Conference Tracks and Scientific Advisory Boards

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers, Infectious diseases emerging throughout history have included some of the most feared plagues of the past. New infections continue to emerge today, while many of the old plagues are with us still. These are global problems (William Foege, former CDC director now at the Carter Center, terms them global infectious disease threats). As demonstrated by influenza epidemics, under suitable circumstances, a new infection first appearing anywhere in the world could traverse entire continents within days or weeks (Morse, 1995)..

According to Halstead (1996),"When the underlying causes and mechanisms of emerging infectious disease problems are studied carefully, human behaviour is often involved". Even more often, the only methods of control or prevention available are to change human behaviour. Several major recent emerging disease problems can be cited. It is sometimes emphasized that it is human carelessness, human excesses, human ignorance or human habits of conquest or leisure which contribute directly to the biological niches that microorganisms are all too capable of exploiting. We must look at ourselves as the engines of microbial opportunism. It is not likely that we will ever conquer the microbial world; we must look instead to control the human factors that contribute to emergence.

This conference track is intended to present both theoretical and applied perspectives. Topics covered are on a range of areas including, but not limited to topics covered by the World Health Organization (WHO): http://www.emro.who.int/index.html

The conference track focuses on how human factors and ergonomic principles impact on quality of life and society lifestyles through interactions between academia, industry and government. We understand that research and design should be centered on people without considering them as the centre of the universe, but rather as people who participate in a society and world. The objective of this conference is to promote research on human factors and ergonomic principles in the context of the design of artifacts and systems (human, social, symbolic, technological, economic and cultural) that impact on health, wellbeing, safety, sustainability, food, enjoyment, accessibility, interaction, education, intelligibility, integrity, democracy and place development.

The conference welcomes submissions of Original Papers, Case Studies or Research Papers reporting on new models, practices and processes with an impact on the development of society considering people, companies, government bodies and the world.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Human Dynamics for Social Cohesion
• Arts and Creativity in Education
• Co-creation perspectives
• Creativity & Complexity
• Design & Human-Computer Interaction
• Design for Equality & Human Rights
• Design for Health
• Design for Sustainability
• Design for Welfare
• Human Dynamics and Urban Planning
• Identity, Citizenship and Mobility
• Media Arts & Socio-cultural factors
• Food Design
• Transdisciplinary design Wayfinding
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Inexpensive components and advances in technology have allowed the rapid development of new products. Creativity is the key to driving innovation. The purpose of this track is to bring together experts from different areas to show how creativity drives design and innovation so that a wider spectrum of topics related to engineering design, industrial design and ergonomics in design are integrated. This track will help cover all those within and lying in-between the areas of information technology, computer science, social science, systems engineering, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, psychology and others.

Innovation is applying your creativity to come up with a unique idea or solution. It is technological invention, which lets parts do what they could not previously do. Progress depends on innovation and great innovators can get rich. Entrepreneurship, by contrast, is applying the innovation to bring the ideas to life. It is social invention, which lets people do what they could not previously do. Entrepreneurs grasp the opportunity to cash in on the innovation. They build businesses and propel the innovation forward. Progress depends on entrepreneurship and great entrepreneurs get even richer than great innovators.

This conference track is intended to present both theoretical and applied perspectives. Topics covered are on a range of areas including, but not limited to:

• Analogical Reasoning for Design Creativity and Innovation
• Concept Generation and Inspiration
• Cognition of Design Creativity
• Design Synthesis
• Education for Creativity, Design and Innovation
• Inspiration and concept generation
• Innovative Process and theories
• Tools and Methods for Creativity, Design and Innovation
• Theories on Creativity, Design and Innovation
• Entrepreneurship
• Sources of innovation
• Leadership fundamentals for innovation
• Strategy as simple rules
• Demand creation
• The role of marketing in your business

Cognitive ergonomics is the branch of ergonomics which primarily focus on the mental aspects, cognitive functions and neuro-cognitive processes that includes the interactions among the humans and other elements of a system. The AHFE Industrial Cognitive Ergonomics and Engineering Psychology (ICEEP) conference examines the cognitive ergonomic aspects of a workplace to understand a working task and solve a problem, thus making human-system interaction compatible with human cognitive abilities and limitations at work. In an industrial environment, it includes optimal human-work parameters including mental workload, decision-making, skilled performance, human reliability, human-system design, human-computer interaction, work stress and training as these may relate to worker’s ability to properly construe the task, in order to avoid hazard, errors, misperception, frustration and mental work overload. This is very powerful design area, which can make or break a worker’s ability to understand and perform in a workplace and operational settings in order to optimize human well-being and system performance.

This conference aims that theoretical knowledge must contribute towards practical application of cognitive ergonomics including better design of processes, workplaces, systems, instructions, machines, tools and activities that communicate better to the worker how to achieve their goals in daily life and in a working environment in specific. Human brain requires optimum working environment to perform optimally because work performed in a state of fatigue, stress or overload may add limitations to our cognition, attention, perception, memory decision-making, learning and mental workload. With basic knowledge of Engineering Psychology and cognitive design principles, an engineer, researcher, designer or doctor can curtail unnecessary mental workload or overload and help individuals to carry out their tasks more efficiently and with less risks and errors. The specific goal of the conference is to elucidate and brainstorm the human working abilities and limitations at the same time in order to improve working conditions and human performance, as well as safety, health and to avoid human errors, risks, unnecessary load and mental stress.

This conference on Industrial Cognitive Ergonomics and Engineering Psychology provides an opportunity for researchers , doctors, engineers, designers and practitioners to exchange new ideas and practical experiences from a diverse domain of cognitive ergonomics, psychology, human system interaction and applications of cognitive engineering in everyday life.

With main focus is on how cognitive ergonomics employ the information and knowledge embryonic from neurocognitive psychology sciences become a part of our working environments and practices that encourage ideas sharing and discussion among participants about the main theme as well as related topics of this conference. This forum addresses the broad spectrum of modern ongoing research in cognitive ergonomics and the related technologies included but are not limited to those listed here: -

• Augmented reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)
• Applied Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive Task Analysis
• Brain Computer Interface
• Industrial Ergonomics and Engineering
• Decision Making and Decision Support Systems
• Distributed Cognition systems
• Human Machine Interface
• Human Error and Error Prediction Techniques
• Human Centered Design and User-Centered Systems
• Control and Communication Systems
• Behavioral neuroscience and Neurophysiology
• Requirements Analysis and System Integration
• Human Factor Measures and Methods
• Task Analytic Methods and Job design
• Mental Workload and Overload
• Work, Stress and Psychophysics
• Safety, Risk and Human Reliability
• Biomedical engineering and Bio-signals Processing
• Socio-technical systems and Situation awareness
• Simulations, Training design and analysis
• Educational psychology and learning techniques
• Digital Image and Signal Processing
• Automation and Autonomous Systems
• Industrial aspects of Engineering psychology
• Mathematical Modelling of system and processes
• Human system Integration and interaction
• Systems neuroscience and Human-System Design
• Engineering Optimization and adaptive control systems
• Advances in Cognitive engineering
• Ergonomics of Information Systems
• Computer systems and digital technologies
• Neuro Engineering and neuroimaging
• Machine learning, deep learning and Human factors
• Neuro-robotics and Artificial Intelligence
• Human Management Systems
• Design and Industrial Manufacturing
• Neuroscience and Human learning behavior
• Emotional aspects of human interaction with systems
• Methods and tools for studying and supporting cognitive tasks
• Cognitive process of design
• Intelligent systems and applications
• Industrial Automation, Robotics and Human factors
• Case studies relevant to ergonomics and engineering psychology

The AHFE International Conference on Human Factors for Apparel and Textile Engineering promotes the exchange of ideas and technology which enable development and improvement of textile and smart fabrics and bring together Specialists from different scientific fields for the development of Textile Engineering. This conference track proposes to further the research of product-material design with respect to different materials utilized in product construction. It also considers the interaction of all design elements that contribute to the construction of the clothing object can be analyzed and discussed in a way that allows the creation of new knowledge.

It provides an interdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns as well as practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted in the fields of Apparel Design, Fashion Design, Garment Engineering and Textile Engineering.

The AHFE International Conference on Human Factors in Artificial Intelligence and Social Computing (AISC) promotes the exchange of ideas and technology, which enables humans to communicate and interact with machines in almost every aspect. The recent increase in machine and systems intelligence leads to a shift from interaction to a much more complex cooperative human-system work environment requiring a multidisciplinary approach.

