H. Onan Demirel

• Industrial Engineering Ph.D.
• Professor (Assistant) at Oregon State University

It is important to improve driver visibility to reduce the incidence of vehicle-related accidents. One necessary area of improvement is to reduce the vision obstruction created by the A-pillar, which is the forwardmost support structure that obscures the driver’s vision. This can be done by creating holes through the A-pillar; however, designing an...

Although many interior vehicle components, including seats, steering wheels, and mirrors, are commonly adjustable in modern cars, many drivers and passengers still experience a poor occupant-vehicle fit. Subpopulations such as short, tall, and pregnant occupants encounter comfort- and safety-related concerns in the form of increased risk of airbag...

Driver visibility studies, particularly focusing on the impact of A-pillar designs and cutout modifications, are a critical challenge in the automotive industry. Utilizing Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) modeling, we comprehensively analyze how different A-pillar cutout sizes influence visibility in various traffic scenarios. Our research compare...

The operation of ground support vehicles in busy airport taxiways and runways is a growing concern, especially when the driver does not have an adequate field of view (FoV). Airport ground vehicle accidents due to vision obstruction have resulted in loss of revenue, injuries, and fatalities. The research presented in this paper examines and quantif...

Virtual Reality (VR) research has shown promising benefits in several educational areas, particularly those necessitating interaction with spatial information - a key element in teaching engineering skills such as technical drawing. This paper presents a broad process for designing and developing VR-based instructional activities, ultimately produc...

Computer-aided design (CAD) is a standard design tool used in engineering practice and by students. CAD has become increasingly analytic and inventive in incorporating AI approaches to design with generative design to help expand designers' divergent thinking. However, because generative design technologies are new, we know very little about genera...

Generative design uses artificial intelligence-driven algorithms to create and optimize concept variants that meet or exceed performance requirements beyond what is currently possible using the traditional design process. However, current generative design tools lack the integration of human factors, which diminishes the efforts to understand and i...

Pillars in modern vehicles provide structural integrity by surrounding the greenhouse (windshield, rear, and side windows) and joining the roof with the frame. The forward-most roof support posts, A-pillars, straddle the windshield and have an essential design impact that affects the aerodynamic performance, roof crush, and frontal impact performan...

This research introduces a Digital Human Modeling (DHM) based early design framework to automate task analysis and workplace ergonomics for emergencies and provides a proof-of-concept demonstration of the automation framework within the context of cockpit fire and smoke case study. DHM brings significant advantages to explore human-centered design...

Collective robotic systems are biologically inspired and advantageous due to their apparent global intelligence and emergent behaviors. Many applications can benefit from the incorporation of collectives, including environmental monitoring, disaster response missions, and infrastructure support. Transparency research has primarily focused on how th...

Many automobile accidents involving pedestrians in city driving at roundabouts, intersections, and crossings are related to blind spots caused by A-pillars—vertical posts that straddle the windshield and tie the car's body to the roof. Designers have addressed such problems by changing A-pillars' geometry to improve drivers' forward field of view (...

This paper introduces a proactive ergonomics methodology to quantify vision obstruction by integrating computer-aided design (CAD), digital human modeling (DHM), and image processing. The “rough and rapid” approach presented in this study uses an image analysis macro to measure forward field of view (FoV) obstruction based on the snapshots collecte...

During the design process, user considerations such as usability, safety, and comfort should be adequately developed by designers. Nevertheless, traditional design engineering methodologies have limitations to incorporate human factors engineering principles during early design phases. Common human factors methods utilize virtual or physical protot...

The effective use of computational modeling and simulation tools early in the design process is arguably becoming a gold standard for modern product development. Compared to many mechanistic computational design approaches, modeling and simulating humans, due to their inherent complexities of physiological and cognitive attributes, provides one of...

Interest in collective robotic systems has increased rapidly due to the potential benefits that can be offered to operators, such as increased safety and support, who perform challenging tasks in high-risk environments. The limited human-collective transparency research has focused on how the design of the models (i.e., algorithms), visualizations,...

The goal of this research is to demonstrate the applicability of the Human Error and Functional Failure Reasoning (HEFFR) framework to complex engineered systems. Human errors are cited as a root cause of a majority of accidents and performance losses in complex engineered systems. However, a closer look would reveal that such mishaps are often cau...

Prototyping is a crucial aspect of the product design and development process. Successful development and deployment of products hinge on building correct prototypes. However, current prototyping frameworks often do not provide specific prototyping guidelines that are practical and readily applicable and do not consider Human Factors Engineering (H...

Numerous computational strategies were introduced in the past decades to integrate human aspects into the design process; perhaps, none provided a broader product design capacity equal to Digital Human Modeling (DHM) research. The popularity of DHM usage in product development is increasing, and many companies take advantage of DHM in their virtual...

Industry 4.0 promises better control of the overall product development process; however, there is a lack of computational frameworks that can inject human factors engineering principles early in design. This shortage is particularly crucial for prototyping of human-centered products where the stakes are high. Thus, a smooth Industry 4.0 transforma...

