Assistant Professor Caroline G. L. Cao, Mechanical Engineering
An interdisciplinary program offered jointly by the departments of mechanical
engineering and psychology. Engineering psychology, more commonly called human factors,
applies knowledge of human behavior and attributes to the design of products, equipment,
machines, and large-scale systems for human use. Areas of application include biomedical
engineering, environmental design, safety, consumer product design, and computer interface
design.
Students in the School of Engineering or the College of Liberal Arts will receive the bachelor of science degree from their respective colleges after meeting the general requirements set by each college.
The program prepares students for professional work and further graduate studies in this discipline. It also serves as a preparation for premedical and predental students and for those interested in legal or management careers.
Undergraduate Concentration Requirements
The program features a common core of fifteen courses. For engineering students, an
additional twenty-one courses are required for the bachelor of science degree. (See School
of Engineering Information.) For liberal arts students, an additional nineteen courses are
required to meet the foundation and distribution requirements for the bachelor of science
degree. (See College of Liberal Arts Information.) The core courses can be used by these
students to meet the social and natural science distribution requirements.
(See departmental listings for course descriptions.)
Core Course Requirements
Engineering 1 Introduction to Computers in Engineering (one-half credit)
Engineering 2 Engineering Graphics (one-half credit)
Two elective half-credit courses in introductory engineering
Engineering Psychology 61 Introduction to Human Factors and Ergonomics
Engineering Psychology 120 Project Study in Human Systems
Engineering Psychology 161 Human Factors in Product Design
Engineering Psychology 162 Human-Machine System Design
Engineering Psychology 151 Engineering Systems: Deterministic Models
or
Engineering Psychology 152 Engineering Systems: Stochastic Models
Mathematics 11 and 12 Calculus I and II
Psychology 17 Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Psychology 31 Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences
Psychology 32 Experimental Psychology
Psychology 53 Engineering Psychology
Psychology 130 Advanced Engineering Psychology
One elective in psychology
Students enrolled in the School of Engineering will also satisfy the following distribution requirements for the Engineering Psychology Program: Engineering Science 5 (required); Physics 11 and 12, Civil and Environmental Engineering 102 or Psychology 107; two approved courses (minimum) from biology, anatomy, physiology; two approved courses (minimum) from environmental sciences; Computer Science 11, 15, and 106 or 171 or 175.
It is recommended that students in the College of Liberal Arts take additional courses in probability, statistics, chemistry, physics, physiology and anatomy, environmental studies, and relevant courses from the engineering science series.
Sample course plans can be obtained from either of the sponsoring departments.
Certificate Program in Human-Computer Interaction
In an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Department of Psychology, the
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Department of Computer
Science, and the Department of Occupational Therapy at Tufts, this four-course, graduate-level
certificate is designed to train the next generation of computer professionals for tomorrow's complex
challenges. The program is open to individuals with a bachelor's degree, and is designed
to be pursued on a part-time basis by computer programmers, Web designers, human factors
professionals, software engineers, and user-interface designers who wish to develop or enhance their user-interface design and implementation skills. For more information, see the alphabetical
listing in this bulletin under Human-Computer Interaction, or contact the Office of
Graduate and Professional Studies at 617-627-3395 or visit
http://ase.tufts.edu/gradstudy.
For more detailed information, please visit the
website
http://ase.tufts.edu/psychology/Undergrad_Program/engineer.htm.
To view Course Descriptions, please go to: http://webcenter.studentservices.tufts.edu/courses/main.asp.