Society on Social Implications of Technology [SIT030]

6:00 PM, Monday, 13 May

Accident Caused by Human Error – But Which Humans?

Dr. Paul Picciano, Senior Human-Systems Engineer, Aptima

Accident investigation teams regularly attribute fault to the human operators at the front lines of complex system failures. Cognitive lapses are often blamed for the inaccurate perceptions, misaligned mental models, and erroneous actions identified in the causal chain. However, complex systems have many more humans in the lifecycle loop than just the operator sitting at the controls. Engineers and designers are key humans in the development and use of these systems, but are also susceptible to similar cognitive vulnerabilities and sometimes design opportunities for failure unwittingly. Facilitating system understanding for operators and maintenance personnel must be a design priority. Intentionally making complex systems more transparent and providing useful feedback can help maintain safe operations.

Dr. Paul Picciano is a Sr. Human-Systems Engineer with more than a decade of experience solving problems for the human operator. At Aptima, he utilizes his cognitive engineering expertise across a variety of domains including intelligence, space, aviation, and defense projects. At Aptima he leads projects focused on decision support and mitigating human error. Prior to joining Aptima, he provided human factors expertise for the design of medical imaging systems at GE Healthcare in Salt Lake City. While pursuing his M.S. in San Jose, he worked at NASA Ames Research Center developing technologies and procedures to support improvements to the National Airspace System (NAS). Dr. Picciano earned his Ph.D. in Cognitive and Neural Science from the University of Utah, an M.S. in Human Factors and Ergonomics from San Jose State University, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tufts University. He is a member of the Human Factors & Ergonomics Society, the Society for Judgment and Decision Making, and the IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society.

This meeting is free and open to the public. It will be held 5:30 – 7:15 p.m. on Monday, May 13, 2013. Refreshments will be available from 5:30 p.m. and the presentation will begin at 6:00 p.m., both in the Lincoln Laboratory Cafeteria, 244 Wood Street, Lexington, MA. For more information, please contact Lori Jeromin, lorilee@ll.mit.edu, (781) 981-4152, or visit the IEEE website at http://www.ieeeboston.org/.

A no-host dinner and discussion will begin after the talk at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, May 13, at the Great Wall Restaurant, in the Great Road Shopping Center, Bedford, MA.

Directions to the Meeting:

Please enter MIT Lincoln Laboratory parking lot at 244 Wood Street entrance and park in visitor parking. The entrance to the cafeteria is on the lower level, to the left of the main entrance.

From I-95 (Route 128): Take Exit 30B on to Route 2A - Stay in Right Lane. Turn Right on to Mass. Ave. Follow Mass. Ave for ~ 0.4 miles. Turn Left on to Wood Street and Drive for 1.0 miles. Turn Left at Wood Street Gate. Lincoln Lab is also accessible via public transportation by taking the 62/76 bus from Alewife. More directions are available at http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/visitorinfo.html

Directions to Dinner:

The address of the Great Wall Restaurant is 309b Great Road, Bedford MA.

From I-95 (Route 128): take exit 31B, and follow Routes 4 and 255 west for 2.4 miles to the Great Road Shopping Center on your left. The Great Wall Restaurant will be towards the far right corner of the mall.

From Lincoln Lab: Take left onto Wood Street, right onto Hartwell Avenue at the end of Wood Street, and left onto Routes 4 and 225 at the end of Hartwell Avenue. Follow Routes 4 and 255 west for 0.9 miles to the Great Road Shopping Center on your left. The Great Wall Restaurant will be towards the far right corner of the mall.

Society on Social Implications of Technology; Women in Engineering and Solid State Circuit Societies

7:00 PM, Thursday, 4 April (Registration encouraged)

Engineers Without Borders

Northeastern University Student Chapter

The Northeastern University Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB-NEU) was organized in 2005 to provide assistance to developing countries to construct infrastructure facilities to improve health and lifestyle. The focus of the projects is sustainability – involving aid recipients in design and construction activities so that they can then maintain the facilities on their own. To date, EWB-NEU has focused on water projects, constructing 4 gravity flow systems for villages in Honduras and rainwater catchment systems and boreholes for a village in Uganda. The chapter is currently designing two pumped distribution systems, one each in Honduras and Uganda. The Honduras system will be powered with electricity off the national grid while the Uganda system will be powered by a diesel generator.

The talk will present the Chapter background and describe the Honduras and Uganda projects including successes and challenges encountered in the process. Addressing technical and cultural issues are both keys to successful projects.

Engineers Without Borders USA has 180 student chapters in the United States working on sustainable development projects across the world. “Our VISION is a world in which the communities we serve have the capacity to sustainably meet their basic human needs, and that our members have enriched global perspectives through the innovative professional educational opportunities that the EWB-USA program provides.”

This meeting is free and open to the public. It will be held 7 – 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 4, 2013 at the Boston campus of Northeastern University, 458 Richards Hall on Krentzman Quad. For more information, please contact Emily Anesta, eanesta@ieee.org, (781) 981-6731, or visit the IEEE website at http://www.ieeeboston.org/. Refreshments will be provided at the meeting.

This meeting is free and open to the public but registration is encouraged via the following IEEE vtools link https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/meeting_view/list_meeting/17679

It will be held 7 – 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 4, 2013 at the Boston campus of Northeastern University, 458 Richards Hall on Krentzman Quad.

For more information, please contact Emily Anesta, eanesta@ieee.org, (781) 981-6731, or visit the IEEE website at http://www.ieeeboston.org/. Refreshments will be provided at the meeting.

The meeting will take place at the Boston campus of Northeastern University, 458 Richards Hall on Krentzman Quad (on Huntington Avenue). A campus map showing the building (marked with the numeral 42) is available at http://www.northeastern.edu/campusmap/map/qad5.html. Visitor directions via car and public transportation as well as parking information are available at http://www.northeastern.edu/campusmap/directions.html#AVG Parking is available at the Renaissance Garage at 835 Columbus Avenue, as well as metered parking on the streets around campus. The campus can be reached by public transportation on the Orange line (Ruggles stop) and Green E line (Northeastern University stop), as well as buses.