This paper presents a manifesto for the future design of human-made systems and engage this reflection by promoting a computational human factors engineering (HFE) approach. In this paper, we concentrate on the fact that human well-being and sustainability objectives are inseparable. Thus, this paper's primary focus is to demonstrate a simulation-b...

While a majority of accidents and malfunctions in complex engineered systems are attributed to human error, a closer inspection would reveal that such mishaps often emerge as a result of complex interactions between the human- and component-related vulnerabilities. To fully understand and mitigate potential risks, the effects of such interactions b...

Embedding ergonomics in the design process is often delayed as it requires building physical prototypes and human subject data collection. This causes retrofitting or expensive late design changes which increase overall cost and time-to-market. This paper presents a computational design methodology that employs Digital Human Modelling (DHM) researc...

Digital Human Modeling (DHM) brings in the advantages of reducing the time and cost spent on building physical prototypes and minimizing the risk of conducting human-subject data collection in hazardous settings. However, most of the DHM studies focus on evaluating standardized tasks executed in normal or nominal work conditions. There is a limited...

A knowledge-base that integrates human factor engineering (HFE) principles and prototyping best-practices for the design of human-centered products does not exist. This study fills this gap by proposing a prototyping framework to unify HFE principles and prototyping guidelines along with a prototyping toolbox. The framework is based on the House of...

Collective robotic systems are biologically inspired and advantageous due to their apparent global intelligence and emergent behaviors. Many applications can benefit from the incorporation of collectives, including environmental monitoring, disaster response missions, and infrastructure support. Transparency research has primarily focused on how th...

Current prototyping frameworks are often prompt-based and heavily rely on designers’ experience. The lack of systematic guidelines in prototyping activities causes unwanted variation in the quality of the prototype. Notably, there is limited, or no prototyping framework exists that enables human factors engineering (HFE) guidelines be part of the e...

Risk-based design uses severity and occurrence quantification to determine overall system risk and prioritize the most important hazards. To fully understand and effectively mitigate potential risks, the effects of component failures and human errors (acting alone and in tandem) need to be considered early. Then one can determine whether to allocat...

Prototyping is one of the most critical and costly steps in the product development process. However, the existing literature lacks in prototyping strategies that are comprehensive and widely accepted. Current prototyping strategies mostly focus on the hands-on activity of building the prototype by relying on the designer’s experience. Another limi...

Using Digital human modeling (DHM) early in design brings the advantage of reducing the time and resources committed to building full-scale physical prototypes. DHM also helps in minimizing efforts put on performing human subject data collection. However, majority of the repetitive two- and three-dimensional (2D/3D) object orientations and manikin...

Although there are numerous ergonomics assessment methods available for assessing safety, comfort, and performance of human-product interactions, there is a lack of comprehensive and widely available computational human-centered design framework that brings human factors principles into engineering design. In existing human-centered design approach...

Human errors are attributed to a majority of accidents and malfunctions in complex engineered systems. The Human Error and Functional Failure Reasoning (HEFFR) framework was developed to assess potential functional failures, human errors, and their propagation paths during early design stages so that more reliable systems with improved performance...

Interest in collective robotic systems has increased rapidly due to the potential benefits that can be offered to operators, such as increased safety and support, who perform challenging tasks in high-risk environments. Human-collective transparency research has focused on how the design of the algorithms, visualizations, and control mechanisms inf...

Engineers have developed different design methodologies capable of identifying failure modes of engineering systems. The most common methods used in industry are failure modes and effects analysis, and failure modes effects and criticality analysis. Nevertheless, such methodologies have a significant limitation regarding incorporating the final use...

Human error is one of the primary reasons for accidents in complex industries like aviation, nuclear power plant management, and health care. Physical and cognitive workload, flawed information processing, and poor decision making are some of the reasons that make humans vulnerable to error and lead to failures and accidents. In many accidents and...

While a majority of system vulnerabilities such as performance losses and accidents are attributed to human errors, a closer inspection would reveal that often times the accumulation of unforeseen events that include both component failures and human errors contribute to such system failures. Human error and functional failure reasoning (HEFFR) is...

Robotic collectives (i.e., colonies and swarms) are applicable to a wide range of applications, including environmental monitoring, search and rescue, as well as infrastructure monitoring. The presented evaluation focuses on how two visualization designs impact human-collective team performance during a best-of- n sequential decision making task wi...

During the design process, designers must satisfy customer needs while adequately developing engineering objectives. Among these engineering objectives, human considerations such as user interactions, safety, and comfort are indispensable during the design process. Nevertheless, traditional design engineering methodologies have significant limitati...

Human errors and poor ergonomics are attributed to a majority of large-scale accidents and malfunctions in complex engineered systems. Human Error and Functional Failure Reasoning (HEFFR) is a framework developed to assess potential functional failures, human errors, and their propagation paths during early design stages so that more reliable syste...

