About us

The Department of Human-Machine Systems Engineering takes an interdisciplinary approach to researching and teaching the user-oriented design of effective and efficient human-machine systems. The aim is to optimize the interaction between humans and technical devices and systems.

The research area is methodologically a mixture of cognitive and occupational science, ergonomics, systems engineering as well as software and information technology. Depending on requirements, engineers from various disciplines, computer scientists, psychologists and designers work together in application-oriented research, development and consulting projects.

The department's teaching covers all important fields of work design, human-machine systems and systems engineering and is attended by students of mechanical engineering, mechatronics, computer science, electrical engineering, industrial engineering, psychology and product design, among others.

The department was founded in 1982 by Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h. c. Gunnar Johannsen as the first university institution in Germany to focus on human-machine systems research. After his retirement, Prof. Dr. Ludger Schmidt took over as head of the department in April 2008. The department is part of the Institute of Ergonomics and Process Management (IfA) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and is part of the interdepartmental Scientific Center for Information Technology Design (ITeG) at the University of Kassel.