To meet today’s complex challenges, Rimkus Consulting Group provides more than 750 professional engineers, scientists, and consulting experts who offer real-world expertise that spans a broad spectrum of public and private environments.

The Rimkus Human Factors team comprises significant expertise related to how the capabilities and limitations of people shape the ways in which they interact with and use products, equipment, and systems in their environments. Human Factors is an essential assessment and evaluation tool in a wide range of complex accidents.

Today, we’re highlighting three members of our Human Factors team, all based in the eastern United States. Read below to learn more about Jeffrey Hickman, Jay Todd, Jared Frantz, and the extensive Human Factors expertise they provide to our clients across the United States and around the globe.

Jeffrey S. Hickman, Ph.D.
Consultant

Expertise:
• Vehicle operator behavior
• Occupational/industrial safety
• Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS)/Automated Driving Systems

Dr. Jeffrey Hickman is a Rimkus Human Factors Consultant with significant experience assisting clients in understanding issues related to occupational/industrial safety and vehicle operator behavior. His expertise is broadly defined as occupational/industrial safety and health, including behavioral safety, person-based safety, safety culture, prompts, warnings, safety management techniques, education and training, personal protective equipment, and operator health. His safety research and experience include human factors, behavior, fatigue, drowsiness, driver duty status, attention, glance patterns, electronic device use, regulations/policies, drugs and alcohol, warnings, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), automated driving systems (ADS), and many other safety technologies. Visit his full profile to learn more.

J. Jay Todd, Ph.D.
Senior Consultant

Expertise:

• Transportation accidents
• Accidents involving low lighting or visibility
• Premises liability
• General accident assessment

Dr. Jay Todd is a Senior Consultant in the Rimkus Human Factors Practice. He investigates the effects of limitations in task performance and perception in human awareness and experience of events in our environment. His forensic investigations include analyses of visual and auditory perception, decision-making processes, eye gaze behavior, the contribution of experience and expectancy to awareness and task performance, eye-witness memory, and the relationship of age and performance, fatigue, effects of alcohol and drugs on performance, instructions and safety information, stress response, and warning application and compliance. Visit his profile to learn more.

Jared P. Frantz, M.S.E., CHFP
Consultant

Expertise:
• Product and occupational safety management
• Risk assessment and communication
• General human factors and accident assessment

Jared Frantz is a Certified Human Factors Professional with extensive experience developing and evaluating warnings and safety symbols for consumer and commercial products. He teaches safety management in the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering. His research and teaching include product safety, risk assessment and communication, human factors in accident causation, and assessment of walking surfaces. He specializes in human factors/ergonomics, warnings, and product, occupational, and premise safety. View his full profile to learn more about his background and expertise.