What Engineers and Managers Need to Know About Human Factors

Dick Gabriel was born in Chicago but raised in southern California-a hotbed of aviation. From an early age, his goal was to become a pilot. Unfortunately, he could not meet the visual requirements. He obtained a B.A. in physical education and an M.A. in education from California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). While attending graduate school, Dr. Gabriel obtained a job at Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach as a draftsman/clerk. After earning his college degree, he worked in Germany for an Army aircraft supply and maintenance depot. When he returned to the United States, he was reemployed by Douglas Aircraft for a short period of time as an associate engineer. It was at this time that he discovered the field of human factors. Although strongly attracted to aviation and human factors, Dr. Gabriel felt compelled to follow up his education, so he taught and coached for several years in the Long Beach Unified School system. The lure of aviation and human factors led him to return to school to become qualified to work in these fields. After graduating with a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Southern California, he returned to Douglas Aircraft as an engineer-scientist in the human factors department. Dr. Gabriel has either conducted or supervised research in a variety of areas including fatigue, vision, visual and auditory displays, training concepts, information requirements, mental workload, psychoacoustics, controls, and passenger safety. He has also participated in the development of the C-124, B-66, C-133, DC-9, DC-b, MD-80, T-45, and C-17. He managed the human factors department at Douglas Aircraft from 1975 to 1987. He has taught short courses in various aspects of human factors for the U.S. Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration, and at the University of Southern California. He has also taught, on a part-time basis, courses in psychology and human factors at Chapman College and CSULB.