Barrett S. Caldwell
is Professor of Industrial Engineering (and Aeronautics & Astronautics, by courtesy) at Purdue. His PhD (Univ. of California, Davis, 1990) is in Social Psychology, and BS degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics and Humanities (MIT, 1985). His research team is the Group Performance Environments Research (GROUPER) Laboratory. GROUPER examines and improves how people get, share, and use information well in settings including aviation, critical incident response, healthcare, and spaceflight operations. Prof. Caldwell has over 200 scientific publications, including journal articles, conference proceedings, and book chapters.
He was named in 2008 as a Fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES, the leading scientific body in this area in the US and one of the premier ergonomics societies in the world). Prof. Caldwell was also asked to co-organize the 2008 session on Cognitive Ergonomics for the National Academy of Engineering US Frontiers of Engineering (FOE) conference. (He was also a participant in the 2003 US FOE, and the 2006 German-American FOE, conferences.) His work demonstrates a fundamentally interdisciplinary and multifaceted approach to learning, exchanging, and applying knowledge.
During his 2010-2011 participation as a member of the Purdue Entrepreneurial Leadership Academy, Prof. Caldwell developed and extended a model of university-industry partnerships, highlighting campus and corporate tensions to manage intellectual property portfolios and knowledge worker skill sets. In 2011, he was named a Purdue University Faculty Scholar. From August 2016 through August 2017, he served in Washington, DC as a Jefferson Science Fellow in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Office of Japanese Affairs.
Since 2020, Prof. Caldwell has devoted additional time and effort to leadership and stewardship for the Purdue University community. In October 2020, he was invited to participate as a member, and Working Team Lead, for the Purdue Equity Task Force; in May, 2021 he was named strategic advisor and Provost Fellow for the Equity Task Force Implementation Team, focusing on representation, experience and success for Black graduate students, postdocs, and faculty. From January – May 2022, Prof. Caldwell also provides stewardship to the School of Industrial Engineering as Interim Head.
Education
- Ph. D., Social Psychology, University of California, Davis, June, 1990. Dissertation: Social Processes in Isolated Groups of US National Park Rangers. Advisor: Dr. Albert A. Harrison.
- Master of Arts, Social Psychology, University of California, Davis, September, 1987.
- Bachelor of Science, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, February, 1985.
- Bachelor of Science, Humanities (Psychology), MIT, Cambridge, MA, February, 1985.
Purdue Affiliations
Recent News and Media Appearances
Service to Academic and Professional Communities
- Director, Indiana Space Grant Consortium (NASA, Higher Education Division) since 2001
- Member, Executive Committee, National Council of Space Grant Directors, 2008-2011
- Treasurer, National Space Grant Foundation, 2015-2016
- Participant, National Academy of Engineering US-Japan Frontiers of Engineering, 2016
- Committee Member, National Academies Committee on Information Technology, Automation, and the U.S. Workforce, 2015-2017
- Editor, Journal of Human Performance in Extreme Environments, 2011-present
- Executive Committee, National Council of Space Grant Directors, 2006-2011
- Co-Organizer, Cognitive Engineering Track, US Frontiers of Engineering Conference, 2008
- Chair, Technical Program Committee, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2003-2008
- Advisory Board, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space
Awards and Honors
- Purdue College of Engineering Engagement Award, 2018
- Jefferson Science Fellowship, 2016-2017
- Purdue University Seeds of Success, 2015 (most recent)
- University Faculty Scholar, Purdue University, 2011-2016
- Fellow, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2008
- Certified Human Factors Professional, Board of Certification of Professional Ergonomists, 2008
- Track Co-Chair, Cognitive Engineering, National Academy of Engineering US Frontiers of Engineering, 2008
- Participant, National Academy of Engineering US Frontiers of Engineering (FOE), 2003; German-American FOE, 2006
- Purdue "Seeds of Success" Award, 2005
- Who's Who in Science & Engineering / in Engineering Education / in America / in the World
Primary GROUPER Streams
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Performance Enhancement Resources for Comprehensive Healthcare (PERCH): The primary mission of the PERCH research stream is to improve the efficient and timely availability of information, to enhance the quality and safety of healthcare delivery among healthcare consumers, providers, and services. Over the past 10 years, Prof. Caldwell's efforts in this research area have generated over $200,000 in principal investigator funding, ongoing participation in the development and activity of the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, and lecturing and advising with the Canadian Organisation of Medical Physicists.
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Spaceport Tools and Information for Near-earth and Ground Resource AnalYsis (STINGRAY): The primary mission of the STINGRAY research stream is to analyze, develop, and enhance documentation, mission planning, management, and monitoring of checkout, launch, and in-space phases of human spaceflight missions. Over the past 10 years, this research area has generated over $400,000 in principal investigator funding (and co-investigator participation in over $300,000 in additional funding) by Prof. Caldwell, from sources such as NASA and the United Space Alliance.
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Systems for Human-centered Access to Resources and Knowledge (SHARK): The primary mission of the SHARK research stream is to develop useful analytical models of how people can access, coordinate, and enhance information resources in complex environments. This basic and fundamental research area has nonetheless resulted in over $150,000 in principal investigator funding for Prof. Caldwell's work.
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Mobile Aviation Resources with Latent Information Networking (MARLIN): The primary mission of the MARLIN research stream is to understand and enhance pilot interactions with dynamic weather information, and help mitigate adverse weather-related incidents, in general aviation aircraft (both fixed wing and rotorcraft operations). The MARLIN stream has been supported since 2015 as part of the FAA Center of Excellence Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility, and Sustainability (PEGASAS). Prof. Caldwell has been PI for over $1.25 million of PEGASAS funding related to MARLIN efforts to reduce unintended pilot incursions into adverse weather.
