Emily Shull, industrial and systems engineering Ph.D. candidate, was honored at a ceremony in Washington D.C. on January 7, 2023, for her awards from the University Transportation Center (UTC). She received the SAFER-SIM Excellence Award and the 2022 UTC Outstanding Student of the Year award.

John Gaspar, PhD, director of human factors research at the Driving Research Safety Institute (DSRI), home of the National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS), recommended Shull for the graduate student award:

“It is my pleasure to recommend Emily Shull for the SAFER-SIM UTC Excellence Award for Graduate Students. Emily’s combination of dedication to scientific achievement, commitment to learning and exploration, and interpersonal leadership ability make her an outstanding candidate for the fellowship program. 

“Over the last three years, Emily has worked in different roles as a member of the Human Factors Research Group at the National Advanced Driving Simulator, University of Iowa. As an undergraduate student researcher, she eagerly took on roles to become immersed in the translational research projects at the lab. Through these experiences, she developed a diverse set of skills, from experimental design, to computer programming and statistics (R, Matlab), to authoring reports and manuscripts. As a senior undergraduate, Emily designed and ran her own research study on human-machine interface design in automated vehicles. This work, which went well beyond what is normally expected of undergraduate students, also required her to develop her leadership abilities, managing a team of other researchers and students. 

"As Emily has transitioned to a graduate student in our research group, she has continued to grow her capacity for conducting impactful translational research. She has written a winning grant proposal for the SAFER-SIM University Transportation Center to continue her line of research on HMI design for partially automated vehicles. As part of these studies, Emily has built collaborative relationships with faculty in the Department of Psychology (Shaun Vecera) and helped utilize a simulator lab space on campus. She has also forged collaborative relationships with the broader research community by presenting findings at international meetings and working with industry sponsors. Emily has leveraged these relationships to integrate an understanding of basic science into applied research on human interaction with automated vehicles. …

"To conclude, Emily Shull is one of the most dedicated and qualified students I’ve had the pleasure to work with. I have no doubt that Emily will become a leader in science and engineering and contribute substantially to the future of automotive human factors. I am happy to whole-heartedly recommend Emily for the Excellence Award for Graduate Students. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions regarding Emily’s experience, potential, or the impact of her proposed study.”