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Social Computing (SC) becomes more prevalent in the workplace environment and daily lives, researchers and business leaders will need to address the challenges it brings. Roles that have traditionally required a high level of cognitive abilities, decision making and training (human intelligence) are now being automated. While this boosts efficiency, decision-makers and human factors and human computer interaction researchers must be mindful to how this could impact the overall user experience. Social computing technologies weave together AI with human behavior, social experiences and computational tools. The added intelligence, social computing and analytical computing power capability, along with the new relationship between humans and technology, contributed to more reliable systems, convenience and efficiency in learning from data repositories to improving system efficiency and reliability. For those with impairments, modern-day technology has transformed their daily living into a journey toward added capability.

Human Factors in Artificial Intelligence and Social Computing focuses on the cognitive, visual, social and analytical aspects of human factors and ergonomics in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, vision, unmanned systems and robotics, simulation and wearables by considering these four key human factors dimensions:

1. Responsibility:Who should lead the way to introduction of AI in the process, and what is the long term strategic nature of decisions about AI.
   
2. Depth of integration: AI can be used partially to automate a few tasks, or it can be used to automate a full process. AI integration depends on the goals, priorities, resources and values of where AI can contribute to people in process and innovation.
   
3. People: There is a growing risk that firms will become over-reliant on technology and ignore the value of experience and humans. There is a need to think about how to invest in staff to maximize their potential with technology in a harmonious and enabling role.
   
4. Training: As AISC becomes more integrated in our daily lives, soft skills - such as sensitivity, creativity, visual detection and verbal reasoning, communication, empathy and spontaneity - may become increasingly desirable. Researchers need to make the most of the interplay between personal and Artificial Intelligence.
   

The conference addresses a wide spectrum of theoretical and practical topics related to Artificial Intelligence and Social Computing. It provides an excellent forum of combining real experience and research, while examining how we can adapt to machinery and increase technology acceptance, effectiveness, and efficiency.

• Ambient Intelligence
  
• Human-machine cooperation (HMC)
  
• Adaptive Human-machine cooperation (AHMC)
  
• Pervasive computing and ubiquitous computing
  
• Context awareness, and human-centric computing
  
• Technology readiness and assessment
  
• Internet of Things and connected devices
  
• Human-machine task integration

Social Computing:

• Social network analysis, social data mining
  
• Social computing technologies
  
• Modeling human behavior
  
• Context-aware communication
  
• Social applications
  
• Ethical issues related to social computing technologies
• Online community, mass collaboration
  
• Search engine optimization
• Distributed Leadership concepts
  
• Technology mediated social participation
  
• Computational social science research methods

The AHFE International Conference on Kansei Engineering (KANE) promotes the exchange of ideas and technology which enable development and improvement of products and services by translating user psychological or emotional feelings and needs into the domain of product design.

Kansei Engineering is a method for translating feelings and impressions into product parameters. The method was invented in the 1970’s by Prof. Mitsuo Nagamachi at Kure University (now Hiroshima International University). Prof. Nagamachi, the Co-Chair of the AHFE Conference on Kansei Engineering, recognized that companies often want to quantify the customer’s impression of their products. Kansei Engineering can "measure" the feelings and shows the correlation to certain product properties. In consequence products can be designed in a way, which responds the intended feeling. The conference addresses a wide spectrum of theoretical and practical topics related to Kansei Engineering. It provides an excellent forum of combining industrial experience and academic research.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Emerging topics in Kansei Engineering
• Kansei and Kagaya Service Innovation
• Techniques and Procedures
• Kansei Engineering in Soft Computing
• Biometrics and Kansei Engineering
• Kansei Innovation
• Hybrid Kansei Engineering
• Virtual Kansei Engineering
• Case Studies
• Affective Quality
• Quality Function Deployment
• Quality Management
• Global Strategy

The AHFE International Conference on Human Factors and Assistive Technology (ASSIST) promotes the exchange of ideas and technology which enable humans communicate and interact with each other in almost every aspect. The new relationship between humans and technology added convenience for many; and for those with impairments, modern-day technology has transformed their daily living into a journey toward capability instead of disability. Assistive technology assessment focuses on the examination of problems in designing and providing assistive devices and services to individuals with disabilities or impairment, to assist mobility, communication, positioning, environmental control and daily living.

The conference addresses a wide spectrum of theoretical and practical topics related to assistive technologies. It provides an excellent forum of combining real experience and academic research, while examining how we can adapt to machinery and increase the technology acceptance, effectiveness, and efficiency. The conference aims at investigating how psychological factors can affect the efficiency and acceptability of assistive technology.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Evaluation and Use of Assistive Technology:
  • Guidelines for Using Assistive Technology
  • Functional and Informational Requirements
  • Psychological Factors (fear, stress, rejection, etc.)
  • Issues Concerning Assistive Technology
  • Assistive Services

• Assistive Technology Types:
  • Assistive Technology for Deafness and Hearing Impairments
  • Assistive Technology for Visual and Dual-Sensory Impairments
  • Assistive Technology for Mobility, Seating, and Positioning

• Assistive Technology for Daily Living:
  • Sensory: Sight, Hearing, Touch, Taste and smell, Balance
  • Physical: Speech, Dexterity, Manipulation, Mobility, Strength and Endurance
  • Sensory: Sight, Hearing, Touch, Taste and smell, Balance
  • Cognitive: Intellect, Memory, Language and literacy

The AHFE International Conference on Advanced Production Management and Process Control (APMPC) promotes the exchange of ideas and developments in production, sustainability, life-cycle, innovation, development, fault-diagnostics and control systems. It addresses a spectrum of theoretical and practical topics. It provides an excellent forum of exploring frontiers between researchers and practitioners from academia and industry. It offers the possibility of discussing research results, innovative applications and future directions.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Production Management:
  • Planning, Scheduling and Control
  • Project Management
  • Production System Organization
  • Process Optimization
  • Process and Product Design
  • Production Standards and Certification
  • Quality Control
  • Materials and Inventory Management
  • Logistics and Supply Chain
  • Maintenance Systems
  • Reliability and Risk Assessment
  • Total Quality Management
  

• Sustainable Production, Life Cycle Engineering and Management:
  • Sustainable Business Development
  • Sustainable Manufacturing (energy, water, materials and chemicals)
  • Eco-design
  • Reuse, Remanufacturing, and Recycling
  • Sustainable Supply Chain
  • Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing
  • Total Ownership Cost
  • Life Cycle Excellence
  • Product Life Cycle Management

• Innovation and Development in Engineering and Manufacturing :
  • Industrial Automation
  • Smart Production
  • Bio-manufacturing
  • Investments in Production Systems
  • Production Competition and Relationship
  • Operations Research
  • Operator Training
  • Control-room Operators
  • Real-time Performance Assessment

• Fault diagnostics and Intelligent Control Systems:
  • Safety-critical Systems
  • Process Supervision
  • Decision Support Systems
  • Monitoring and Fault Diagnostics
  • Reliability and Safety Assessment
  • Process Measurements and Devices
  • Modeling of Processes and Systems
  • Linear and Non-linear Control System Design
  • Predictive Control
  • Robust and Adaptive Control
  • Fault Tolerant Control

The AHFE International Conference on Human Factors in Aging and Gerontology (HFAGE) promotes the exchange of ideas related to aging population interaction with technology and focuses on understanding the fundamentals of human physical, cognitive and psychomotor aspects as they relate to human behavior in the context of technology and systems interactions. Gerontology is the scientific study of old age, the process of aging, and the particular problems of old population. The conference focuses on the introduction of innovative human factors engineering solutions to address issues faced by older adults.

