Programme
There will be a packed programme for you to choose from, incorporating more almost 80 paper presentations, talks and interactive workshops. There will be formal lectures and keynote speeches by leading researchers and practitioners in ergonomics and human factors. Download the programme here.
Programme
If you are chairing a session, please read the chairs' instructions below:
Chairs' Instructions
An exhibition will showcase the latest products and services available, and we hope to attract students to display their projects too. There will also be lively displays for you to interact with.
Monday 12th April
Activities will start on the Monday evening with the Institute's AGM, and all members are encouraged to attend. This will be followed by time to relax and unwind in the bar.
Tuesday 13th April
The conference formally opens with the Donald Broadbent Lecture given by Margaret Hanson. The Lecture is entitled "Green Ergonomics: embracing the challenges of climate change", and will explore how changes in the way we travel, communicate, work, generate energy, produce food, consume goods and deal with waste, might produce opportunities for ergonomics.
This is followed by a number of parallel sessions, a format that will continue for the remainder of the conference. After lunch, a plenary lecture, "Keeping it real: the importance of the interface" will be given by Sarah Sharples of Nottingham University. Sarah will consider how interfaces as diverse as those used in virtual reality, navigation systems, social networking technologies and transport control contribute to user performance and satisfaction.
Further sessions follow, before the Exhibitors' Drinks Reception. Later that evening will see the return of the Quiz Night, a very popular and lively event.
Wednesday 14th April
The conference will include a day long symposium, "Creating a learning organisation", organised by Martin Anderson. This symposium will explore barriers to organisational learning and how learning lessons can be made more effective. It will address topics such as getting to root causes, learning from audits, near miss reporting, blame and accountability, communications, corporate memory, leadership, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
As part of the main conference,a plenary lecture, "Raising safety standards in hazardous industries: a Regulator's perspective" will be given by John Wilkinson of the Health & Safety Executive. He will focus on how HSE's achievements over the past 10 years have substantially raised the profile of human factors in the onshore major hazard industries.
This will be followed by parallel sessions. After lunch, the Institute Lecture, "The perfect is the enemy of the good: implications for ergonomics research and practice", will be given by Professor Peter Buckle of the Robens Centre for Health Ergonomics. This will be followed by further sessions. The formal Annual Dinner will take place in the evening in Keele Hall, after a drinks reception.
Thursday 15th April
The full morning will include parallel sessions and a final plenary lecture, "Ergonomics in extreme environments; an explorer's perspective" given by remote mountain guide and photographer, Phil Wickens. From his own experiences, Phil will discuss the ergonomic challenges of operating in polar and mountain environments, and coping with low temperatures, strong winds, high altitudes, sustained damp and desert conditions.
The conference will finish after lunch.
These are photos from last year's conference. You can see all the pictures from that conference in an online gallery.
