The following people have been elected to serve as chapter officers for the 2014 calendar year. Congratulations! The chapter would like to thank all the officers who have volunteered their time and effort.
President: Jennifer Leavens
Jennifer Leavens is a third year graduate student in the Applied Experimental and Human Factors doctoral program at UCF. She obtained her M.A. in Modeling and Simulation from UCF in 2013 and B.A. in Psychology from the University of South Florida in 2011. Currently, she is under the direction of Dr. Mustapha Mouloua and the lab manager of the Transportation Research Group (TRG) laboratory. She is currently a student pilot in the process of earning her Private Pilot certificate.
Vice President: Gaby Hancock
Gaby graduated from the University of Central Florida’s Burnett Honors College with a Bachelor’s in Psychology in 2008. She then graduated from the University of Florida with a Master’s degree in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology in 2011. She is now pursuing her doctoral degree in Applied Experimental and Human Factors Psychology at the University of Central Florida while earning a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering en route. Guided by her advisor, Dr. James Szalma, in the Performance Research Laboratory, her main research interests include the psychophysiological indicators of vigilance performance.
Secretary: Victoria Claypoole
Victoria is currently a first year Ph.D. graduate student in the Applied Experimental and Human Factors doctoral program at the University of Central Florida. Victoria graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators) with her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology in August of 2013. She is currently under the direction of Dr. James Szalma in the Performance Research Laboratory (PeRL). Her current work focuses on vigilance tasks.
Treasurer: Andrew Talone
Andrew Talone is currently a 2nd year Ph.D. student in the Applied Experimental & Human Factors Psychology program at the University of Central Florida. Having also completed his undergraduate education at the University of Central Florida (Psychology B.S. with a Statistics minor), he has been under the direction of Dr. Florian Jentsch at the Team Performance Laboratory for the past two and a half years. He has worked on research projects in several areas that include human-robot interaction, aviation psychology, simulation usability, and x-ray baggage screener training. Some of his other areas of interest include human-computer interaction, trust in automation, and training transfer.
Social Chair: Jessica Michaelis
Jessica Michaelis is excited to serve as the HFES student chapter’s social chair for the 2014 year. Jessica recently received her Master’s Degree in Modeling and Simulation, Human Systems Track, at the University of Central Florida, where she is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Applied Experimental and Human Factors Psychology. Jessica’s research interests include driving performance in individuals who have cognitive impairments, distracted driving, attention, as well as cognitive restoration.
Outreach: Kim Stowers
Kimberly Stowers is a PhD student in the Applied Experimental Human Factors program at University of Central Florida and a graduate research assistant at the Institute for Simulation and Training. She currently works under the direction of Drs Eduardo Salas and Shawn Burke exploring team processes, social behaviors and cultural constructs in human-automation systems.
Webmaster: Michael Rupp
Michael Rupp is a second year graduate student in the AEHF Psychology Program at UCF. He previously, completed his M.S. Modeling & Simulation in the human systems track in 2012 and his Psychology B.S. in 2009. Currently he is also a graduate research assistant in the Technology and Aging lab (TAL) as well as the lab’s lead webmaster where he researches human performance in simulated environments, distracted driving, human computer interaction, attention, and usability for both younger and older adults.