Incorporating human factors engineering guidelines early in design has the potential to reduce the cost and product lead-time to market. Also, products that go through strict ergonomics assessments are associated with better comfort and safety ratings. However, designers are often caught in the dilemma of what prototyping method to use when assessi...

Proactive ergonomics can improve the overall performance and well-being of the user and has the potential to improve the product quality and reduce the cost of resources. Application of Digital Human Modeling (DHM) is a pathway for proactive ergonomics. However, DHM has the issue of fidelity and it is yet not in the level of simulating human percep...

Proactive ergonomics can improve the overall performance and well-being of the user and as well as improve the product quality and reduce the cost of resources. Application of Digital Human Modeling (DHM) is a pathway for proactive ergonomics. However, DHM has the issue of fidelity and it is yet not in that stage of simulating human perceptions and...

Detection of potential failures and human error and their propagation over time at an early design stage will help prevent system failures and adverse accidents. Hence, there is a need for a failure analysis technique that will assess potential functional/component failures, human errors, and how they propagate to affect the system overall. Prior w...

Human errors and poor ergonomics are cited as one of the leading contributors to large-scale accidents and failures in complex engineered systems. They are also among the leading factors that cause worker injuries. Oftentimes, design deficiencies, in the form of poor human factors, propagate to human-machine interaction errors, where, eventually, h...

Detection of potential failures and human error and their propagation over time at an early design stage will help prevent system failures and adverse accidents. Hence, there is a need for a failure analysis technique that will assess potential functional/component failures, human errors, and how they propagate to affect the system overall. Prior w...

Computational human factors tools are often not fully-integrated during the early phases of product design. Often, conventional ergonomic practices require physical prototypes and human subjects which are costly in terms of finances and time. Ergonomics evaluations executed on physical prototypes has the limitations of increasing the overall rework...

During the design of products and systems, engineers must quickly and accurately satisfy customer needs while adequately developing the required system functions with the minimum number of failures. Identifying potential failure modes during early design stages is essential to create reliable designs. Different engineering methodologies such as Fai...

One of the challenges that human-centered product designers face while generating and validating a design concept is the dilemma of whether to build a full physical prototype, a full computational simulation or a combination of both. A full physical prototype can assist designers to evaluate the human-product interactions with high-fidelity, but it...

Conventional engineering design methods used for predicting potential failures often focus on the mechanical aspects of the products and ignore the actual users. However, almost all the modern products today are either in direct or indirect contact with humans as products are designed, in use, maintained and recycled. Ignoring or poorly considering...

This study introduces a high-fidelity tactile feedback mechanism to capture ergonomics attributes of users inside virtual product development cycle. The research question posed regards whether the tactile feedback mechanism in virtual experiment proposes high fidelity of ergonomics results when compared to physical experiment outcomes. This questio...

This paper represents modified virtual build methodology, which utilises digital human modelling as an approach to build quality into design process early in conceptualisation stage. Safety and reliability has utmost importance when it comes to total quality assurance. Ignoring or omitting safety and reliability aspects of human-product interaction...

The concepts of value co-creation and S-D logic have been widely used in industrial services. However, their application in healthcare services still remain in the theoretical and experimental phase. This study develops a model for the practical application of value co-creation in healthcare services. It improves the service quality by collecting t...

Since humans are creators and users of artifacts and processes, and are constrained by limited resources, a sustainable approach with human element in the center of the development cycle is vital today. Managing and understanding technical and analytical issues about human element in design process is a core challenge for practitioners to develop a...

The objective of this study is to test the correlation between a Physical Task and a Digital Task through integrated sensory feedback mechanism in Virtual Build Methodology. The research question posed regards whether the pressure feedback mechanism in Virtual Build Methodology proposes high fidelity for push-pull tasks. There are many research st...

This thesis work has two areas of focus, product design and design research/methodology. The objectives of this study is to design a new code cart and to develop a new design methodology. (a) Design Research/Methodology ; A haptic feedback mechanism was integrated into Virtual Build design process to evaluate whether this integration provides simil...

This paper explains the proposed methodology of utilizing Computer Aided Design (CAD) data in Virtual Reality (VR) environment and alternative methods to simulate an assembly process. The methodology is composed of creating complex geometry by traditional CAD tools (Pro/Engineer), translating solid geometry into high fidelity mechanical models (MSC...

This paper discusses a probable Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) application for medical implant monitoring and positive patient identification. Traditional doctor-patient system has evolved into a complex system which, now, the medical staff, the patients and the manufacturers should communicate effectively to ensure quality and safety of the...

This paper presents the current and probable future applications of Digital Human Modeling (DHM) in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) implementations. A Formula 1 race car and a marine vessel were developed by the integration of PLM and DHM software packages. Dassault Systemes’ CATIA V5 PLM solution package was used for CAD/CAE design/analysis an...

This paper represents current and probable applications of Digital Human Modeling (DHM) in different industries. Three real-world challenges, Cummins Inc. (New Product Launches), NASA (Ground Operations), Purdue University (DHM in Curriculum), are investigated for current/probable benefits of DHM. Direct contacts with company representatives and ac...