HFAGE addresses a wide spectrum of theoretical and practical topics related to aging population and population with special needs. It provides an excellent forum of exploring frontiers between researchers and practitioners from academia and industry, and offers the possibility of discussing research results, innovative applications and future directions.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Innovative Healthcare Technologies
• Design for Aging Population
• Technology Acceptance
• Automation interaction
• Demographic, Ecological and Social Dynamics
• Cognitive Aging
• Aging with Impairments and Disabilities
• Mobility and Safety of Aging Adults
• Rehabilitation
• Using technology aids for home tasks
• Making technology easier for older adults to use
• Skill Acquisition and Training

Recent digital modeling systems and additive manufacturing technologies have produced remarkable changes and improvements in the way people design and fabricate objects and products, both in formal and in informal environments. Using networked technologies, ubiquitous computing, new materials and hybrid production systems, they are changing the processes of conception, modeling and production of products and systems of products, becoming a powerful tool for makers and professionals and, at the same time, becoming democratic, less expensive and more accessible by a wide range of new kind end-users to try new forms of distributed craftsmanship. Digital Modeling Systems (DMSs) are empowered systems of tangible and intangible tools that, using a large number of technologies such as ICTs, virtual environments, cloud computing, user interfaces, connected tools and hybrid systems, are used to conceive, model, analyze, virtualize, simulate and present solutions. Additive Manufacturing (AM) refers to all production processes made with 3D printers, rapid prototyping systems, methods for remote fabrication, etc., which use raw materials to create three-dimensional objects; everyday, fabricated solutions are become pervasive in many environments, decreasing in costs and in time the entire manufacturing processes. The AHFE International Conference on Human Factors in Digital Modeling Systems and Additive Manufacturing is a leading forum focused on cutting edge design and manufacturing processes; it welcomes papers that cover articles, case studies and multidisciplinary studies specifically focused on ergonomics research, design applications, engineering processes, experimental purposes and theoretical methods applied the themes of Digital Modeling Systems and Additive Manufacturing, and their cross-sectorial convergences.

Aims of the Affiliated Conference
The proposed AHFE Affiliated Conference on Digital Modeling Systems and Additive Manufacturing is conceived as a forum to bring together researchers, experts, professionals and stakeholders from various disciplines working in these three main areas, and in their specific domains. The aim is to explore and contribute to the research challenges with theoretical studies, experimental researches and best practices in the applications of Human Factors and Ergonomics on Digital Modeling Systems and Additive Manufacturing, and their cross-sectorial applications in any context: tangible and/or intangible, industrial and/or non-industrial, formal and/or informal. The long-term goal is to gather a community of researchers and establish a leading forum for research dissemination in the area..

Topics Covered:
Systems and Additive Manufacturing include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Digital Modeling Systems (DMSs):
  • Product-Service Systems for modeling and simulation.
  • Human-Computer Interaction in modeling-related activities.
  • User interfaces for designing manufacturable objects.
  • Development of modeling tools and/or software.
  • Software use and applications in 3D modeling.
  • Geometric, mathematic and parametric modeling tools.
  • Representation and visualization of physically realizable objects.
  • Use and development of networks, services, systems and ICTs technologies in and for modeling-related activities.
  • Simulation of physically realizable objects (including AR/VR).
  • Trans-disciplinary applications and hybrid tools in Digital Modeling Systems

• Additive Manufacturing (AM):
  • New materials for fabrication.
  • Advances in prototyping technologies and materials.
  • Destructive and non-destructive trials on printed products.
  • Sustainability issues and applications for new printable material.
  • New product development using 3D printing.
  • Mathematical-mechanical models for new technologies and materials.
  • Forms of productions in everyday scenarios.
  • Industrial applications of new manufacturing technologies.
  • Advanced products and services created using new manufacturing technologies.
  • Trans-disciplinary applications in Additive Manufacturing.

• Cross-Sectorial Issues:
  • DMSs and AM in new circular economies.
  • DMSs and AM in Industry 4.0.
  • Sustainable models for producing, selling and delivering products (i.e. Do-It-Yourself, Creative Communities, etc.).
  • Socio-ethical challenges for DMSs and AM.
  • DMSs and AM in and for emerging and developing countries.
  • DMSs and AM for bio-engineering and medical applications.
  DMSs and AM in extreme environments (including aerospace, zero-g applications, maritime, military, etc.).
  • DMSs and AM for archeological, historical and conservative applications.
  • DMSs and AM in SMEs, startups and innovative companies.
  • Future trends and promising scenarios for DMSs and AM.
  

Industrial design has been one of the fastest growing and demanding areas which made significant contributions to our lives and societies. Traditionally, industrial designers focus on the aesthetics of products' form and style as well as ergonomics. This tradition has expanded its boundary to other subject matters such as service design, human computer interaction and user experience design, sustainable design and virtual & augment reality. This is a strong indication that interdisciplinary collaboration across disciplines became an essential and critical practice in design.

The International Conference on Interdisciplinary Practice in Industrial Design (IPID) aims at exploring and broadening the interdisciplinary practice in industrial design. The conference includes discussions on 1) a theoretical investigation as well as professional practice to foster interdisciplinary collaboration across disciplines, 2) design projects through interdisciplinary collaboration, 3) design process with external public and private sector partners with a solid record of interdisciplinary development experience and 4) design methods and techniques to investigate productive and effective interdisciplinary collaboration in design.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, those listed here:

• Industrial design
• Human-Centered Design, Sustainable Design
• Engineering Design, Design education
• Design strategy, Design method
• Product Research and Planning
• Entrepreneurship
• Point of Purchase
• Exhibit Design
• Texture and Color
• Material, and Finishing (CMF)
  

Wearable technology is a category of technology devices that can be worn by a consumer (called wearable gadgets) and often include tracking information related to health and fitness. Other wearable tech gadgets include devices that have small motion sensors to take photos and sync with your mobile devices.

Wearable devices have several applications to support domains ranging from personal productivity, health and medical, entertainment and gaming, to security and safety critical systems. The human aspects of wearable technologies are often neglected. By integrating user center practices practitioners can achieve optimized wearable experience and solutions for improving the user acceptance, satisfaction and engagement for novel applications. This track provides researchers and practitioners a forum to share research and best practices in the applications of human factors and ergonomics to wearable technologies and integration of wearability principles identified by Motti and Caine (2014) which are: Aesthetics, Affordance, Comfort, Contextual-awareness, Customization, Ease of Use, Ergonomy, Intuitiveness, Obtrusiveness, Overload, Privacy, Reliability, Responsiveness, Satisfaction, Satisfaction, Subtlety, User friendliness and Wearability.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, those listed here:

• User-centered Design Principles in Wearable technologies
• Principles for Wearability
• User Engagement
• Regulatory and Policy Aspects
• Data Collections and Analysis
• Wearable Technology Usage
• Wearable Computing
• Innovations in Wearable Technologies and Applications
• Smart clothing and Implantables
• Trends and Future Technologies

To err is human, and human error is consistently implicated as a significant factor in safety incidents and accidents. Yet, as pervasive and important as human error is, the study of human error has been fragmented into many different fields. In fact, in many of these fields, the term “human error” is considered negative, and terms such as human variability or human failure are preferred. Across differences in terminology and approach, the common link remains an interest in how, why, and when humans make incorrect decisions or commit incorrect actions. Human error often has significant consequences, and a variety of approaches have emerged to identify, prevent, or mitigate it. These different approaches will find a unified home in this conference.

The purpose of the AHFE International Conference on Human Error, Reliability, Resilience, and Performance (HERRP) is to bring together researchers and practitioners in different fields who broadly share the study of human error. The HERRP conference is intended to serve as an umbrella for human error topics by providing an annual forum for otherwise disjoint research efforts. As such, the conference is intended to complement but not replace existing specialized forums on particular facets of human error. The HERRP conference is distinctly interdisciplinary, encouraging the submission of papers in focused technical domains that would benefit from interaction with a wide human factors audience. Additionally, the HERRP conference provides a yearly, high-quality, archival collection of papers that may be readily accessed by the current and future research and practitioner community.

We invite papers related to a broad range of topics on human error, including but not limited to:

• Human performance
• Human variability
• Human reliability analysis
• Human performance shaping factors
• Root cause analysis
• Accident investigation
• Human resilience and resilience engineering
• High reliability organizations
• Safety management
• Medical error
• Driver error
• Pilot error
• Automation error
• Defense in depth
• Errors of commission and omission
• Human error taxonomies and databases
• Human performance improvement and training
• Cognitive modeling of human error
• Qualitative and quantitative risk assessment

Contributions may encompass empirical research studies, original reviews, practical case studies, meta analyses, technical guidelines, best practices, or methods. Papers may encompass traditional topics of human error such as found in the safety critical industries like process control, transportation, and medicine. We also encourage innovative explorations of human error such as security, defense, new human-technology interactions, and beneficial uses of human error.

