Surface Transportation Technical Group

Dear members,

The poll will be closed by 5pm ET tomorrow (9/30). Please cast your vote via https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VSD6BGL

Chair candidate

Ke Liu: Human Factor Researcher, Research and Development, General Motors

Ke Liu is a human factors researcher at General Motors. Ke received both her Master of Science in 2016 and her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in 2019 from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Ke currently works in Vehicle System Research Lab, where she develops and runs human factors studies to study driver perception, cognition, and responses. Prior to working at GM, she worked at University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) for four years as a graduate student researcher, specializing in HMI evaluation, driving simulation, and driver modeling. Ke has been actively serving the professional community: She was the reviewer for HFES and Auto UI conferences; She also served as the president of HFES Student Chapter at the University of Michigan (2017-2018). Ke would like to continue serving in the STTG by enhancing communications internally and externally.

Program Chair candidates:

Francesco Biondi: Assistant Professor, University of Windsor

I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Windsor, and co-founder of the Human Systems Lab (hslab.org). My work examines human-machine interaction in transportation and manufacturing. I leverage my background in cognitive science to understand how attention functions when allocated to multiple activities. I conduct ergonomic assessments of user interfaces, and contribute to the development of adaptive, user-centered systems. I serve as an expert witness in cases involving distracted driving and driver interaction with vehicle technology.

Armin Raeis Hosseiny: Human Factors Research Engineer, Ford Motor Company

I'm a human factors research engineer at Ford Motor Company, working on developing Advanced Driver Assist Systems. I have been a member of the HFES for the past 6 years, and I highly value the partnerships that HFES, and especially STTG create between academia and industry. Hence, in the STTG Program Chair position, I will work hard on strengthening collaborations within the STTG and maintaining high quality standards, by organizing the technical review of proposals.

Anthony McDonald: Assistant Professor, the WM Michael Barnes Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Texas A&M University

Dr. Tony McDonald is an Assistant Professor and Corrie and Jim Furber '64 Faculty Fellow in the WM Michael Barnes Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University and the Director of the Human Factors and Machine Learning Lab. His research focuses on integrating human factors methods and models with machine learning algorithms to develop technology that improves transportation safety and health outcomes. Dr. McDonald is an active member of HFES, a friend of multiple TRB committees, and was a recipient of the 2019 Human Factors Award for Excellence in Human Factors Research. As a student, Dr. McDonald was twice a co-recipient of the STTG Best Student Paper Award and the recipient of the 2012 Alphonse Chapanis Award. He previously held leadership positions in his local HFES Student Chapter, the MIT Varsity Track and Field Team, and several committees within his department. Between 2015 and 2017, Dr. McDonald was a Manager of Software Engineering at the Oracle Corporation, where he oversaw worldwide teams of up to 30 Engineers. The researchers and community of the STTG were a significant factor in his decision to return to HFES, and he looks forward to helping craft a technical program and STTG Best Student Paper Award process that will have a similar effect on others in the technical group.

Web Master candidates

Na Du: Ph.D. candidate, Department of Industrial & Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Na Du is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Industrial & Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She has served as an officer in the UM-HFES student chapter for three years (Webmaster in 2017, President-elect in 2018, President in 2019). She is also a committee member of the HFES Fellows Profile Task Force and HFES Diversity Committee. She served as a session chair, student career day organizer, and volunteer for the HFES Annual Meeting before. Her research interests include transportation human factors with a focus on connected and automated vehicles. She would like to serve the STTG community as an officer (WebMaster). 

Tom McWilliams: Ph.D. candidate, Psychology and Cognitive Science Department, Tufts University

Tom McWilliams is a 4th year PhD student in the Psychology and Cognitive Science department at Tufts University. His research focuses on attention and multitasking while driving. Tom has experience serving in other organizations such as the Society for Applied Research in Memory & Cognition, the Tufts Graduate Education Committee, and the Tufts Graduate Recruitment Committee. In addition, Tom is proficient with MS Office, R, Slack, HTML, SQL, JavaScript, and Python.

Yi Glaser

STTG Chair – 2019-2020

Senior Driver Performance Engineer

General Motors, Global Safety Center