ODU Human Factors Psychology Students in Spotlight at National Meeting

Members of the Old Dominion University student chapter of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) were in the spotlight at the recent annual meeting of the society in San Antonio, Tex.

The student chapter won the Gold-Level 2009 Outstanding Chapter Award. Robert Turner and Elizabeth Newlin-Canzone were named Student Members with Honors. Brittany Anderson won best student paper in the Perception and Performance Technical Group, as well as first place for an individual action plan in the 2009 National Erogonomics Month contest.

In addition, Turner, the ODU student chapter president, chaired a panel discussion, "Multidisciplinary Teams: Speaking a Common Language and Avoiding Pitfalls." The panel was sponsored by the ODU chapter in collaboration with the University of Idaho chapter.

And there was more.

The ODU chapter won third place for the best action plan for the 2009 National Ergonomics Month. Recent ODU Ph.D. graduate Randy Spain won third place for his paper in the Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making Technical Group.

Finally, ODU students contributed eight first-authored presentations at the meeting.

Chris Platsoucas, dean of the College of Sciences, called the students' performance "an extraordinary achievement that reflects very positively on the department, the college and the university."

Barbara Winstead, chair of the Department of Psychology, sent notes congratulating the student delegation as well as the human factors psychology faculty members who have worked with the students: Mark Scerbo, professor; Jim Bliss, associate professor; and Poornima Madhavan, assistant professor.