Communication of design is concerned with understanding users, creating communication, and engaging experiences. Currently, people expect communication to be an exciting and interactive experience. Therefore, to provide such enjoyable and stimulating experiences, researchers in the discipline of communication design have identified that human factors could enrich communication of design and optimize design experience. They have initiated investigations on humanistic approaches, including the roles of human needs, emotions, thoughts, and actions, and have revealed more innovative approaches based on visuals. Furthermore, these types of connections influenced users’ experiences in design consumption. Such experiences generally exerted a considerable effect on users’ satisfaction toward the designs. Considering human factors in the communication of design enables designers to be actively connected with human needs. The exploration of human factors and design in the past decades is an appropriate and valuable opportunity to enrich and strengthen the field of communication design from the perspective of human factors.

Studies on human factors have been integral to emotions and user experiences; concerns of human factors can be integrated with communication design to develop a particularly valuable process and solution. Accordingly, human factors are expected to be the major factor driving the discipline to develop design solutions that intentionally fulfil users’ needs and desire by creating new experiences. On the basis of the preceding discussion, the aim of this conference is to explore the various methods of enriching the communication of design by considering human factors. By integrating human factors, practitioners can develop new insights into enriching the communication of design to an innovative spectrum.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, those listed here:

• Mobile graphics & interface design
• Designing experience
• Communication of design
• Empathetic & Emotion
• Interactive & interaction design
• Creative process & practices
• Designing culture
• Digital art & computer graphics
• Research methods in design communication
• Algorithms, geometry & graphics
• Multimedia & web design
• Information design & data visualization
• Advertising & media
• Animation & motion
• Image, video design & processing
• Experiential graphics
• Creative education
• Art & design for society
• New media & creative art
• Art & design technology

The game industry has been rapidly expanding in the past decades, games became more appealing to a wider audience. The level of complexity in games control interfaces and graphics has increased exponentially, in addition to the growing interest in integrating augmented reality in gaming experience. As a result, there is a growing demand for human factors and ergonomics practitioners to ensure the users’ engagement in game design.

The purpose of the AHFE International Conference on Human Factors in Game Design and Virtual Environments is to bring together researchers and practitioners in different fields who broadly share the study of game design applications. The gaming domain covered in this track provides an opportunity to expand human factors research in the academia. Therefore, the goal of this track is to introduce key research and development techniques that human factors practitioners utilize in game design and new applications. Specifically, to demonstrate the human factors challenges in social games, console video games, augmented reality and computer graphics and educational games for children and teens using a variety of unique interfaces, such as virtual reality, tactile controls, and gesture recognition.

The AHFE International Conference on Design for Inclusion focuses on Universal Design, design for all, digital inclusion, universal usability, and efforts to address a broad range of issues in making technology available to and usable by all people whatever their abilities, age, economic situation, education, geographic location, culture and language. Accessibility focuses on people with disabilities — people with auditory, cognitive, neurological, physical, speech, and visual impairments.

Design for Inclusion explores some of the overlaps between inclusive design and web accessibility, and helps managers, designers, developers, policy makers, researchers, and others optimize their efforts in these overlapping areas.

The conference track is concerned with the practice of universal design, which means understanding the experience and needs of every individual within a community and then designing to meet not only the largest number of those needs, but the full spectrum of need.

The AHFE conference on Cognitive Computing and Internet of Things focuses on removing the boundary between neuroscience and computer science, and provides an alternative for developing applications, machines or systems that have reasoning abilities similar to a human brain. Cognitive computing simulates human thought processes in a computerized model.

Cognitive Computing and Internet of Things involves self-learning systems that use pattern recognition, data mining, and natural language processing to mimic the way the human brain works. The goal of the cognitive computing research is to create automated systems that are capable of solving problems without requiring direct human assistance. Cognitive computing is used in numerous artificial intelligence (AI) applications, including expert systems, natural language programming, neural networks, robotics and virtual reality.

The aim of the conference is to help redefining the nature of the relationship between people and their increasingly pervasive digital environment. Systems based on human reasoning may play the role of assistant or coach for the user, and they may act virtually autonomously in many problem-solving situations. Future aspects of Cognitive Computing and Internet of Things are projected to include: Language-processing, image-recognition, and reasoning services to power these breakthrough applications that scale up human-like analysis. Cognitive Computing and Internet of Things utilizes sentient computing, a common use of the sensors to construct a world model which allows location-aware or context-aware applications to be constructed.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, those listed here:

• Augmented Virtual Reality
• User Guidance
• Predictive Analytics
• IBM Watson Applications
• Consumer-Behavior Analysis
• Personalization and Assistance
• Sentient computing (using sensors to perceive the environment)
• Internet of things (IoT)
• Specialized Deep Learning on Big Data sets
• Generalized Artificial Intelligence systems

This conference track provides an opportunity to share research on how simulation may advance the state of the art in human factors. As human factors continues to grow and expand, there is increasing need to use simulations to advance research that does not require embedded studies in various environments, which may be hazardous, have limited access, or involve high costs. In other words, simulation provides the means to investigate human factors phenomena when it is otherwise impractical to do so in a strictly real-world setting.

Simulation encompasses two primary thrust areas: (1) computational modeling and (2) simulator studies. Computational modeling provides the means to approximate real world processes in a digital environment, such as socio-political or cognitive activity. Simulators offer the opportunity to embed individuals within an approximation to a real world setting, such as training simulations or virtual reality.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Military applications
• Medical simulation
• Sports training
• Occupational safety
• Cybersecurity
• Socio-political modeling
• Virtual reality
• Transportation
• Graphics
• Brain-computer interfaces
• Robotics
• Augmented reality
• Embedded training
• Cognitive modeling
• Distance learning
• Shooting simulators
• Aviation
• Network science
• Multi-sensory stimulation
• Economic modeling
• Design engineering

The AHFE International Conference on Human Factors in Management and Leadership is concerned with creating people-centric systems and the effective practices to bring to managers and executives useful insights into the latest leadership and management research as well as the human performance development. Understanding how workplaces can be designed with people in mind should be of great interest to organizations. HFML focuses on those leadership roles, which support the organizational learning, knowledge management, overall safety, and innovation.

The conference aims to share and transfer not just knowledge, but leadership and management science that is of real value in practical terms; value that can help leaders ensure their organizations stay ahead of the competition through continued innovation, strong competitive advantage, and inspired leadership. There are some general issues which have influence on the effectiveness and competitiveness of organizations (firms and institutions) across various sectors which HFML would like to inspire their discussion and evolution in the following aspects:

1. Role of learning: organizational development, and the role of leadership in supporting learning in organizations, this includes intelligent organization and learning organization.
2. Organizational complexity: Our world and also the organizations in it show increasing complexity and fast changes. What competences make the leaders succeed and compete with these issues? How can leaders govern complex systems?
3. Trust and control in different organization: What is the role of trust and control in leading successful organizations? How much the way of thinking of leaders depends on organizational or social culture, or the characteristics of different sectors?
4. Knowledge management: What are the features of knowledge production, knowledge sharing, and utilization of knowledge? What kind of leadership is needed by the knowledge workers?
5. Safety leadership: The new paradigm of safety (which is based on systems thinking) calls the need to accommodate this reality in the nature of safety leadership, its development and assessment. Thus, what are the limitations of existing safety leadership theories? What leadership behaviors are needed in order to achieved the new view of safety? How to assess safety leadership contribution in socio-technical systems?

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• High performing working place
• Design thinking in leadership
• Transformational leadership
• Social-organizational work environment
• Creative Methods and Tools
• Management and governance issues
• Human performance research
• Socio-technical approach to management and governance
• Coordination, communication and collaboration issues
• Management Strategies
• Performance management
• Human resource management
• Safety Leadership
• Risk management

Our daily life, economic vitality, and national security depend on a stable, safe, and resilient cyberspace. We rely on this vast array of networks to communicate and travel, power our homes, run our economy, and provide government services. Yet, cyber intrusions and attacks have increased dramatically over the last decade, exposing sensitive personal and business information, disrupting critical operations, and imposing high costs on the economy.

The human factor at the core of cybersecurity provides greater insight into this issue and highlights human error and awareness as key factors, in addition to technical lapses, as the areas of greatest concern.

The AHFE International Conference on Human Factors in Cybersecurity will also focus on the social, economic and behavioral aspects of cyberspace, which are largely missing from the general discourse on cybersecurity. The human element at the core of cybersecurity is what makes cyberspace the complex, adaptive system that it is.

