UW Researcher Wins 2010 Ergonomics
Professional of the Year
Award
The Puget Sound Human Factors and
Ergonomics Society (PSHFES) presented Dr. Pete Johnson, an ergonomics
researcher at the University of Washington, with the Ergonomics Professional of
the Year award at the annual PSHFES Ergonomics Symposium in September. Dr.
Johnson was recognized for his work in mentoring students and professionals,
and for his support of local ergonomics organizations such as PSHFES and the
Pacific Northwest Ergonomics Roundtable. Dr. Johnson is a frequent presenter at
meetings of both groups, and has provided technical advice to many of the
ergonomics professionals in the area.
Dr. Johnson has been a faculty
member in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the
University of Washington since March 2001. His current research interests
include hardware and software
technologies to assess
work-related physical exposures; the design and production of female and child proportional
computer input devices; and engineering interventions to reduce whole body
vibration exposures in professional vehicle operators such as bus and
semi-truck drivers.
Dr. Johnson earned his Bachelor of
Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and
then worked at Hewlett-Packard, where he observed firsthand the adverse
musculoskeletal effects of intensive computer use. Inspired by an appearance on
NBC’s Today Show by Dr. David Rempel, a UC Berkeley ergonomics researcher, Dr.
Johnson enrolled as one of Dr. Rempel’s first ergonomics students, earning
first his Masters and then his PhD at Berkeley. During this time he worked as a
visiting researcher at the national institutes of occupational safety and
health in the U.S., Sweden, and Denmark.
Dr. Johnson has practiced ergonomics
in the Seattle area since 1998, starting out as an independent ergonomics
consultant and researcher, working on projects with Microsoft, Harvard
University, and the Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine in
Gothenburg, Sweden. He has held a faculty
position in Ergonomics at the University of Washington since 2000. Upon
receiving the award, Dr. Johnson remarked: “For the past 12 years, I have had
the good fortune to live and work in Washington, making good friends, establishing
long-lasting professional relationships and sharing my passion of ergonomics
with PSHFES colleagues. With the same energy, I look forward to spending
the next decade continuing to work on ergonomic-related projects at the UW and with the PSHFES.”