, who is the CIEHF CPD lead, to talk about what CPD looked like last year and what we can learn from it in 2021. Martin is no stranger to the podcast, and in the back catalogue there are other episodes where you can find out more about his background.  This podcast aims to kick of the 2021 series with good habits and useful discussion.  Having said that, apologies for the sound quality of my side of the interview, clearly I didn't have the setup quite right in the office.

We breathe it every day and are very aware of the larger issues of air pollution and the future effect on humanity. But what about the day to day, what does it do to the performance of the human body and how should we be measuring it?

We breathe it every day and are very aware of the larger issues of air pollution and the future effect on humanity.  But what about the day to day, what does it do to the performance of the human body and how should we be measuring it? Professor Paul Lewis, an expert who not only lectures at Swansea University but also advises the Welsh Government on Air pollution gives us an insight into the main issues we should be concerned about, ranging from the actual particulates to the modelling data that is used, as well as the legislation that is already present, and what is coming down the line. Jo Polson, MD of Vindico goes on to give us a glimpse of what he is doing to help us get ahead of the game in terms of sensor capability, but also drives the message home that the data is only the first step, its about what you do with it that counts, or as he would say, how do you #ThinkPurple with it? To contact Prof. Paul Lewis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-lewis-4857588 To contac…

When this was recorded, it was the 1st birthday of this podcast, so Happy Birthday to us. There are precious few HF tools that are made with the input of HF practitioners who use them, but VAPS has been the mainstay of a number of my projects that rely...

When this was recorded, it was the 1st birthday of this podcast, so Happy Birthday to us.  There are precious few HF tools that are made with the input of HF practitioners who use them, but VAPS has been the mainstay of a number of my projects that rely on the ability to design an interface, implement it and for the embedded output to reflect what you started with. Matt Jackson has worked with Presagis for most of his career, but in that time, he has been embedded with clients to help them deliver the best results, as well as feed back to the VAPS development team just what the tool should do in the future.  In this interview, Matt reflects on his role being sandwiched between his own Software team and us as HF practitioner clients, as well as putting a bit of light on standards such as ARINC 661.

Human Factors is applied to many domains, but perhaps one of the most challenging is the Space environment due to the very nature that it is not of this world. That, coupled with a challenge of a new space race, firstly with the mission to Mars,

Human Factors is applied to many domains, but perhaps one of the most challenging is the Space environment due to the very nature that it is not of this world.  That, coupled with a challenge of a new space race, firstly with the mission to Mars, but also the commercialisation of the sector, makes working there a very exciting place.  But it also helps to have the right people doing the right job. In this episode, I interview 3 HF Practitioners from Johnson Space Centre (JSC) who are largely focused on the Orion spacecraft which is part of the wider Artemis programme, they are: Sarah Margerum -- anthropometry/bio-mechanics and modelling human factors https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-margerum-0116818/ Jason Hutt -- Orion Crew Systems Integration (and liaison to Human Engineering team) https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-hutt-2b0a1828/ William Foley --  Leading Orion Human Engineering team https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-foley-26b19510/ They give us an insight into the …

One of the areas where Human Factors is getting more traction is within the Healthcare sector. It is still a slow burner though with lots more work to be done, and this is getting more urgent as new technologies are available to make procedures and pro...

One of the areas where Human Factors is getting more traction is within the Healthcare sector.  It is still a slow burner though with lots more work to be done, and this is getting more urgent as new technologies are available to make procedures and processes better and potentially support more effective patient outcomes. Dr Mark Sujan has taken this challenge head on by launching the Artificial Intelligence and Digital Health Special Interest Group with the CIEHF.  In this episode, we find out more about Mark and his motivations, as well as what his intentions for the SIG are. The Link to Marks LinkedIn is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-sujan-951202185 And his consultancy, Human Factors Everywhere is here: http://humanfactorseverywhere.com/

Many practitioners believe that working on Trials and Assessments, where equipment and systems that have been designed and developed are tested with users, are some of the most enjoyable parts of being involved in Human Factors.

Many practitioners believe that working on Trials and Assessments, where equipment and systems that have been designed and developed are tested with users, are some of the most enjoyable parts of being involved in Human Factors.  You get to see kit actually being used and getting feedback, both positive and negative, and discussing with them what can be done to improve the product.   Vicki Wall is a Fellow of the CIEHF, and has over 20 years experience of being a practitioner, primarily in the defence sector where she has participated and led a wide variety of trials and assessments.  In this episode, we discuss the differences between industrial assessments and academic trials, as well as the key things to remember as well as where to go for tools and techniques to use.  We also talk about how she got into Human Factors via a newspaper advert which kick-started a career which currently sees her at BAE Systems.  One of the references we talk about is the Human Factors Methods bo…

Steve Harmer is the Human Factors capability lead for BMT Defence and Security. He was the winner of the "H Rowbotham Award for Outstanding Contribution to HFI" in 2015, and possibly his most rewarding role was being Barry's first line manager when the...

Steve Harmer is the Human Factors capability lead for BMT Defence and Security.  He was the winner of the "H Rowbotham Award for Outstanding Contribution to HFI" in 2015, and possibly his most rewarding role was being Barry's first line manager when they worked at BAE Systems in 2004......(Steve may disagree...) Whilst starting with an Engineering Degree, we learn why he moved to Human Factors, and has never looked back.  He is now the co-chair of the new CIEHF Defence Sector Group and we find out how the group came to being.  We also look into the future and the technology challenges in HF. You can contact Steve through Linkedin here:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-harmer-4ba7115

This podcast is more of a case study, looking at the phenomenon that is the "Frontline 3D Farms" where Rob Venus and Dr Dimitris Pletsas reacted to the drastic need for PPE to make it to the NHS Frontline. In discussion with both of them,