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Published: October 09, 2018

The US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) awarded Navajo Technical University’s engineering programs a $308,436 grant to broaden research and development of Human-System-Interface (HSI). This will allow for a three-year cooperative agreement for NTU students and faculty to extend the research work on prototypes that enhance aircraft pilot’s visual effectiveness.

“This award is a result of a two-year research relationship with the US Army to create more opportunities for our students,” said Dr. Peter Romine, engineering professor at NTU who will oversee the projects at the university. “They see NTU as a research school with accredited engineering programs beneficial to their research.”

The collaborative agreement is designed to develop a long-term relationship between NTU and ARL that will extend the research work conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Thomas W. Davis, AEP, Chief, Air and C2 Systems Branch, US Army Research Laboratory. The award will support four undergraduate engineering students as Research Interns during the academic year to expand on the work of Dr. Davis and other NTU students during the summers of 2017 and 2018.

HSI research involves the development of software and hardware prototypes to enhance the human’s effectiveness to visualize, manipulate and navigate large amounts of visual data from various collection sources, and present to the user in a way that enhances the user’ performance.

Presenting a large number of images and information without adding to the physical and mental workload of the user has become a growing challenge in the US Army. For instance, a pilot in a degraded visual environment needs more information about the environment, and a presentation system that enhances their abilities to process the information effectively and efficiently for a better reaction.

Under the collaboration, NTU’s team will develop software prototypes and work with the ARL in Huntsville, AL on the usability testing of prototypes to improve the overall precision and timing of interactions with the software. Electrical engineering graduate Hansen Tapaha is the first NTU student to obtain a career in the field of HSI and currently works under the ARL’s computer science division.

For more information about the collaboration contact Dr. Peter Romine at [email protected] Dr. Monsuru Ramoni at [email protected].