UB - University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

Caroline completed her B.S. in mechanical engineering and her M.S. in industrial engineering at the Ecole Polytchnique de Montreal, in Canada. She became interested in human factors, but, she says, "I'm an engineer," so she wanted a place to study this specifically within an engineering program. She came to UB because she was impressed by the credentials and wide experience of the faculty in human factors. As part of her studies here, Caroline had the opportunity to work on several projects with the Wilson Greatbatch Company, evaluating workstations and work rotation schedules to minimize ergonomic problems, and she herself improved on a special tool developed by a UB team. "One reason I switched to IE from ME," she explains, "was that I was interested in the human element." She likes Human Factors because "it just puts everything together; you still work with machines, but also with people. You work to help them interact with each other in the best possible way."

"It's a small department," she comments, "so you come to meet all the students, and most of the professors." This makes it easy to forge strong working relationships with professors and other students. "The professors are so open…if you have good ideas, they'll push you to go in that direction and follow them up." She feels UB sets a very high standard academically. "It's a lot of work here, but I really feel it's worth it. It gives you that discipline to work, and work effectively."

Caroline wants to work in academia as a professor, but feels it's important to stay in contact with industry as well. "If you lose contact with industry, you can't teach your students." She feels that "The department is on a good path" as far as hiring more faculty and developing research projects that involve more students.