Title:
Human Performance Engineer
Purpose/Function (Job Summary):
This position will support the Human Physiology, Performance, Protection, and Operations (H-3PO) Laboratory, which conducts research and provides operational expertise in several technical disciplines to address health and performance risks for astronauts. This position will provide biomedical engineering support for human research studies directed toward development and evaluation of new hardware to support upcoming planetary Exploration missions. Tasks may include evaluating exercise devices, evaluating biosensors for biomedical monitoring during exercise and EVA, testing human performance in prototype spacesuits, developing virtual reality/hybrid reality simulation and training tools, and developing operational concepts for future missions. Activities will include preparing hardware such as sensors and data acquisition systems, assisting with human research studies, developing code for data collection and analysis, and preparing study documentation.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
- Work with technical leads to implement research activities outlined in strategic plans and roadmaps
- Assist with study documentation, including Institutional Review Board protocols, test plans, test readiness review packages, progress reports, etc.
- Design and maintain data acquisition systems, including Labview programming
- Perform equipment set-up, calibration, and monitoring for tests/evaluations
- Assist with coordination of human research studies, including scheduling and integration with the study team
- Monitor human subjects and collect physiological data during research studies and/or operational training
- Develop data analysis tools using MATLAB, R, or similar programming language
- Assist with analysis of research and operational data; consult with NASA statisticians as needed
- Prepare technical reports and presentations
- Present technical results at internal meetings and scientific conferences
- Archive data per NASA policy
- Assist with development of grant proposals to perform relevant research
- Operate models to predict human performance
- Maintain knowledge of current countermeasure hardware and support operational assessments
- Provide inputs to weekly and monthly status reports
- Demonstrate a positive problem-solving attitude with an enthusiasm for working as part of an exceptional team
- Demonstrate a strong work ethic and commitment to the customer and team
- Serve as a test subject for protocol and hardware evaluations on a volunteer basis
- Perform other duties as assigned
Education/Experience
REQUIRED:
- Bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering or related engineering field
- Experience conducting human health and performance research, including physiological monitoring and/or kinematic analysis
DESIRED:
- Experience evaluating hardware, such as wearable sensors or other health-related equipment
- Experience with implementation of operational studies to evaluate human performance and human-system interactions, especially related to spaceflight
- Knowledge of NASA mission operations and hardware relevant to human health countermeasures and to EVA
- Knowledge of NASA's policies for human health and performance research, including Institutional Review Board approvals, Test Readiness Reviews, etc
- Experience with NASA mission operations and hardware relevant to human health countermeasures and/or EVA
Skills/Training
REQUIRED:
- Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to work independently and as a team member; employee will be required to work and communicate with human test subjects, astronauts, personnel across multiple JSC directorates and external collaborators
- Experience with MATLAB, R, Python programming, or equivalent
- Experience with bioinstrumentation and data acquisition systems
- Demonstrated skill in preparation of technical reports
- Highly motivated with developed organizational skills; must be able to work independently with minimal oversight and support multiple projects
- Demonstrated real-time problem solving skills
- Effective written and verbal communication skills, both formal and informal, including oral presentations
- Standard PC and Microsoft Office skills for preparation of documents and presentations
DESIRED:
- Experience contributing to proposals and manuscripts
- Ability to critically analyze data and perform statistical analysis
- Experience with spaceflight related analogs and/or simulations, including augmented/hybrid reality
- Experience with motion capture systems and analysis of kinematic data
- Experience with CAD and modeling tools such as SolidWorks, ProE, Blender, Polyworks
Scheduled Weekly Hours:
40
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