Study Human Factors

You can study Human Factors and Ergonomics at the University of Waterloo at the undergraduate and graduate level.

Undergraduate level

The Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) in the Department of Systems Design Engineering offers an elective package in Human System Engineering.

This package offers students the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills applicable to the design and analysis of systems that interact closely with humans. This package draws upon the disciplines of engineering, psychology, and physiology in order to provide students with a basic understanding of the capabilities and limitations of humans within a system context.

However, you can also get a strong foundation if you are a Kinesiology student in the Ergonomics Option, or a Psychology student with a focus on Cognitive, Social, Behavioural, or Neuroscience.

No matter what major you are in, we have compiled a list of undergrad courses related to Human Factors & Ergonomics.

Graduate level

The Department of Systems Design Engineering offers a Human Factors program at the Master's (MASc) and Doctoral (PhD) level.

The emphasis of the program is a Human Factors Engineering approach to improving the performance of humans in complex systems through engineering design. Cognitive engineering and user centered approaches to requirements specification are supplemented with techniques from human-computer interaction, visualization, and cognitive ergonomics to reach design solutions. Solutions are then evaluated with human factors methods to assess viability in a systems environment. Domains of interest are usually complex systems such as aviation, air traffic control, transportation, military, power systems, education, or healthcare. Solution technologies may include the design of displays, collaborative systems, novel input devices, adaptive interfaces, cognitive modelling, and novel display environments large or small.

As a student in the program, you will be in one of the following labs:

Dr. Catherine Burns' Advanced Interface Design Lab (AIDL)
Dr. Stacey Scott's Collaborative Systems Laboratory (CSL)
Dr. Shi Cao's Human Optimization and Modeling Lab (HOML)
Dr. Carolyn McGregor's Usability & Interactive Technology Lab (USE-IT)

We have compiled a list of grad courses related to Human Factors.