THE BRAINS BEHIND 'USER FRIENDLY' Cognitive engineers research on better match between people and technology.

Their main objective is to make sure that technology is as user friendly as possible. Ranging from the simplest of gadgets to spacecraft controls, and from medical equipments to unmanned drones, cognitive engineers are interested in human responses to technology. During World War II, some military pilots perished in training accidents after flying planes whose cockpits were fitted with unfamiliar controls. Applying psychology, cognitive engineers develop the most user friendly designs, data management and user training that interconnect with the task. As people continue to use more technology, cognitive engineers are there to ensure that people fully reap the benefits of technology. The practice of cognitive engineering or engineering psychology continues to gain popularity; universities in North America, South Korea and Europe have built cognitive engineering labs to facilitate learning. The application of cognitive engineering has found prominence in military and aerospace sectors. The field of medicine has also benefited from engineering psychology; doctors are now able to make right and accurate diagnosis on complex cases and in times of emergencies. In addition, past catastrophes such as hurricane Katrina have prompted cognitive engineers to train emergency responders and citizens on how to use gadgets such as satellite radios, a move that can minimize casualties in future. The purpose of cognitive engineers it to study how systems operate and how people perform their jobs using these systems, and to improve user experience. Its all about people who love people and technology.

The New Front Page

The increasing popularity of web-technologies has led to the overhaul of the newspaper industry. The usefulness of web-technologies was best illustrated when the Chicago Tribune, the Windy Citys venerable daily newspaper, broke a major scandal on clouting in high schools. Web-technologies have come with costs and benefits. On one side, newspaper companies are now able to access a wider customer base compared. On the other hand, some companies have been force to give away free content to readers, leaving then bankruptas they struggled to survive with scarce human resources. In order to the industry to survive, it had to figure out how to embrace new technology, with an aim of improving productivity and introducing new lines of revenues. One of the major milestones in bridging the gap between traditional newspapers and technology is the opening of a new Center for Innovation in Technology, Media, and Journalism at Northwestern. This is collaboration between stakeholders from the technology industry and the newspapers industry. The main objective is to develop applications that will help newspaper companies improve productivity and cut down costs. Technology engineers work hand in hand with journalist to familiarize themselves with the functionality of newsrooms, so that they can understand and develop software tools to smoothen the processes of news gathering, writing, editing and dissemination. It is such collaboration that will help newspaper companies to synergize their efforts so as to reap from the benefits of technology, rather than perceiving technology as a profit snatcher.

References C. Q. Choi, (2009).The brains behind 'user friendly. ASEE PRISM - DECEMBER. Online: FEATURE http://www.prism-magazine.org/dec09/feature_03.cfm T.K. Grose (2009). The New Front Page. ASEE PRISM - DECEMBER 2009 FEATURE. Online: http://www.prism-magazine.org/dec09/feature_01.cfm