An inclusive, multi-disciplinary, holistic approach that combines the technical and behavioral element is needed to enhance cybersecurity. Human factors also pervades the top cyber threats. Personnel management and cyber awareness are essential for achieving holistic cybersecurity.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, those listed here:

• Human Error and Awareness
• Cybersecurity Training
• Human Factors in Information Security Management
• Cyber Analytics Behavior and Resilience
• The Role of Human Error in Successful Security Attacks
• Social, Economic and Behavioral Aspects of Cyberspace
• Cyber Economics
• Cyber Physical Systems Security
• Cybersecurity Forensics
• Cybersecurity Competitions
• Cybersecurity Incident Response
• Cybersecurity Risk Factors
• The Threats of Inadvertent Human Error by Insider Mistakes
• Assessment and Evaluation
• Data Privacy Technologies
• Distributed Denial of Service Defense
• Distributed Environment for Critical Infrastructure Decision-Making
• Enterprise Level Security Metrics and Usability
• Identity and Access Management
• Key Insights to the Depth and Breadth of Cyber Security Threats
• Cyber Security Index
• Mobile Technology Security
• Process Control Systems (PCS) Security

Human Factors and Systems Interaction aims to address the main issues of concern within systems interface with a particular emphasis on the system lifecycle development and implementation of interfaces and the general implications of virtual, augmented and mixed reality with respect to human and technology interaction.

The objective of Human Factors and Systems Interaction is to provide equal consideration of the human along with the hardware and software in the technical and technical management processes for developing systems that will optimize total system performance and minimize total ownership costs.

This conference aims to explore and discuss innovative studies of technology and its application in system interfaces and welcomes research in progress, case studies and poster demonstrations.

Human Factors and Systems Interaction is, in the first instance, affected by the forces shaping the nature of future computing and systems development. These forces include:

• Decreasing systems and hardware costs leading to faster machines and systems.
  
• Miniaturization of hardware leading to portability.
  
• Reduction in power requirements leading to portability.
  
• New display technologies leading to the packaging of devices in new forms.
  
• Assimilation of computation into the environment (e.g., VCRs, microwave ovens, televisions).
  
• Specialized hardware leading to new functions
  
• Widespread use of computers and systems in everyday tasks
  
• Increasing innovation combined with lowering cost, leading to rapid interaction by people previously left out of the "system revolution."
  
• Wider social concerns leading to improved access to computers and systems by currently disadvantaged groups (e.g., young children, the physically/visually disabled, etc.).

The AHFE International Conference on Human Factors, Business Management and Society will focus on relations and interrelationships within these three main areas of business activity according to the Co-Evolute paradigm. The conference targets practical approach to facilitate the process of achieving excellence in the management and leadership of organizational resources, allowing faster learning and development of business, economic, and social renewal based on the shared value thinking. Shared value in business has been defined so that it covers the economic value creation inside a company as well as creating value for society according to its needs, demands, risks and challenges. The objective is to achieve economic success through company activities so that all the stakeholders get their own share. In this way, shared value can be seen as a creative means for meeting social requirements as well as an important concept to develop company democracy.

The implementation of practical organizational resource management methodologies and methods aims to reduce complexity of related to management and leadership. This conference aims to present approaches, methods and technologies to tackle this complexity. We encourage authors to explore new practical ways from human, business and societal point of view.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Situation aware and ontology based management and leadership
  - Management object ontologies
  - Human object ontologies
  - Information retrieval, data mining and context dependent meanings
  - Visual management and leadership
  
• Focus and development of key corporate resources
  - Strategy creation and development
  - Intellectual capital
  - Occupational competences
  - Knowledge creation and learning
  - Added-value creation and competitive advantage
  
• Management and leadership of company and organizational cultures
  - Safety culture
  - Innovation culture
  - Research and development culture
  - Democratic organization culture
  - Growth company culture
  - Quality culture
  - Sustainable growth culture
  - Networking culture
  
• Coaching and mentoring
  - Team management and leadership
  - Time management and leadership
  - Organizational commitment and leadership
  - Support for entrepreneurs
  
• Customers' satisfaction and conscious experience
  
• Modular process including the use of the Internet-based Evolute system

Researchers are conducting cutting-edge investigations in the area of unmanned systems. The efforts aim to change how humans operate the vehicles by reducing the number of personnel hours and dedicated resources necessary to execute the systems.

The growing use of unmanned systems across all military and commercial sectors is the direction of the future. Optimizing human-robot interaction is critical because the farther removed the operators are from the system, the more important their ability to intervene becomes. Along the same lines, the fewer the number of people involved in a system’s operation, the more important each individual becomes. Researchers are developing theories as well as prototype displays that could be built into actual systems.

Because humans tend to be the most flexible part of “unmanned” systems, the Human Factors and Unmanned Systems focus considers the role of the human early in the development process in order to create the best functional devices.
Areas of interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Automation issues and robotics
  
• Consequences of degraded reliability of automated unmanned functions for performance of the automated task and of concurrent tasks
  
• Perceptual and cognitive issues in unmanned systems and robotics
  
• Role of augmented reality displays or synthetic vision systems to successfully compensate for the degraded visual imagery provided by onboard sensors
  
• Multimodal display technology applications to compensate for the dearth of sensory information available to a unmanned vehicle operator
  
• Extent to which displays and controls can be standardized across unmanned systems?
  
• Predictable autonomous behavior for unmanned system following a loss of communications

Human Factors in Sports and Outdoor Recreation aims to address the critical cognitive and physical tasks which are performed within a dynamic, complex, collaborative system comprising multiple humans and artifacts, under pressurized, complex, and rapidly changing conditions that take place during the course of any sporting event.

Highly skilled, well-trained individuals walk a fine line between task success and failure, with only marginally inadequate task execution leading to loss of the sport event or competition. This conference promotes cross-disciplinary interaction between the human factors in sport and outdoor recreation disciplines and provides practical guidance on a range of methods for describing, representing, and evaluating human, team, and system performance in sports domains.

Traditionally, the application of human factors and ergonomics in sports has focused on the biomechanical, physiological, environmental, and equipment-related aspects of sports performance. However, various human factors methods, applied historically in the complex safety critical domains, are suited to describing and understanding sports performance. The conference track welcomes research on cognitive and social human factors in addition to the application of physiological ergonomics approaches sets it apart from other research areas.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Data Collection,
  
• Task Analysis,
  
• Cognitive Task Analysis,
  
• Understanding Sports Performance,
  
• Addressing Sport and Competition Challenges,
  
• Human Error Identification,
  
• Situation Awareness Measurement,
  
• Workload Measurement,
  
• Team Performance Assessment, and
  
• Interface Evaluation Methods.

Human Factors in Energy focuses on the Oil, Gas, Nuclear and Electric Power Industries and aims to address the critical application of human factors knowledge to the design, construction and operation of oil and gas assets, to ensure that systems are designed in a way that optimizes human performance and minimizes risks to health, personal or process safety, or environmental performance. The conference focuses on delivering significant value to the design and operation of both onshore and offshore facilities

Energy companies study the role of human behavior for safety and accident prevention, however, third party providers and different operators have different standards and different expectations. While oil and gas exploration and production activities are carried out in hazardous environments in many parts of the world, offshore engineers are increasingly taking human factors into account when designing oil and gas equipment. Human factors such as machinery design, facility and accommodation layout and the organization of work activities have been systematically considered over the past twenty years on a limited number of offshore facility design projects to minimize the occupational risks to personnel, support operations and maintenance tasks and improve personnel wellbeing.

Despite the existence of these guidance and recommended design practices, and documented proof of their value in enhancing crew safety and efficiency, human factors is still not well understood across the industry and application across projects is inconsistent. Many human factors risks arise from errors or misunderstandings about the ways people think and reason about the situations they are facing and the risks involved; they are cognitive in nature. In order to reduce these risks, safety professionals need to know the important contribution that cognitive issues make in process safety and environmental incidents.

