Human Factors and Ergonomics for the Gulf Cooperation Council ― Processes, Technologies, and Practices

With a combined GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth of 65% since 1998 and a current valued estimate of $1.6 trillion, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates Countries, is projected to exceed $2.0 trillion by 2020. With this ongoing market growth and development, this book will illustrate to both regional and international professionals the many domains in which HF/E opportunities can be applied within the region. The book will also be used to introduce the HF/E science and overall discipline to the region. It will showcase current research and case study applications specific to the GCC region.

Dr. Shatha N. Samman (Editor) is the Founder of Global Assessment, an international human factors & ergonomics consulting company based in Orlando, Florida with offices in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Dr. Samman established the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture research division in Aramco Saudi Arabia to foster citizenship in promoting a knowledge society. Dr. Samman was a Professor with the Digital Media and Psychology departments at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Dr. Samman has over 18 years of leadership experience as a human factors research scientist investigating a broad range of human performance issues in normal & complex operational environments. She worked on numerous projects funded by government and industry organizations, including: Laureate Education Inc., Saudi Arabia Ministry of Education, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, British Petroleum, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), US Naval Air Systems Command, US Office of Naval Research, US Office of the Secretary of Defense, US Army Research Institute, US Army Research Laboratory, and Kodak with external funding (as Principal Investigator or collaborator) totaling over $3 million. In 2004, she received her Ph.D. in Applied Experimental and Human Factors Psychology with distinction from UCF for a thesis on cognition and multimodal computing funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR). She holds degrees in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, Computer Science, and Psychology. Dr. Samman’s bicultural (US, Saudi Arabia), bilingual (English. Arabic) background, and diverse educational and practical experience gives her a unique perspective to understanding and solving problems. She is on the review board of several national and international conferences and organizations including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EOSCoR). Dr. Samman was the Diversity Chair for the Human Factors & Ergonomics Society (HFES) and has taught tutorials and workshops at national and international conferences and authored and co-authored journal articles and book chapters in various scientific publications.