John McGuirl, Ph.D.

I recieved my Ph.D. in Cognitive Systems Engineering at The Ohio State University in 2008. In the past I have worked on projects for NASA, the FAA, and the Army Research Laboratory on various issues in human-machine coordination, trust in automation, and how new forms of data impact decision-making.

Like most people in science and research, I've always been interested in knowing how things work. As a kid I was great at taking everything apart, although admittedly not always successful at putting them back together in working order again.

My first career was in telecommunications and testing new networks and systems. I became fascinated with how the technicians at the 'central offices' monitored the overall health and performance of these large networks. As it turns out, the interfaces they used were terrible from a human factors standpoint. Lots and lots of screens with lines of data scrolling by which left the technicians to piece together the 'big picture' of what was really going on. I thought there must be a better way to do it and made a career change.

Today I specialize in understanding what are called socio-technical systems. Socio-technical systems arise anywhere you have people using technology to accomplish their goals while dealing with the complexity of their work environment. These systems are all around us and you are probably working in one yourself. Areas such as aviation, healthcare, the military, and power plants are just a few examples.

I am currently an independent researcher and I'm passionate about helping first responders perform better while minimizing the risks involved in their vital work.

July 2014