Better understanding for human factors issues also support the nuclear industry's move from analog to digital control rooms. Human considerations like lighting, temperature, even ergonomics, play important parts in the design. Human factors considerations are part of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s assessment of nuclear plant design and the licensing of its operators.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Design of control rooms and facilities
  
• Screening to define requirements at concept stage of a project life-cycle
  
• Front End Engineering Design (FEED)
  
• Assessment of Valve Criticality Analysis (VCA), Vendor Package Screening, Task Analysis (TA), Human Machine Interface (HMI)
  
• Control room requirement analysis including alarm management and control room systems reviews
  
• Offshore transport
  
• Compliance with project HFE requirements
  
• Development and review of procedures by systematically improving accuracy, readability and usability
  
• Understanding the human contribution to accidents by using analytical investigation techniques to ensure human factors are fully considered when identifying the root causes of incidents and accidents; reviewing incident and accident data
  
• Identify high priority and systemic human and organizational root causes for remediation
  
• Situation awareness
  
• Cognitive bias in decision-making
  
• Inter-personal behavior
  
• Awareness and understanding of safety-critical human tasks

This conference track provides researchers and practitioners a forum to share research and best practices in the application of human factors to training, education, and learning sciences. Just as human factors has been applied to hardware, software, and the built environment, there is now a growing interest in the optimal design of training, education, and learning experiences. Principles of behavioral and cognitive science are extremely relevant to the design of instructional content and the effective application of technology to deliver the appropriate learning experience. These principles and best practices are important in corporate, higher education, and military training environments.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Gamification
• Competency-based learning
• Designing the learning experience
• Learner engagement
• Mobile learning
• Instructional design
• eLearning
• Web-based training
• Performance measurement
• Blended learning
• Informal learning
• Learning strategy
• Accelerated learning
• Interactive multimedia
• Adaptive learning
• Social learning
• Usability of learning technology
• Advanced learning technologies
• Virtual training
• Performance support

The AHFE International conference on Human Factors in Service, Software and Systems Engineering provides a platform for addressing challenges that both pushes the boundaries of current research and responds to new challenges, fostering new research ideas. If there is any one element to the engineering of service systems that is unique, it is the extent to which the suitability of the system for human use, human service, and excellent human experience has been and must always be considered.

Service engineering explores the wide range of ways in which Human Factors Engineering, Ergonomics, Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Usability Testing, Attitude and Opinion Assessment, Servicescape Designs and Evaluations, Cognitive Engineering, Psychometrics, Training for Service Delivery, Co-Production, Service Levels and Cost Effectiveness, Call Center Services, Customer Support Engineering, and many other possible areas relate to and impact the Engineering and Management of Service organizations. The conference track cover sessions relating to Entertainment, Health Care, Aviation, Hospitality, Culture, Education, Innovation, Banking, Finance, and Government at all levels, along with many other fields will be included. Researchers, professional software, service & systems engineers, human factors and human systems integration experts from around the world will be presenting papers addressing societal challenges and next-generation systems and applications for meeting them. Papers will address topics from evolutionary and complex systems, human systems integration to smart grid and infrastructure, workforce training requirements, systems engineering education and even defense and aerospace. It is sure to be one of the most informative systems engineering events of the year.

Areas of Interest to service engineering include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Service Transformation
• Health Information Technology
• The Impact of Age on Traditional Service Systems
• Anthropology in Service Science
• Applying service design techniques to Health Care
• Context-related Service: the Human Aspect of Service Systems
• Designing Services for Underserved Populations
• Service Theories and Research Methods
• Governance of Service Systems
• Human Aspects of Change
• T-shape education

Areas of Interest to systems engineering include, but are not limited to those listed here:

Systems engineering core concepts
· Human systems integration
· Systems engineering workflow and management
· Lifecycle analysis and cost estimation
· Automated systems
· System reliability
· Technology and system maturity models
· Risk analysis and mitigation
· Total ownership cost
· Human Performance modeling
· Uncertainty modeling
· Architecture specification
· Requirements elicitation, definition, analysis and management
· Design methodologies and frameworks
· Software systems and software-intensive systems engineering
· Verification and validation methods

Model-based systems engineering
· Agent-based systems modeling and simulation
· System dynamics
· Computational systems engineering methods
· Discrete-event systems modeling and simulation
· Optimization methods
· Multi-method systems modeling and analysis
· System analytics and visualization

Systems engineering education and training
· Systems engineering workforce development
· Systems engineering knowledge capture and management
· Systems engineering education
· STEM
· Systems thinking
· Undergraduate and capstone courses

Next-generation systems engineering
· Systems-of-systems
· Complex adaptive systems
· Enterprises-as-systems
· Evolutionary systems
· Resilient systems
· Trusted systems and cyber security
· Self-learning systems and machine learning
· Expedited and agile systems engineering methods
· Cyber-physical systems

Multi-disciplinary approaches and needs
· Systems engineering and interactive computing
· Systems engineering and economic modeling
· Systems engineering and socio-technical systems
· Systems engineering and biomedicine
· Natural systems and bio-inspired design

Systems engineering applications
· Smart transportation
· Energy Systems engineering
· Air traffic control
· Communication and sensors
· Smarter products
· Unmanned systems
· IBM Smarter cities Applications
· IBM System engineering
· Defense and aerospace
· Healthcare systems
· Humanitarian systems & disaster response
· Information technology & software development
· Manufacturing & logistics
· Smart grid & infrastructure

The 2021 Human Side of Service Engineering (HSSE) Conference is organized within the framework of the International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE) as an Affiliated Conference.

If there is any one element to the engineering of service systems that is unique, it is the extent to which the suitability of the system for human use, human service, and excellent human experience has been and must always be considered.

HSSE explores the wide range of ways in which Human Factors Engineering, Ergonomics, Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Usability Testing, Attitude and Opinion Assessment, Servicescape Designs and Evaluations, Cognitive Engineering, Psychometrics, Training for Service Delivery, Co-Production and Co-Creation of Value, Service Levels and Cost Effectiveness, Call Center Engineering, Customer Support Engineering, and many other possible areas relate to and impact the Engineering and Management of Service organizations.

In 2021, sessions relating to AI & Digital Transformation, Health Care & Education, Culture & Innovation, Transportation & Communications, Infrastructure & Energy, Banking & Finance, Retail & Hospitality, Economics & Legal, and Government & Public Policy at all levels, along with many other fields will be included.

Areas of Interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Artificial Intelligence and Smarter, Wiser Service Systems
• Adoption of Health Information Technology (HIT)
• Aging Society & Advanced Technologies
• Anthropology in Service Science
• Co-production and Co-creation of Value
• Cognitive Systems modeling of Service Systems
• Context-related Service: The Human Aspect of Service Systems
• Designing Services for Underserved Populations
• Empowering Citizens and Public Policy in the Age of AI
• Ethics dividend in Service: How it may be cultivated, grown and measured (Service Ethics)
• Future of Work and Digital Transformation of Service Systems
• Governance of Service Systems
• Human Aspects of Change When Applying Agile and Lean Six Sigma Methods and Tools
• Human-Centered Intelligence Systems
• Human Side of Service-Dominant Logic
• Knowledge Sciences and Service Science in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
• Open Service Communities: Open Source, Open Innovation, Online Communities (e.g., GitHub, Wikipedia), and Social Sector Innovation
• Privacy in the Era of Big Data and AI
• Robotics and FLE (Front Line Employees) in Service Systems
• Service Design and Innovation
• Service Ethics
• Service Literacy
• Service Marketing
• Service System Standards
• Solving Service Science: When is a Disciplined Solved?
• Talent, Skills, T-Shaped Professionals and Life-Long Learning
• UX Research Methods for HSSE

Injury prevention is a common thread throughout every workplace, yet keeping employee safety and health knowledge current is a continual challenge for all employers. The AHFE International Conference on Safety Management and Human Factors (OSM) is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. The main goal of the conference is to foster a safe work and working environment. The conference offers a platform for the exchange of information and expert opinion in safety and health. The target audience includes decision-makers from government and public authorities, OSHA, NIOSH and international professionals active in the area of occupational safety and health. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Workplace Safety and Health
  - Design for Health and Safety
  - Applications of Engineering Anthropometry and Biomechanics
  - Work Physiology
  

• Health Informatics
  - Current Issues in Occupational Health and Safety
  - Occupational Health Psychology
  - Occupational Disease and its Impacts
  - Occupational Safety
  - Gross Motor Development (Occupational Therapy)
  - Infectious Disease and Epidemiology
  - Basics of Preventive Techniques
  - Occupational Hazards and Hygiene
  

• Human factors in work measurement
  - Manual Materials Handling
  - Cumulative Trauma Disorders

• Construction
  - Construction Design for Construction Safety
  - Construction Safety
  - Industrial Safety
  

• Management Issues
  - Standards Development
  - International Ergonomic Issues
  - Accident Prevention Strategies
  - Participatory Ergonomics
  - Performance/Personnel Testing

The AHFE International Conference on Human Factors in Architecture, Sustainable Urban Planning and Infrastructure (HFSI) provides a platform for addressing challenges in human factors and engineering research with the focus on sustainability in the built environment, applications of sustainability assessment, demonstrations and applications that contribute to competitiveness and well-being, quantification and assessment of sustainable infrastructure projects, and the environmental, human, social, and economic dimensions of sustainable infrastructure.

