Panel Discussion: Navigating an Academic Career - Insights and Strategies from HFES Members

Dr. Ellen Bass is Interim Associate Dean for Research and Professor in the Department of Information Science in the Drexel University’s College of Computing and Informatics. She holds affiliate status in the College of Nursing and Health Professions and the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems. She is Adjunct Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine. Bass has 40 years of human-centered systems engineering research and design experience. She develops quantitative modeling methodologies and measures to inform design and evaluation of human-automation interaction and human-human coordination in the context of total system performance.  Bass is a fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and a senior member of the IEEE and of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She is the past Secretary-Treasurer Elect of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Ann Bisantz, PhD, is the Dean of Undergraduate education. Through oversight of academic policies and curriculum management, Bisantz's leadership enables UB undergraduate students to achieve academic excellence. Bisantz stewards the strategic vision for the governance and management of UB’s 21st-century general education program—the UB Curriculum—the Experiential Learning Network, the Center for Excellence in Writing and the University Honors College. She also provides strategic leadership for campus-wide undergraduate advising and oversight of the Exploratory and Pre-Professional Advising Center.

Dean since 2018, Bisantz has led the gateway course initiative, which seeks to address learning gaps and improve pedagogy in key courses; collaborated on student success initiatives, including summer bridge courses and success coach models; overseen the full-scale implementation of the UB Curriculum; and led undergraduate education units in transforming programming to meet the needs of today’s students. Bisantz is a professor and past chair of UB's Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, where she developed new undergraduate and graduate programs and expanded and diversified the faculty. Bisantz earned a PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a master’s and bachelor’s degree from UB. Her research areas are cognitive engineering, human decision-making and human-computer interface design. She received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Research and Creative Activity in 2015, the Fitts Educator Award from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society in 2017 (where she was named a fellow in 2013) and an NSF CAREER Award. Bisantz joined UB in 1997.

Dr. Anand Gramopadhye has been serving as the Dean of the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences at Clemson University since July 1, 2013. With extensive experience as a Principal Investigator, he has successfully secured over 75 research grants and awards, amounting to more than $45 million in funding. Dr. Gramopadhye has authored over 300 publications and has received esteemed recognition as a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers and a Fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. His exceptional contributions to engineering have been acknowledged twice by the National Academy of Engineering through the prestigious Frontiers in Engineering Program.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in production engineering in 1987 from the University of Bombay, India, and a master of science in 1989 and a Ph.D. in 1992, both in industrial engineering, from the State University of New York, Buffalo.

Tonya Smith-Jackson, PhD, CPE is a research engineer with extensive academic leadership experience, including a stint as a program director at the National Science Foundation. She has worked for North Carolina A&T State University since 2013, originally as a professor and chair of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, as well as the founder/director of the Human Factors Analytics Laboratory. She is currently serving as  Interim Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. She presently serves on a variety of committees and boards.

Dr. Smith-Jackson earned an interdisciplinary MS in Psychology and Industrial Engineering from NC State University and a PhD in Psychology/Ergonomics from NC State University. She earned a BA in psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill, and graduated from the inaugural class of the NC School of Science and Mathematics. She is a Fellow in two professional societies: The Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. She is a professional development fellow of the AASC&U/AALI Becoming a Provost Academy, the Center for Advancement of STEM leadership, and the HERS Leadership Institute. Her faculty positions in academia include universities and community colleges in New York, North Carolina, Virginia and Germany.

Dr. Smith-Jackson has worked in the industry and government sectors as well, serving as a usability engineer for IBM and Ericsson Mobile Communications (now Sony-Ericsson), and as an expert witness in systems safety, usability and accident analysis litigation. She has served as a manager in county, state and federal government agencies, including the European Command (Germany), county public health and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

She has earned department, college, university, civil and community service awards for excellence and innovation in teaching, research, advising, diversity and inclusion, and outreach to communities. She has been awarded a university women’s leadership award; interdisciplinary collaboration awards; and a Command General’s Award for advancing women in the U.S. Army Command. Gov. Roy Cooper appointed her to the NC Board of Science, Technology and Innovation in 2020 and the Performance Management Advisory Committee in 2021.  She continues to champion HBCU-excellence, inclusion, equity, diversity and belonging.

Kapil Chalil Madathil is the Wilfred P. Tiencken Endowed Professor at Clemson University with expertise in human factors applied to the design and operation of human-machine systems. He has received over $24 million in research grants from various organizations including the U.S. National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, and National Institutes of Health. Additionally, he teaches courses on human factors and ergonomics and is the Director of the Center for Workforce Development. He holds several editorial positions, including Associate Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics and is a technical reviewer for 30 different journals.