Partnership
SPL collaborates with MedStar Health and Carilion Clinic/VT Carilion School of Medicine to explore how human-technology interaction impacts safety, efficiency, and operational performance in healthcare systems, with a focus on operating rooms. This transdisciplinary effort bridges engineering, healthcare, and the social sciences, aiming to improve system design through advanced modeling techniques such as AI, system simulation, and efficiency analysis. Our research emphasizes organizational factors and cognitive dynamics—like mental workload, situational awareness, and trust in automation—highlighting how poorly designed systems can undermine safety. By collecting and analyzing real-world data, we aim to inform both healthcare practices and engineering education, fostering a deeper understanding of complexity in safety-critical environments.
Since 2019, SPL has a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with INFRABEL, the Belgian National Railway Company, to work on research projects and share data. This partnership supports the SPL's work on modern socio-technical infrastructure systems, which operate in dynamic environments with complex interactions between human operators and increasingly autonomous technologies performing safety-critical tasks.
This collaboration allows for the continued gathering of operational data from Trafic Control Centers, including event logs, train punctuality records, and high-fidelity simulator data. These data sources are critical for developing models and tools that enhance ouur understanding of human-system interaction, workload, and organizational performance under varying operational conditions. In turn, our research provides Infrabel with insights that inform system design, training protocols, and policy decisions aimed at improving safety, efficiency, and overall system resilience. Read about our NSF-funded project with Infrabel here.
SPL partners with Azist, a leading business growth & compliance consulting firm. The goal is to create a safe environment where students, academics, innovators and companies come together, develop their best ideas and work.
SPL, in partership with Azist Inc., is developing an incubator for groundbreaking ideas. We are excited to connect with individuals who are passionate about technology, innovation and making a real impact! Your insights and expertise could play a key role in shaping this initiative. Please take a moment to fill out the form below so that we can learn more about you and explore potential opportunities for collaboration.
https://forms.gle/SHCK9ce6t63zKDrA8
For more information, please contact Dr Joseph Godfrey.
