Partners: University of Virginia (Virginia); Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro); Petrobas - Petróleo Brasileiros S.a. (Rio de Janeiro); Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Rio Grande do Sul).
Partners: University of Virginia (Virginia); Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil); Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil).
Non-Academic Partner: Petrobrás-Petróleo Brasileiros SA (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).
Cognitive Engineering combines interdisciplinary perspectives from industrial engineering (IE), industrial design, computer science, and psychology to advance understanding of how to design highly technological yet safe and efficient work environments.
In this project, 40 IE undergraduates (20 seniors each from the United States and Brazil) study a combined set of coursework and project work in international teams to solve real cognitive engineering problems identified by the industrial partner, Petrobrás-Petróleo Brasileiro. In each year of the program, 12-16 students (across the institutions) are selected. These students apply one year in advance of travel to accommodate preparatory language training, curriculum planning, and specialized technical training. Faculty partners travel annually to each other's institutions to meet the students and generate ideas for continued successful collaborations.
The student exchanges begin when U.S. students travel to Rio de Janeiro in July of each year to participate in a month-long intensive language and cultural immersion program at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. During this time, the students are formed into U.S.-Brazil project teams (each team has two students from each country). In the first two years, these teams have worked on projects that include: 1) helicopter safety when transporting personnel to and from oil rigs, 2) the design of decision support for maintaining ballast control on off-shore oil rigs, 3) redesign of a petroleum accident/incident reporting system, and 3) team communication to prevent accidents on oil rigs caused by back pressure when conducting off-shore drilling. The teams spend the fall semester collecting data and developing a solution approach with help from their Brazilian faculty technical advisor. Meanwhile, the U.S. students live with host families or apartments, and take engineering classes and Portuguese. U.S. students are in Brazil approximately 5.5 months (July through mid-December).
In December each year, the U.S. students return to their home institution. Their Brazilian teammates then arrive in January to spend the Spring semester in the United States taking engineering courses and continue to work with their U.S. teammates on the industrial project, now with the assistance of the U.S. technical advisor. The projects culminate in a senior thesis or capstone document for each of the U.S. students. Each team prepares a final report for each project, which is published and presented by the students at the annual IEEE Systems Engineering Design Symposium. The Brazilian students spend approximately six months in the United States (mid-January through May or June). At the culminating IEEE conference, all of the students for that year and the next convene at one location (Charlottesville, Virginia) for a long weekend of technical presentations and social activities.
This exchange and team project enables the students to develop competencies in cognitive engineering, design for the high-risk and complex system of oil and gas pipeline management, develop new language skills, comprehend the role of social, cultural, and technological differences in engineering practice, and learn in differentiated contexts. After this international experience, these young engineers will be equipped to work in multinational work teams applying a human-centered approach to systems design within the global economy. In addition, the university faculty will develop strong relationships for future international research projects.
ONLINE REFERENCE:
US-Brazil Cognitive Systems Engineering Exchange Program
http://www.sys.virginia.edu/hci/us-brazil.asp
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David Woods
Project Director
U.S. Lead
Ohio State University
Department of Industrial
and Systems Engineering
210 Baker Systems Building
1971 Neil Ave.
Columbus, OH 43210
Tel: 614-292-1700
Fax: 614-292-7852
View Personal Web Site
José Orlando Gomes
Brazilian Lead
Departamento de Engenharia
Industrial/Escola de
Engenharia
Av. Brig. Trompowsky, s/n
Predio do CT Bloco F-101-
Ilha do Fundao
Caixa Postal 68548
Rio de Janeiro 21945-970
Brazil
Tel: 55-21-2598-3267
Fax: 55-21-2598-3156
View Personal Web Site
Stephanie Guerlain
U.S. Partner
University of Virginia
Dept. of Systems and
Information Engineering
PO Box 400747
Charlottesville, VA 22904-
4747
Tel: 434-924-4438
Fax: 434-982-2972
View Personal Web Site
Lia Buarque de Guimaraes
Brazilian Partner
Universidade Federal do Rio
Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
Praça Argentina, 9 sala 402
Porto Alegre - RS 90040-020
Brazil
Tel: 55-51-3316-3948
Fax: 55-51-3316-4007
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