WHY we do it
As the region is home to individuals from a multitude of cultures and backgrounds that are interacting with each other and a host of complex systems and technologies, the GCC represents vast opportunities to employ the principles of Human Factors/Ergonomics (HFE) in all sectors of society. HFE helps to design more effective systems and create a safer and healthier working environment such as in aviation, healthcare, surface transportation, military, and oil & gas/nuclear sectors. Equally its applications improves information communication technologies (ICT), cybersecurity, manufacturing, environmental and product design. In all sectors, HFE promotes innovations and advise policy makers to reduce human error and guide the process of designing intuitive systems that reduce accidents and improve safety and overall performance.
HOW we do it
HFE is defined as- the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data, and other methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance. HFE has been a scientific discipline since that late 1940s and has continued to impact change and improvements in a wide range of sectors. Its applications lead to resilient, productive, safe and sustainable technologies in life and work places.
WHAT we do
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) chapter, is an affiliate of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, and licensed by the Dubai Association Center (DAC).
Our members are from all of the GCC countries including Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
We are working in partnership with government, academic and professional institutions in the GCC region to bring awareness and implementation of HFE principles to regional development and expand the research and application work throughout the GCC area.
WHERE we come from
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) chapter is an affiliate of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, a nonprofit corporation chartered by the State of California, USA, to operate exclusively for charitable, educational, scientific, and literary purposes. HFES is a member of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA), a federation of the world’s ergonomics societies. HFES’s mission is to promote the discovery and exchange of knowledge concerning the characteristics of human beings that are applicable to the design of systems and devices of all kinds. The HFES society was founded in 1957 and is the largest multidisciplinary professional organization in the world for individuals in the HFE field with members located throughout the United States and in 40 other countries. The society has 24 technical groups that are concerned with the HFE aspects of specific application areas.
AEROSPACE SYSTEMS
The AEROSPACE SYSTEMS group is concerned with the application of human factors to the development, design, certification, operation, and maintenance of human-machine systems in aviation and space environments. The group addresses issues for civilian and military systems in the realms of performance and safety.
AGING
The AGING group is concerned with human factors appropriate to meeting the emerging needs of older people and special populations in a wide variety of life settings.
AUGMENTED COGNITION
The AUGMENTED COGNITION group is concerned with fostering the development and application of real-time physiological and neurophysiological sensing technologies that can ascertain a human’s cognitive state while interacting with computing-based systems; data classification and integration architectures that enable closed-loop system applications; mitigation (adaptive) strategies that enable efficient and effective system adaptation based on a user’s dynamically changing cognitive state; individually tailored training systems; and roadmaps for future directions concerning augmented cognition science and technology and guidelines of use for the technology and the user information that may be garnered from it.
CHILDREN’S ISSUES
The CHILDREN’S ISSUES group consists of researchers, practitioners, manufacturers, policy makers, caregivers, and students interested in research, design, and application concerning HFE issues related to children’s emerging development from birth to 18. The topic of children inevitably includes caregivers and educators, which too is a main focus, particularly with respect to their perceptions and physical and cognitive tasks. Example application areas include injury prevention, product usability, physical and cognitive maturation, workload and decision-making in varied settings and environments such as home, school, vehicle, recreation, and digital spaces. The scope not only includes products intended for children, but also other products in the environment that present hazards to children.
COGNITIVE ENGINEERING AND DECISION MAKING
The COGNITIVE ENGINEERING AND DECISION MAKING group encourages research on human cognition and decision making and the application of this knowledge to the design of systems and training programs. Emphasis is on considerations of descriptive models, processes, and characteristics of human decision making, alone or in conjunction with other individuals or intelligent systems; factors that affect decision making and cognition in naturalistic task settings; technologies for assisting, modifying, or supplementing human decision making; and training strategies for assisting or influencing decision making.
COMMUNICATIONS
The COMMUNICATIONS group is concerned with all aspects of human-to-human communication, with special emphasis on communication mediated by technology. Includes telephone services, multimedia communications (e.g., Internet services, Internet telephony, interactive TV, desktop videoconferencing, collaborative communications, and multimedia information services). Includes the design and evaluation of user interfaces of products, systems, and services; enabling technologies such as speech and pen input, telephone, and TV input devices; and infrastructure technologies such as operations software, product documentation, and training.
