What Do HFES Members Need to Know?

The goal of National Ergonomics Month (NEM) is to encourage HFES members to focus on promoting the science, application, and profession of human factors/ergonomics (HF/E) in business, education, and community activities. Early discussions about establishing NEM were received with little enthusiasm at
HFES Executive Council meetings because the task seemed enormous for a volunteer organization. However, the persistence and optimism of a few individuals prevailed and, in October 2003, HFES held the NEM kickoff session at the 47th Annual Meeting in Denver.

Persistence and optimism continue to be important ingredients in planning and implementing programs for a successful NEM in 2004. After only a few months on the job, NEM Chair Ron Shapiro led the 2003 launch event. He reported that his committee, consisting of Haydee M. Cuevas (NEM cochair) and Karen R. Young (NEM editor), had generated considerable interest in the annual event and had identified several potential activities. In only a few months, his committee had written several HFES Bulletin articles, identified materials, and orchestrated a contest among student chapters. Further, the official NEM Web site was launched in October 2003 through the diligent efforts of designers Jennifer Trich Kremer and Cindy Lu.