Earlier Visiting Scholars

In 2003 Dr. Mathiassen, of Malmö University and Lund University (Sweden), worked with researchers on a study to examine cycle-to-cycle consistency in subjects performing assembly work. Fifteen female subjects performed a simulated industrial assembly task according to four different protocols -- line type work, batch-type work, line type work with breaks, and work at a self-determined acceptable pace.

 

Researchers collected data using EMG, motion analysis, an instrumented force-sensitive screwdriver, a heart rate monitor, and questionnaires. From these data, researchers aimed discern workplace factors that cause workers to use the same motor pattern over and over again. The study also sought to help explain why some workers may have a greater risk of developing disorders from performing a certain repetitive work task. Following his tenure, Dr. Mathiassen continued to collaborate on this project from Sweden, with periodic returns to the Institute.

 

Dr. Mathiassen also collaborated with Institute researchers to complete a scientific article on the influence of job task analysis engineering methods on ergonomics and contributed to a project to develop ergonomic exposure assessment strategies for practitioners.

 

Dr. Mathiassen is a professor of production ergonomics at the School of Technology and Society at Malmö University and an associate professor with the Department of Occupational Medicine at Lund University. Previously he worked as a researcher at the National Institute for Working Life (Sweden) and as a lecturer for the Department of Physical Education and Department of Physiotherapy at Odense University (Denmark).

 

A member of the editorial board of the European Journal of Applied Physiology, Dr. Mathiassen also serves on the European Standardization Committee for Biomechanics and the International Standardization Committee for Anthropometry and Biomechanics. In 1993, he earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Human Work Physiology at the Karolinska Institute (Sweden). He holds an M.Sc. in work physiology and physical education from August Krogh Institute at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) and an M.Sc. in biology from Odense University (Denmark). He has authored more than 100 publications, of which nearly 50 have appeared in peer-reviewed scientific journals or books.

​Dr. Li, of Chung-Hua University in Taiwan, is an associate professor with the Department of Industrial Management. His research interests include injury prevention on worksites, including slips and falls and hand tool design. In the area of slips and falls study, he is specializes in gait analysis, friction measurement, and perception.

 

During his three-month stay at the Institute, Dr. Li collaborated with scientists to design a field investigation of work-related slips and falls in restaurants. The study explored the relationship between actual floor friction measurements and worker perceptions of floor slipperiness. Dr. Li and Institute researchers surveyed restaurant workers from various sites of a single restaurant chain. Participants were asked to rate the slipperiness of selected areas of the kitchen. They were also asked about their job experience, work duties, footwear, and other factors that might affect their perception of floor slipperiness. The researchers compared the information provided by workers to actual floor friction measurements taken by researchers in the kitchens of participating restaurants.

 

Dr. Li continued to collaborate with the Institute on the restaurant study beyond his tenure. Using similar protocols, he implemented a parallel study in Taiwan. Dr. Li and Institute researchers aimed to compare the results of both studies and discussed plans for future collaboration on another slips and falls experiment in Taiwan.

 

At Chung-Hua University, Dr. Li has served as special assistant to the president, chairman of the Department of Transportation Management, and the executive director of the Extension Education Center. In 1991, Dr. Li received his doctorate in industrial engineering from Texas Tech University - Lubbock. He earned his M.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington and his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the National Chiao Tung University.

​In 2001 Dr. Son of Taegu, Korea, served as the eighth visiting scholar. While at the Institute, he laid the groundwork for a slips and falls research project to examine accidents related to ladder use. The project aimed to develop an experimental apparatus to measure the force and motion of human subjects while on a ladder. Following his tenure, Dr. Son continued to collaborate with the Institute to complete this project. The final published results aimed to include recommendations for reducing the risk of ladder accidents.

 

Dr. Son is a professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Information Systems (MIS) at Keimyung University, Taegu, Korea. He also serves as a consulting advisor in the Korea Consulting Institute, Seoul, Korea and the director of the planning department at Taegu-Techno Park. Previously, he held positions at Keimyung University, including head of the Department of Industrial Engineering and MIS; Venture Center director; and associate dean of the School of Engineering. He began his professional career in the private sector as a systems engineer for Gold Star Electronic Company in Seoul.

