Carolyn MacGregor, PhD, CCPE, LEL(ON) (She/Her, anything respectful)

Carolyn MacGregor is the Associate Dean, Teaching for the Faculty of Engineering and an Associate Professor in the Department of Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo.

Prof. MacGregor has been actively involved in human factors research and consulting activities since 1980. She applies her engineering and psychology degrees to the study of human factors, product design, and virtual environments. Her primary research interests are in the navigation and manipulation of virtual environments and 3D simulations, usability testing and human-computer interactions, and pedestrian and driver safety. Past projects include the development of virtual trailblazing techniques for human navigation, as well as the development of the "veball”, a 3D input device with haptic feedback for manipulating virtual objects in 3D applications.

Professor MacGregor's main areas of teaching focus on human factors engineering, user-centred design, user research methods, and cognitive ergonomics. As a discipline, human factors engineering is a combination of engineering, psychology, kinesiology and anthropology. The field of cognitive ergonomics strives to understand how humans process and manipulate information so that their limitations and capabilities can be taken into account when designing effective tasks, interfaces, and systems.

• individual differences, information manipulation, usability testing, human-computer interaction, driver performance and safety, Cognitive Ergonomics, Road Safety, Virtual Environments, Ergonomics, Human Factors & Biomedical

• 1993, Doctorate PhD, Industrial Engineering (Human Factors), University of Toronto, Canada
• 1988, Master's MASc, Industrial Engineering (Human Factors), University of Toronto, Canada
• 1983, Bachelor's Honours BA, Co-op Psychology, University of Waterloo, Canada

• BME 101 - Communications in Biomedical Engineering-Written and Oral
  • Taught in 2019
• SYDE 101 - Communications in Systems Design Engineering-Written and Oral
  • Taught in 2019
• SYDE 348 - User Centred Design Methods
  • Taught in 2019, 2020
• SYDE 542 - Interface Design
  • Taught in 2020
• SYDE 543 - Cognitive Ergonomics
  • Taught in 2020
• SYDE 548 - User Centred Design Methods
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
• SYDE 642 - Cognitive Engineering Methods
  • Taught in 2020

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• MacGregor, Carolyn and Talukdar, Taneem and Bains, Jasvir and Jo, Jason, Designing Design Team Experiences: Creating STeamER, Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association, , 2011