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
The COMPUTER SYSTEMS group is concerned with human factors in the design of computer systems. This includes the user-centered design of hardware, software, applications, documentation, work activities, and the work environment. Practitioners and researchers in this group take a holistic, systems approach to the design and evaluation of all aspects of user-computer interactions. Some goals are to ensure that computer systems are useful, usable, safe, and, where possible, fun; and to enhance the quality of work life and recreational/educational computer use by ensuring that computer interface, function, and job design are interesting and provide opportunities for personal and professional growth.
EDUCATION
The EDUCATION group is concerned with the education and training of Human Factors and Ergonomics specialists. This includes undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education needs, issues, techniques, curricula, and resources. In addition, a forum is provided to discuss and resolve issues involving professional registration and accreditation.
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
The ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN group is concerned with the relationship between human behavior and the designed environment. Common areas of research and interest include ergonomic and macroergonomic aspects of design within home, office, and industrial settings. An overall objective of this group is to foster and encourage the integration of ergonomics principles into the design of environments.
FORENSICS
The FORENSICS group is concerned with the application of Human Factors knowledge and techniques to “standards of care” and accountability established within the legislative, regulatory, and judicial systems. The emphasis is on providing a scientific basis to HFE issues raised within these systems.
HEALTHCARE
The HEALTHCARE group is interested in maximizing the contributions of HFE to medical systems effectiveness and the quality of life of people who are functionally impaired.
HUMAN PERFORMANCE MODELING
The HUMAN PERFORMANCE MODELING group focuses on the development and application of predictive, reliable, and executable quantitative models of human performance. It considers the human, engaged in some goal-directed behavior, in the context of a specific task environment.
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN PERFORMANCE
The INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN PERFORMANCE group serves those who share an interest in any of the wide range of personality and individual difference variables that are believed to mediate performance.
INTERNET
The INTERNET group seeks to create a community for professionals from industry, academia, and government who share a common interest in Internet technologies and related behavioral phenomena. Areas of interest include user interface design of Web content, Web-based applications, Web browsers, Webtops, Web-based user assistance, and Internet devices; behavioral and sociological phenomena associated with distributed network communication; human reliability in administration and maintenance of data networks; and accessibility of Web-based products.
MACROERGONOMICS
The MACROERGONOMICS group focuses on organizational design and management issues in HFE as well as work system design and human-organization interface technology. This group is committed to improving work system performance (e.g., productivity, quality, health and safety, quality of work life) by promoting work system analysis and design practice and the supporting empirical science concerned with the technological subsystem, personnel subsystem, external environment, organizational design, and their interactions.
OCCUPATIONAL ERGONOMICS
The OCCUPATIONAL ERGONOMICS group is concerned with the application of ergonomics data and principles for improving safety, productivity, and quality of work in industry. It concentrates on service and manufacturing processes, operations, and environments, including the design of products that form the basis of industrial employment.
PERCEPTION AND PERFORMANCE
The PERCEPTION AND PERFORMANCE group promotes the exchange of information concerning perception and its relation to human performance. Areas of concern include the nature, content, and quantification of sensory information and the context in which it is displayed; the physics and psychophysics of information display; perceptual and cognitive representation and interpretation of displayed information; assessment of workload using tasks having a significant perceptual component; and actions and behaviors that are consequences of information presented to the various sensory systems.
PRODUCT DESIGN
The PRODUCT DESIGN group is dedicated to developing consumer products that are useful, usable, safe, and desirable. By applying the principles and methods of Human Factors, consumer research, and industrial design, the group works to ensure the success of products sold in the marketplace.
SAFETY
The SAFETY group is concerned with the development and application of Human Factors technology as it relates to safety in all settings and attendant populations. These include, but are not limited to, aviation, transportation, industry, military, office, public building, recreation, and home environments.
SURFACE TRANSPORTATION
The SURFACE TRANSPORTATION group provides a forum for individuals involved or interested in Human Factors to exchange information, methodologies, and ideas related to the international surface transportation field. Surface transportation encompasses numerous mechanisms for conveying humans and resources: passenger, commercial, and military vehicles, on- and off-road; mass transit; maritime transportation; rail transit, including Vessel Traffic Services (VTS); pedestrian and bicycle traffic; and highway and infrastructure systems, including Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS).
SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
The SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT group offers a forum for fostering research and exchanging information on the integration of Human Factors and Ergonomics into the development of systems. Members are concerned with defining HFE activities and integrating them into the system development process in order to enable systems that meet user requirements. Specific topics of interest include the system development process itself; developing tools and methods for predicting and assessing human capabilities and limitations, notably modeling and simulation; creating principles that identify the role of humans in the use, operation, maintenance, and control of systems; applying Human Factors and Ergonomics data and principles to the design of human-system interfaces; and the full integration of human requirements into system and product design through the application of Human Systems Integration (HSI) methods to ensure technical and programmatic integration of human considerations into systems acquisition and product development processes, the impact of increasing computerization, and stress and workload effects on performance.
TEST AND EVALUATION
The TEST AND EVALUATION group consists of people interested in all aspects of Human Factors and Ergonomics as applied to the evaluation of systems. Evaluation is a core skill for all Human Factors professionals and includes measuring performance, workload, situational awareness, safety, and acceptance of personnel engaged in operating and maintaining systems. Evaluation is conducted during system development when prototype equipment and systems are being introduced to operational usage and at intervals thereafter during the operational life of these systems.
TRAINING
The TRAINING group provides a mechanism for information and interchange among people interested in training and training research.
VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS
The VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS group is concerned with Human Factors issues associated with human-virtual environment interaction. These issues include maximizing human performance efficiency in virtual environments, ensuring health and safety, and circumventing potential social problems through proactive assessment. For virtual environment/virtual reality (VE/VR) systems to be effective and well received by their users, researchers need to focus significant efforts on addressing Human Factors issues.
Membership in the HFES GCC chapter is open to all individuals interested in Human Factors/Ergonomics and related fields. All those who feel they can benefit from the various technical group application areas or who wish to further its goals are welcome to apply for membership.
Full Member
If you are member of the parent HFES US organization you can become a full member of the HFES GCC chapter.
Colleague
If you satisfy the qualification to become member of the HFES but are not a HFES member, you can apply for Colleague membership. The applicant must have:
Associate
Any individual who is interested in the Human Factors/Ergonomics field, but does not qualify for Full Member or Colleague status, can apply for Associate membership.
Student
If you are enrolled as a full-time undergraduate or graduate student at an accredited college or university.
Once your application is approved, you will receive an invoice to make payment and activate your membership.
If you have any questions please contact membership@hfesgcc.com
HFES GCC welcomes our members and interested individuals to be part of the transformation in the GCC by participating in a host of site visits, meetings, seminars, workshops, training programs, colloquiums, and international conferences.
Our HFES GCC members have priority to participate in these events, so we encourage you to become a member and be engaged.
Below are a list of upcoming events and activities.
For our inaugural event we will host an international scientific conference that will promote and advance the interchange of knowledge and methodologies in the behavioral, biological and physical sciences and the understanding of HFE involved in the design, manufacturing and use of systems and devices of all kinds. Global international experts will be invited to exchange information and ideas on all HFE issues. Date and location to be announced shortly.
Our vision is to inspire, engage and transform our GCC professional and scientific community by providing ongoing professional forums for the exchange of multidisciplinary ideas and information about humans and their environment. We encourage connecting and discovering our immense technical group areas and building social relationships where members can meet and communicate with others who have a wide variety of viewpoints and backgrounds. Please click on Register for latest events.
We are a non-profit organization that depends on its members, partners and supporters for funding our activities. We have ambitious plans to bring Human Factors and Ergonomics to the GCC region and to see the benefits of its applications in governments, academic institutions and industry as well as leisure activities to promote well-being and enhance performance.
We want our passion and commitment to this work be shared and supported throughout our society. You may help by giving us the gift of your time, resources and to open opportunities for HFE to be practiced in the GCC. We have created levels of participation and related benefit packages that may be customized to fit your needs and show our appreciation whenever possible. Please contact our Partnerships & Events Director to set up a meeting by email events@hfesgcc.com
Thanks to our Partners & Supporters.
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society GCC Chapter
ESO-16 Level- 7
Sheikh Rashid Tower
Dubai World Trade Center
P.O. Box 9204
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