 

A graduate of Texas Tech University, Dr. Son received both his Ph.D. and M.S. in Industrial Engineering. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Kyungpook National University, Korea. A member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers and the Ergonomics Society, Dr. Son has published 68 papers, mostly related to human safety and human computer interaction.

​In 2000 Dr. Smith, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, conducted occupational injury epidemiology research involving data from the 1997/98 National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS). The project resulted in two papers. The first paper summarized key epidemiologic findings from the study (injury rates by age and gender, as well as causes), and included recommendations for improving the NHIS's ability to capture workplace injury information. The second paper explored the differences between injury rates from the NHIS survey and from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' data. From the collaboration, Dr. Smith and Institute researchers initiated a longer-term study to develop a standardized approach for coding narrative information.

 

A physician and epidemiologist, Dr. Smith specializes in injury epidemiology, occupational injury research, alcohol research, and injury surveillance systems. He has done extensive work in the occupational area, both nationally and internationally, has published numerous studies, and is author of the book, Injury Prevention: An International Perspective. His professional affiliations include American Public Health Association, Society of Epidemiologic Research, and International Epidemiological Association.

 

Dr. Smith began his professional career as a physician in his native New Zealand. Later his clinical and research work led him to Australia and Papua New Guinea. In 1980, he came to the United States, where he matriculated at the Harvard School of Public Health. From 1982 to 1984, Dr. Smith was an epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. In 1985, he joined the faculty at the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, where he held faculty positions in the Center for Injury Research and Policy, Health Policy and Management, Epidemiology, and Emergency Medicine at the School of Medicine.

​In 1999 Dr. Bloomfield focused his research in the area of driver behavior. He worked with Institute researchers to evaluate current projects, provided input on future research initiatives, and completed work on studies previously initiated at other institutions.

 

While at the Institute, Dr. Bloomfield presented on "First Steps Towards a Phenomenology of Driving Behavior" at the Vision in Vehicles International Conference. The paper was the result of data analysis performed at the Research Institute. He also completed two co-authored papers generated from previous research projects at the University of Iowa. The first, "Driving Simulation Study Comparing Bilateral Array Multifocal Versus Bilateral Monofocual Intraocular Lens Subjects" was published in the Journal of Cataract Refraction Surgery. The second paper, "Effects of Fexofenadine, Diphenhyframine and Alcohol on Driving Performance: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial in the Iowa Driving Simulator" was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

 

A researcher since 1965, Dr. Bloomfield held the position of senior research leader and manager, at the Human Factors Transportation Center at the Battelle Memorial Institute in Seattle, Washington. Prior to that, he was a principal research scientist at the University of Iowa. For 20 years, he worked at Honeywell Technology Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota performing research for government defense work. Originally from London, England, Dr. Bloomfield earned his B.A. in Psychology at the University of Hull, England and his Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham, England.

​In 1998 Dr.Grönqvist, from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) in Vantaa, Finland, contributed to two research projects in the area of slips and falls.

 

The first assignment, initiated by Liberty Mutual researchers, involved friction measurements and their reproducibility. The experiments were conducted in an environmental chamber under different temperature and humidity conditions. The researchers checked the variability of friction measurements taken with different slip meters on different floor surfaces. The second project, initiated by FIOH, involved the development of a portable test device to measure static, transitional, and kinetic floor friction in the field.

 

Dr. Grönqvist obtained a degree in Chemistry Engineering from the Helsinki University of Technology and his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Tampere University of Technology. In 1978, he joined FIOH as a research engineer in the Department of Physiology. Later, he worked in the Department of Occupational Safety before his appointment as a senior researcher in the Department of Physics. Over his 15-year career, Dr. Grönqvist has published more than 60 papers, 30 of which are peer-reviewed.

 

Through his visit, Dr. Grönqvist helped to foster a collaborative relationship between the Research Institute and FIOH. A slips and falls prevention program was planned to combine expertise from various scientific fields including tribology, biomechanics, epidemiology, and psychology.

​In 1997 Dr. Nag, head of the Ergonomics and Environmental Physiology Division of India's National Institute of Occupational Health, focused on three research projects. The first was a conceptual integration of macroergonomics principles in work safety analysis. The project aimed to develop a reference database for workplace interventions . The second, a review on the kinematic and kinetic factors that contribute to spinal loading in manual materials handling tasks, sought to develop better injury risk avoidance strategies in these tasks. Finally, Dr. Nag worked closely with Institute biomechanics scientists for an in-depth investigation of trunk, hip, and leg muscle interplay in different gait patterns and load carrying modes.

