Announcements
Author: David Johnson
Date: Friday, March 18, 2022 at 3:30 pm
Location: Martin Hall, Room EGR-0159
List of Committee Members:
Assistant Professor Monifa Vaughn-Cooke, Advisor and Chair
Professor Mohammad Modarres
Professor Jeffrey Herrmann
Assistant Professor Allison Reilly
Professor Gregory Baecher, Dean’s Representative
Title of Paper: ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS OF ADVERSE EVENTS USING A HUMAN RELIABILITY ANALYSIS APPROACH
Abstract:
Large scale analysis of adverse event data is challenging due to the unstructured nature of event reporting and narrative textual data in adverse event repositories. This issue is further complicated for human error adverse events, which are routinely treated as a root cause instead of as initiating events in a causal chain. Human error events are commonly misunderstood and underreported, which hinders the analysis of trends and the identification of risk mitigation strategies across industries. Currently, the prevailing means of human error investigation is the analysis of accident and incident data which are not designed around a framework of human cognition or psychomotor function. Existing approaches lack a theoretical foundation with sufficient cognitive granularity to identify root causes of human error. This research provides a cognitive task decomposition to standardize the investigation, reporting, and analysis of human error adverse event data in narrative textual form.
The proposed method includes a qualitative structure to answer six questions (when, who, what, where, how, why) that are critical to comprehensively understand the events surrounding human error. This process is accomplished in five main stages: 1) Develop guidelines for a cognitively-driven adverse event investigation; 2) Perform a baseline cognitive task analysis (when) to document relevant stakeholders (who), products or processes (what), and environments (where) based on a taxonomy of cognitive and psychomotor function; 3) Identify deviations for the baseline task analysis in the form of unsafe acts (how) using a human error classification; 4) and Develop a root cause mapping to identify the performance shaping factors (PSFs) (why) for each unsafe act.
The outcome of the proposed method will advance the fields of risk analysis and regulatory science by providing a standardized and repeatable process to input and analyze human error in adverse event databases. The method provides a foundation for more effective human error trending and accident analysis at a greater level of cognitive granularity. Application of this method to adverse event risk mitigations can inform prospective strategies such as resource allocation and system design, with the ultimate long-term goal of reducing the human contribution to risk.
The NYU Tandon Faculty Affairs Team will be hosting the second annual Faculty First Look event in-person.
This event will start on Thursday, April 28, 2022 by a dinner at 7:00 PM to welcome guests and will continue on Friday, April 29, 2022, from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM. All of our day programming will take place on the campus of NYU Tandon School of Engineering, 6 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, New York 11201. The fellows will have the opportunity to have all travel expenses, meals and accommodations covered by the university.
To apply, click here.
Learn more about this new fellowship and share with faculty members, and graduate students in the field of Nondestructive Evaluation in engineering at your university (NDE). Deadline to apply is March 31st, 2022.
Are you interested in conducting research abroad for the 2023-24 academic year?
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. Fulbright awards give master’s students, master’s alumni, and PhD students, opportunities for international experience, personal enrichment, and an open exchange of ideas with citizens of other nations. The Fulbright program provides over 1800 awards annually in over 155 countries.
Learn More
We are hosting eight virtual information sessions to provide an overview specifically for graduate students. You may register below:
Monday, March 14 12:00 – 12:30 pm
Tuesday, March 15, 12:00 – 12:30 pm
Tuesday, March 15, 4:00 – 4:30 pm
Friday, March 18, 10:00 – 10:30 am
Tuesday, March 29, 4:00 – 4:30 pm
Wednesday, March 30, 12:00 – 12:30 pm
Thursday, March 31, 10:00 – 10:00 am
Friday, April 1, 4:00 – 4:30 pm
If you are unable to attend any of these but are interested, please fill out this brief survey.
Eligibility
U.S. Citizens – Master’s and PhD students. Note that PhD students should be at or approaching candidacy and can apply up to the time of graduation (to use as a post-doc) but not after. The program also welcomes applications from recent graduates with a master’s degree. This is an opportunity for alumni to turn knowledge gained through professional experience into exciting international research projects. This can be a great step toward PhD level study or for transitioning to a new career phase.
Benefits
Round-trip transportation, living costs for the academic year, based on living costs in the host country, and supplemental health and accident insurance. Depending on the country, you may also receive modest funds for dependent support, book and research allowances, tuition, and language or orientation courses.
Grant Duration
Approximately one academic year; length and timing of awards varies by individual country and/or region.
Campus Deadline
The UMD campus deadline is September 1, 2022. However, there is a lot to do in putting together a successful Fulbright proposal. Our successful applicants start by late spring/early summer.
This event is open to all ME undergraduate and graduate students to participate in roundtable discussions with Mechanical Engineering alumni. The event will be in-person and lunch will be provided.
Please see the invitation below and register at go.umd.edu/nibbleandnetwork.
The Automotive Research Center at the University of Michigan is seeking to recruit a research engineer who is interested in working on an autonomous vehicle platform. The responsibilities of the eventual hire will include:
-maintaining and operating the perception and control software for a self-driving vehicle platform
-supporting students and other research staff during the development and testing of sensing and control algorithms in simulation and on a vehicle platform
-developing scripting software for test automation and post-processing of results
-aiding in the development of a simulation environment to test autonomy features.
If interested, please apply here: https://careers.umich.edu/job_detail/211669/engineer-research-inter
Thursday, March 10th, 2022
12-1 p.m. EST
Want to know more about professional women in mechanical engineering? Join us for another Ask Me Anything panel!
Ask Me Anything: Women in Mechanical Engineering, a Fridays in DeWalt event, offers current students the opportunity to learn from a panel of four UMD alumnae. Learn about their career paths, their obstacles, their success, and their advice to rising women in engineering. Please see the invitation below and register at go.umd.edu/AMA_womeninME.
Please note this is a hybrid event. Food will be available to in-person participants.
Have ideas for a Friday in DeWalt event? Let us know here.
A NATIONAL WEBINAR SERIES | #MAEFutureLeaders
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
12:00 p.m. PST / 3:00 p.m. EST
Join the webinar: https://tinyurl.com/MAEFutureLeaders2022
(meeting ID: 949 3078 1756, passcode: 312814)
This nationwide online seminar series will highlight research contributions by graduate students and
postdocs from groups that are underrepresented within Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace
Engineering. In addition to providing exposure and mentorship opportunities to the speakers, the
seminar series will create a network among underrepresented students, postdocs and faculty in
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering departments across the country. The organizing committee
asks that you please nominate speakers for the seminar series or volunteer to mentor speakers using
the MAEFutureLeaders website.
More information: https://sites.google.com/view/maefutureleaders