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NIOSH Musculoskeletal Health Program Webinar

Please join us for a presentation by:

Webinar presented through Adobe Connect.  Please register using the link below:

https://niosh-connect.adobeconnect.com/flyexo/event/registration.html

Exoskeleton technology is beginning to inch its way forward into the industrial workforce as noted in recent media releases from automotive and aerospace manufacturing companies. What can these early adopters do to help those curious about using the technology though? Boeing has been evaluating the efficacy of industrial exoskeleton technology since 2012 for its factory workers in production and maintenance. In order for the company to have continuously performed such endeavors however, subject matter experts needed to prove to leadership and end users that this potential worker enhancement technology was worth the Return on Investment (ROI). This webinar presentation will highlight different ROI approaches that Boeing has learned over the last seven years of discovery through the “crawl, walk, run, fly” analogy. Topics include:

• Crawl: Shop Trial Dabbling
  • Why should we care about exoskeletons?
• Walk: Laboratory and Longitudinal Evaluations 
  • What are quantifiable metrics of value?
• Run: Integration & Establishing Standards
  • How do we make these sustainable?
• Fly: Learn from the past…Mitigate the Present… Invest in the Future
  • How do we read the tea leaves and capitalize on the evolving market?

 Dr. Christopher Reid is a Human Factors & Ergonomics Associate Technical Fellow for Boeing’s Environment Health & Safety (EHS) Organization in Charleston, SC. He is a recent Visiting Scholar to the Ohio State University's Spine Research Institute, partnering with Director Dr. William S. Marras on the safety of exoskeletons for Boeing workers. He is a graduate of the University of Central Florida, earning degrees in Electrical Engineering Technology (BS) and Industrial Engineering (MS, PhD). Prior to Boeing, Dr. Reid worked for Lockheed Martin on astronaut spacesuit assessment as a Human Factors & Ergonomics Discipline Lead at NASA Johnson Space Center and as a Human Factors Engineer for the US Army Natick Soldier Systems Center assessing Warfighter personal protective equipment. Outside of work, Dr. Reid is the Secretary Treasurer of the Human Factors & Ergonomics Society (HFES), Associate Editor for the Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Sciences Journal, Special Issue Editor for the Human Factors Journal, Chair of the Annual ErgoX Exoskeleton Symposium, and Chair of the Human Factors & Ergonomics Subcommittee for the ASTM F48 standard on Exoskeletons/Exosuits. His collective work on Boeing exoskeletons has also earned him a 2018 Rising Star Award from the National Safety Council.

Please contact Jack Lu at mlu@cdc.gov if you have any questions about the webinar.