 

Dr. Nag holds research interests in work physiology, with topics that include combined stato-dynamic work, electromygraphy and manual materials handling, biomechanical modeling, shift work, ergonomic work analysis, and risk assessment.

 

Dr. Nag, Editor of Ergonomics and Work Design: Emerging Issues in Organizational Science (New Age International Publishers, 1996), has published more than 50 peer-reviewed articles and 13 book chapters. He received his D.Sc., Ph.D., and M.Sc. in Ergonomics from Calcutta University in India and has a combined 22 years of research experience. His membership affiliations include the International Ergonomics Association, Physiological Society of India, and the Indian Science Congress Association. He is also a founding member of the Ergonomics Society of India.

​In 1997 Dr. Wogalter, of North Carolina State University, applied his expertise in human factors psychology to the Institute's cognitive ergonomics research endeavors. He played a key role in the development of two research projects involving safety communications. The first was an experimental study of pictorial symbols to identify and rate the effectiveness of various pictorial symbol characteristics used in safety and hazard warning signs. The second was a study on the characteristics of verbal statements in signage to identify the key elements in verbal warnings and illustrate how people perceive different verbal statements. The primary objective of both research projects was to provide designers with principles for form and style of message elements in the construction of effective hazard and warning signs.

 

Dr. Wogalter has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and conference papers on hazard control, safety signs, and warnings. His peer-reviewed journal publications include: "WARNING: Sign Label Effectiveness" which was published in 1996 in Current Directions in Psychology (Vol. 5, pp. 33-37), and "Comprehension and Retention of Safety Pictorials," published in 1997 in Ergonomics (Vol. 40, pp. 5321-542). Dr. Wogalter earned his Ph.D. in Human Factors Psychology from Rice University, Houston, and his masters degree in Human Experimental Psychology from the University of South Florida, Tampa. His membership affiliations include the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychological Society.

In 1996 Dr. Burdorf, Professor of Epidemiology from Erasmus University in the Netherlands, worked with the research staff to complete a comprehensive review of the epidemiological evidence for work-related risk factors for low-back disorders. The resulting paper, "Positive and Negative Evidence for Work-Related Low-Back Disorders," was published by the Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment and Health.

 

Additionally, Dr. Burdorf was a contributor to the Research Institute's manual materials handling criteria field study and both a participant in and contributor to the Liberty Mutual-Harvard Epidemiology Symposium held in June 1996.

 

Dr. Burdorf was selected for the Visiting Scholar position based on his extensive background and considerable achievements in the epidemiology of low back pain. A past president of the International Occupational Hygiene Association, Dr. Burdorf holds a Ph.D. in Occupational Hygiene from the University of Wageningen, the Netherlands. His 1992 report, "Assessment of Postural Load on the Back in Occupational Epidemiology," and related works are among the best published in this field in the last decade. His field expertise includes research on such health issues as asbestos, vibration, and materials handling. Dr. Burdorf continues to serve as coordinator of the Occupational Health Research Program in the Department of Public Health at Erasmus University.

In 1994 Dr. Lovesey collaborated in the Research Institute's whole body vibration recording program. During his tenure, he reviewed and evaluated the Institute's capacity in the whole body vibration field. He then developed and critiqued field study proposals for the validation of instruments designed to measure the exposure levels in over-the-road vehicle drivers. The Institute selected Dr. Lovesey as the visiting scholar based on his considerable experience of more than 20 years in the study of whole body vibration.

 

Dr. Lovesey received his Ph.D. from Southampton University in the United Kingdom for his work on human response to multi-axis vibration. His ergonomics experience includes the development of anthropometric measuring techniques, cockpit workspace and aircrew workload analysis, and flight simulation. Field studies have taken him on expeditions from the Arctic to Timbuktu. Dr. Lovesey was also involved as manager in a project to develop machine intelligence for future aircraft pilots.

 

A recipient of the Ergonomics Society's Bartlett Medal, Dr. Lovesey served as council member of the Ergonomics Society and chair of the Annual Conference Committee.