Presentations and special interest groups will cover sustainable infrastructure planning, engineering, design, infrastructure project financing, construction and operation: how practitioners are improving sustainable performance to meet the critical challenges of a changing operating environment. The conference is organized to facilitate exchange of information and knowledge among designers, urban engineers, architects, infrastructure professionals, practitioners, public infrastructure owners, policy makers, government engineers and planners, operations managers, and leading applied academics. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Ergonomics and Material Design Environment
  
• Ergonomics in Building and Architecture
  
• Ergonomics in Public Building Design
  
• Environmentally Compatible Structural Systems
  
• Smarter Cities & Sustainable Design
  
• Human Factor in Urban Design
  
• Ergonomics in Urban Design
  
• Human Scale in Architecture
  
• Ergonomics in Sustainable Architecture
  
• Smart Architecture in Sustainable Infrastructure
  
• Ergonomical Quality of Building Microclimate
  
• Methodology of Ergonomic Design
  
• Ergonomical Design for Disabled and Elderly
  
• Ergonomical Evaluation in Architecture
  
• Teaching Methods in Architectural Ergonomics
  
• Ergonomics in Industrial Design Art Forms
  
• Ergonomics in Sustainable Design
  
• Ergonomics in Design Gerontotechnological (Aging)

The AHFE International Conference on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Healthcare will highlight new research on how to improve quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness in patient care through the application of human factors and ergonomics principles. Leading researchers will continue to provide guidance for those involved with the design and application of systems and devices for effective and safe healthcare delivery. Sessions will be formed in various areas including patient safety, healthcare information technology implementation and human performance. Various perspectives will be considered including clinician, patient, health organization and insurance provider. Applications describe best practices of staff interactions with patients, as well as interaction with computers and medical devices. Findings related to improved organizational outcomes in a healthcare setting, and approaches to modeling and analysis specifically targeting those work aspects unique to healthcare will be presented. The physical, cognitive and organizational aspects of human factors and ergonomics applications will be uniquely emphasized. We look forward to your participation.

• Behavior based safety
• Cognitive modeling and human error
• Comfort, quality and performance
• Computers and healthcare IT
• Diagnostics and usability in healthcare
• Electronic health records
• Home healthcare
• Medical device design
• Medication impairment
• Nursing education and training
• Organizational issues in safety and performance
• Patient falls and patient handling
  
• Patient safety and medical errors
  
• Pharmacy and prescription handling
  
• Medication administration
  
• Risk assessment and management
  
• Systems safety
  
• Team coordination in anesthesiology & surgery

The AHFE Cross-Cultural Decision-Making (CCDM) conference examines human cognition and its interplay with various cultural constructs, such as geographical, historical, sociological, and organizational cultures. This conference invites researchers, scholars, and industry practitioners from diverse backgrounds, including sociology, linguistics, business, military science, psychology, human factors, neuroscience, and education. Together, through multidisciplinary collaboration, we will seek to understand the impact of culture on people's cognition and behavior.

This study has broad application. For international business, for instance, it’s important to understand how and why groups from different cultures make dissimilar decisions when faced with the same data. Or for military leaders, understanding the triggers and warning-signs of potential societal unrest and instability are paramount. By combining neurocognitive studies with the academic disciplines described above, we are able to develop a fuller, more holistic understanding of the decisions that people, groups, and societies make, and this understanding gives us a greater ability to forecast and plan for the future.

• Analyses of historical events that have shaped cultures
  
• Cross-cultural (or inter-cultural) competence
  
• Civilization change: Ideological, economic, and/or historical changes
  
• Commercial applications of social-cultural science
  
• Countering cross-cultural radicalization and violent extremism
  
• Decision making similarities and differences across cultures
  
• Extracting group or society-level understanding from diverse data sources
  
• Human, Social, Cultural Behavioral (HSCB) modeling and simulation technology
  
• Impact of culture on collaboration and negotiation
  
• Social networks and group communications
  
• Use cases: Real-world case studies relevant to cross-cultural decision-making
  

The AHFE International Conference on Digital Human Modeling and Applied Optimization (DHMAO) aims to bring together researchers, engineers, applied mathematicians and practitioners interested in the advances and applications in the field of human system simulation models

An ergonomic design is a core requirement for usability and, thus, for the overall acceptance and success of new products and technical systems. The same is true for offices, production lines, many other workplaces and vehicles. All of them have to be designed in order to match characteristics, capabilities and competencies of a variety of future users. Relevant aspects refer to physical (i.e. anthropometry, biomechanics, mobility and reach, posture, and physical performance), and cognitive (information processing, behavior, error) aspects. The overall complexity requires software aids or ergonomic tools and methodologies for consideration in early system design phases.

Digital Human Models (DHMs) are software tools which provide access to complex anthropometric and biomechanics databases, and allows the ergonomists to make appropriate design evaluation or recommendations.. They facilitate the use of body dimensions and shape, human postures and motions, human physical performance and their variability. In addition to physical accommodation and performance, they allow analyses of vision, comfort and workload (both physical and cognitive). Other models also exist to process optimization, and hazards such as thermal and radiation. DHMs have become more powerful recently. Intelligent Human Models or Virtual Humans have become more popular for gaming, education, and training. In these models, Virtual Environments, and the appearances of humans and their behavior are becoming more realistic than before. New developments in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) are also leading us to new approaches for a comprehensive three dimensional realistic models.

The AHFE DHMAO conference covers the broad areas of both research and applications of these simulation models for aviation, manufacturing and production industries, and addresses issues ranging from anthropometric and biomechanical DHMs to VR/AR based avatars in gaming. Contributions to this conference will address a broad mix of scientific background, implementation and application. The multidisciplinary aspect of this conference of this topic will serve as a valuable basis for building a network for future collaboration.
Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Digital Human Modeling Tools and Platforms
• Virtual Humans and Avatars
• Anthropometric models (conventional, surface)
• Anthropometric surveys
• Artificial Intelligence
• Biomechanical models
• Motion capture
• Posture modeling
• Comfort
• Human Behavior Representation and Models
• Process Modeling and Simulation
• Decision making
• Human performance and risk assessment
• Vehicle/car interior design
• Workplace design
• Optimization of work processes
• Production planning

Digital Human Modelling By Women II

Digital Human Modelling By Women (DHMW) is an international group dedicated to promoting women scientists, and inspiring girls around the world. DHMW wants to empowering women to exchange ideas, results, and visions in STEAM.
DHMW in HF would provide an international forum for women who are passionate about gender equity in the field of human factors to explore the barriers and issues on underrepresentation, and models for increasing the pipeline. Our major goal is to build a community of Women in Digital Human Modelling that will be enable the participants to be aware of and to be engaged in improving the environment for women in human factors careers. This Symposium is followed by a round table where participants will hear from expert female researchers and practitioners in the field about their personal and professional experiences.

This conference will focus on a more positive emotional approach in product and system design and emphasize aesthetics and enjoyment in user experience. This conference objective is to provide for the dissemination and exchange of scientific information on the theoretical and practical areas of affective and pleasurable design. This conference invites research experts and industry practitioners from multidisciplinary backgrounds, including industrial designers, emotion designer, ethnographers, human-computer interaction researchers, human factors engineers, interaction designers, mobile product designers, and vehicle system designers.
Areas of Interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Affective usability
  
• Emotional user experience
  
• Aesthetics for product and system design
  
• Design driven innovation
  
• Emotional requirements in product and system design
  
• Emotional values in design process
  
• Fun in product and service design
  
• Kansei engineering for product and service
  
• Evaluation for affective and pleasurable design
  
• Evaluation tools for emotion
  
• Measuring affectiveness and pleasure
  
• Affective computing
  
• Emotional aspects in social networking system
  
• Emotional interaction design and tools for ubiquitous computing
  
• Social interaction in affective and pleasurable design

• Accident analyses
  
• Air traffic control and management
  
• Automation of systems and vehicles
  
• Case studies
  
• Control rooms
  
• Collision avoidance
  
• Comfort
  
• Distraction
  
• Drivers
  
• Eco-driving
  
• Education
  
• Enforcement
  
• Experience
  
• Flight deck systems
  
• Hazards
  
• Human error
  
• In-vehicle devices
  
• Intelligent transport systems
  
• Interfaces
  
• Methodologies
  
• Model-based design tools
• Motorcycles
• New systems and technology
  
• Next Generation Air Transportation System
  
• Observational studies
  
• Pilot performance
  
• Risk
  
• Safety
  
• Simulator studies
  
• Situation awareness
  
• Skill
  
• Supervisory control
  
• Testing
  
• Training
  
• Trust
  
• Unmanned aerial vehicles
  
• Verification and validation
  
• Violations
  
• Warnings
  
• Workload

This conference will focus on the importance of the Ergonomics principles, methods and techniques, in the design and implementation of products and systems.

