Ahead of Human Factors In Transport, the Institution recently spoke to Jean Page, Lead Technologist – Human Factors at BAE Systems about the main challenges facing the transport industry, industry gripes and what attendees will take away from the event.
Jean Page, Lead Technologist – Human Factors, BAE Systems
Jean Page is a Human Factors Engineer in Military Air and Information (MA&I) for BAE Systems. Since she joined BAE Systems in 1990, Jean has worked on research concepts and technologies and on a number of aircraft programmes. She was the Human factors lead on both the Nimrod MRA4 programme and the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft during the design stage through to qualification and certification testing. Jean will be speak about the integration of Human Factors into the design of military aircraft at the Human Factors in Transport Forum on 15 September.
Q: What are the main challenges facing the transport industry in terms of Human Factors Integration at the moment?
Jean Page (JP): Systems are becoming increasingly complex, and the role of the human in these systems is changing rapidly. Autonomous Systems and vehicles will increasingly become a part of our transport industry. These are highly innovative, novel systems where current design standards may largely be inapplicable. It is tempting to believe that as they are autonomous, interactions with humans will be minimised. However, humans will continue to be the primary users of such systems and human behaviour in interactions with these types of systems will change in ways that cannot be predicted. It is imperative that we question our assumptions with regard to human behaviour and how technology may change these in order to ensure the safety and effectiveness of these systems in the future. Societal acceptance of autonomous systems will also be critical to their success.
Q: Why do you think it is important to attend the Human Factors in Transport Forum?
JP: There are similar issues in all transport domains, including Air, Rail and Road. Having a cross-industry forum to discuss them results in the sharing of good practice and ideas and provides an excellent networking opportunity to meet Human Factors Engineers from other parts of the industry.
Q: What key topics are you excited about addressing?
JP: I’m most excited to address automation, autonomy and human error, the increased use of modelling in design and cross-cutting Human Factors Integration, not just Human Factors Engineering.
Q: What are the most common gripes you hear from Human Factors Engineers?
JP: The most common gripes that you hear are that no one listens to us, they don’t involve us early enough in the design process. It’s also important to understand that Human Factors is not the same as Human Resources.
Q: Who are you most interested in hearing from on the programme?
JP: I’m most interested to hear the presentation from Lee Skrypchuk of Jaguar Land Rover. I talked to JLR over a year ago about some of their plans and I’ll be interested in hearing how their thinking has evolved since then.
Want to know more?
Jean Page is presenting at our interactive and cross industry Human Factors in Transport Forum. Join us to hear thought-provoking presentations from those in transport responsible for integrating Human Factors, including:
- Lee Skrypchuk: Human Machine Interface Technical Specialist, Research & Technology, Jaguar Land Rover
- Stuart Smith: Senior Ergonomist, Network Rail
- Simon Roberts: SMS Programme Lead, Safety and Aerospace Regulation Group, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)
For further information, please visit the
Human Factors in Transport event page.