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At the Plenary Session of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 50th Annual Meeting on October 17, the 2006 Best Ergonomics in Design Article Award was presented in recognition of the article “Better Taxiway Surface Markings, Safer Airports,” by Steven Estes, Oscar Olmos and Cheryl Andrews of MITRE’s Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD), Anthony D. Andre of San Jose State University Foundation, and Susan Chrysler, a communications consultant and Dan Hannon, a consultant in the field of engineering psychology. The article was published in the quarterly magazine Ergonomics in Design, which is described as “The magazine of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.” Criteria for winning the best article award includes providing an example of an innovative approach to a human factors or ergonomics problem, extending the practice of human factors to a domain that has been underserved by the profession, and not promoting a single product in a way that limits the relevance of the article to other products, tools, processes, or systems. In an effort to reduce the number of runway incursions, a set of surface markings were developed by a diverse team that managed to successfully create new airport surface markings for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and help to ensure that people's interactions with technology were productive, comfortable, and effective. Under the sponsorship of the FAA Office of Runway Safety and the Office of Airport Safety and Standards, the team’s goal was to enhance the current surface marking scheme in a way that would increase the visibility of runway hold line and support pilot awareness of an approaching runway environment. In a novel approach, a team of human factors engineers were brought in to make sure designs were created from the human perspective. Team members also included pilots, air traffic controllers, FAA regulators, painters, and experts in airport marking standards. As the designs evolved, 3-D visualizations of the designs would be created in CAASD’s Air Traffic Management lab, and then all of the designs would be presented at subsequent workshops. Laboratory evaluations were conducted with test pilot subjects in CAASD’s Air Traffic Management Lab utilizing their cockpit simulator. Next, field evaluations were conducted at T. F. Green State Airport in Providence, RI, followed by evaluations at Boston’s Logan International Airport. Approximately 250 pilots participated in the evaluations between experimentation on the fields, surveys, or structured interviews. As a result of these efforts, the FAA began revising standards for surface markings, which can be seen today at large airports. Congratulations to Steven, Oscar, and Cheryl on winning the 2006 Best Ergonomics in Design Article Award as well all the project team members including Wally Feerrar, Marty Heffron, Jason Giovannelli, Chuck Large, Ralph Lyons, Peter Moertl, Matthew Pollack, Ron Stevens, and Sharon Tilley.
Date Posted:
January 9, 2007
Date Updated:
January 12, 2007
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