The AHFE International Conference on Ergonomics In Design welcomes papers that cover articles, case studies, and interventions, on the way in which ergonomics research and methods are applied in the design, development, prototyping, evaluation, training and manufacturing processes of a product and system.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Cultural aspect in design
  
• User Experience in design
  
• User research
  
• User characteristics
  
• Game Design
  
• Automobile Design
  
• Aerospatiale Design
  
• Design of critical systems
  
• Organizational Design
  
• Innovational Design
  
• Interaction Design
  
• Ecological Design
  
• Educational Design
  
• Cognitive Ergonomics in Design
  
• Virtual Reality in Design
  
• Control room design
  
• Product Design
  
• Manufacturing Design
  
• Service Design
  
• Design of Extreme Environments
  
• Warning Design
  
• Environmental built
  
• Design for Accessibility
  
• Information Design

The discipline of human factors and ergonomics (HF/E) is concerned with the design of products, process, services, and work systems to assure their productive, safe and satisfying use by people. Physical ergonomics involves the design of working environments to fit human physical abilities. By understanding the constraints and capabilities of the human body and mind, we can design products, services and environments that are effective, reliable, safe and comfortable for everyday use.

This conference track focuses on human body's responses to physical and physiological work demands. Repetitive strain injuries from repetition, vibration, force, and posture are the most common types of issues, and thus have design implications. Physical ergonomics is concerned with the study of the users, which involves understanding their physical characteristics, capabilities, limitations, and motivations. Study of jobs or tasks includes assessing the technical systems, work processes, workstations/equipment, and tools. Areas of focus in physical ergonomics include the consequences of repetitive motion, materials handling, workplace safety, and comfort in the use of portable devices, design, working postures, and the work environment.

A thorough understanding of the physical characteristics of a wide range of people is essential in the development of consumer products and systems. Human performance data serve as valuable information to designers and help ensure that the final products will fit the targeted population of end users. Mastering physical ergonomics and safety engineering concepts is fundamental to the creation of products and systems that people are able to use, avoidance of stresses, and minimization of the risk for accidents. The conference track on physical ergonomics & human factors focuses on the advances in the physical HF/E, which are a critical aspect in the design of any human-centered technological system.

Successful interaction with products, tools and technologies depends on usable designs and accommodating the needs of potential users without requiring costly training. In this context, this conference track is concerned with emerging ergonomics, specifically in modeling, usability, human computer interaction and innovative design concepts, theories and applications of human factors knowledge focusing on the discovery and understanding of human interaction and usability issues with products and systems for their improvement.
The conference track on ergonomics modeling, usability & special populations will be of special value to a large variety of professionals, researchers and students in the broad field of human modeling and performance who are interested in feedback of devices’ interfaces (visual and haptic), user-centered design, and design for special populations, particularly the elderly.
Areas of interest include, but are not limited to those listed here:

• Usability Engineering
• Devices and user interfaces
• Human Computer Interaction
• Virtual reality and digital environment
• User studies and product evaluation
• Limits and capabilities of special populations, particularly the elderly
• Research methods and user-centered evaluation approaches

This conference will focus on neurophysiological assessment to improve cognitive and affective aspects of product and system design and overall user experience. This conference objective is to provide a platform for the dissemination and exchange of scientific information on the theoretical and practical areas of this emerging field at the intersection of neuroscience, neuroengineering, physiology, psychology and human factors. This conference invites research experts and industry practitioners from multidisciplinary backgrounds, including industrial designers, ethnographers, human-computer interaction researchers, human factors engineers, interaction designers, mobile product designers, and vehicle system designers.

• Affective usability
• Cognitive and Emotional user experience
• Aesthetics for product and system design
• Design driven innovation
• Emotional requirements in product and system design
• Emotional values in design process
• Evaluation for affective and pleasurable design
• Evaluation tools for cognition and emotion
• Affective and adaptive computing
• Brain Computer Interfaces
• Emotional aspects in social networking system
• Emotional interaction design and tools for ubiquitous computing
• Social interaction in affective and pleasurable design

Advances in Social & Occupational Ergonomics aims to support the exploration of how ergonomics can contribute to the solution of important societal and engineering challenges. Social and Occupational Factors discusses the optimization of sociotechnical systems, including their organizational structures, policies, and processes. It includes coverage of communication, crew resource management, work design, design of working times, teamwork, participatory design, community ergonomics, cooperative work, new work paradigms, organizational culture, virtual organizations, telework, and quality management.
Advances in Social & Occupational Ergonomics concepts provides the bases for innovative research on urban infrastructures and how to shape urban spaces, including stadiums and museums. It covers warning systems in cars, voice-based interfaces, and the positive effects on manufacturing processes available from health informatics and management systems. The conference track support providing suggestions on how to improve enterprise resource planning systems and the importance of lifelong learning, personalized learning, and work-life balance. It also covers issues with special populations, detailing how to design and adapt products and work situations for these groups. In addition to exploring the challenges faced in optimizing sociotechnical systems, the track underlines themes that play a role in all the challenges and how they are linked to each other, with an exploration of emotional ergonomics and the important positive effects of making people happy and healthy.

This conference track will focus on topics related to people-centered issues in the design, operation and management of broadly defined advanced manufacturing systems and processes, and human factors issues related to intelligent manufacturing technologies; web-based manufacturing services; digital manufacturing worlds; manufacturing knowledge support systems; and other contemporary manufacturing environments.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to the following:

• Human Factors in Globalized Manufacturing Enterprises
  
• Human Factors in Green Manufacturing: Paradigms and Applications
  
• Knowledge Management in Manufacturing Enterprises in a Digital World
  
• Intelligent and Self-Organizing Manufacturing Systems
  
• Future Trends in Advanced Manufacturing and Human-Integrated Enterprises
  
• Issues in Hybrid Manufacturing Systems: Concepts, Theories and Models
  
• Modern Manufacturing Paradigms and Market Competitiveness
  
• Human Factors Engineering: Design, Testing and Evaluation of Work Systems
  
• Organizational Learning in Manufacturing Environments
  
• Cognitive Engineering and Manufacturing Systems Design
  
• Human Factors of Maintenance, Inspection and Testing
  
• Human Factors in Lean, Six Sigma and TQM
  
• Human-Computer Interaction and Manufacturing Systems Usability
  
• Management of Agile Manufacturing Enterprises
  
• Human Factors in Supply Chain Management
  
• Automation Safety, Robot Systems and Accident Prevention
  
• Human Factors in Maintenance, Inspection and Testing
  
• Human Factors in Lean, Six Sigma and TQM
  
• Human-Computer Interaction and System Usability
  
• Supply Chain and Value Stream Management
  
• Social & Organizational Design and Management Issues
  
• Virtual Reality and AI Applications in Manufacturing
  
• Work Design in Development of Personnel in Advanced Manufacturing
  
• Virtual Collaboration Teams and E-Learning in Manufacturing Environment
  
• Human Factors and Ergonomics Design in Manufacturing
  
• Manufacturing Systems Engineering and Architectures
  
• Manufacturing Systems Simulation and Visualization
  
• Manufacturing Processes: Usability Assessment
  
• Mass Customization in Manufacturing Processes
  
• Lean Manufacturing Enterprises
  
• Design of the Human Infrastructure for Computer-Integrated Technology
  
• System and Human Reliability, Safety and Worker Health Issues
  
• Environmental Protection and Quality Management