The Department of Industrial Engineering is excited to announce the hiring of Dr. Laura Stanley as an associate professor of industrial engineering, beginning in Fall 2017.
Dr. Stanley comes to the department from Montana State University (MSU) in Bozeman, MT, where she served as an associate professor, the PhD Graduate Program Coordinator for the Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Department, and the Director of the Human Factors Engineering Lab at the Western Transportation Institute. Dr. Stanley completed her graduate studies at MSU where she earned an MS in Industrial & Management Engineering and a PhD of Engineering in Industrial Engineering. Prior to her work at MSU, she earned her BS in Industrial & Systems Engineering and post-doc studies at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA.
Dr. Stanley’s research interests include human factors engineering; biomechanics/ergonomics; human computer interaction (HCI); human-centered design in engineering; driver behavior in transportation safety; virtual reality validity, training and assessment; and engineering education. Her projects at MSU have included the validation of virtual reality environments, human computer interaction applications, naturalistic driving evaluations in the emergency medicine service environment, improving novice and older driver safety, and the evaluation of the safety benefits of driver based public health interventions.
Dr. Stanley’s research accomplishments have provided her the opportunity to collaborate with various outside partners including the National Science Foundation (NSF). At the NSF she served as the Program Director in the Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE) in the Cyber-Human Systems Program. Other agencies she has worked with include: National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations, Montana Department of Transportation, Bozeman Deaconess Hospital, Montana’s Office of Public Instruction, Virginia Tech Industrial & Systems Engineering Department, Engineering Information Foundation, Murdock Charitable Trust Foundation, Critical Illness & Trauma Foundation, American Medical Response, and the Texas Transportation Institute.
In addition to sponsored research, Dr. Stanley is a strong proponent for the undergraduate research experience. She has advised several undergraduates in research projects through formal programs such as the McNair Scholars Program, the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates program, the United States Department of Transportation’s Undergraduate Research Experience, MSU’s Undergraduate Scholars Program, MSU University Honors Program, Montana Native American Apprenticeship Program, and for independent study credit. She has also conducted research on engineering education, specifically how to better integrate service learning applications and communication needs of our nation’s future engineers. She recognizes and supports diverse workforces through the advancement of women and minorities in engineering, and currently serves as one of MSU’s National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE Equity Advocates and participates in local outreach programs for girls in math and science programs.
Dr. Stanley has served as an associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems and currently serves as an associate editor for Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service Industries. She serves on numerous scientific review committees, and is the guest editor for a special issue of IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems on Holistic Approaches for Human-Vehicle Systems: Combining Models, Interactions and Control.
