Graduate student opportunities

The THRILL Lab welcomes inquiries from graduate students with previous studies in cognitive ergonomics and eligible for admission to a relevant Ryerson graduate program. 

If you email me to inquire, be sure to explain your previous studies in this area and your research question(s): you’ll help me with mine, but you must have your own as well.  Particularly for a doctoral applicant, I expect you to be capable of identifying researchable questions and proposing methods for researching them, building on your previous graduate studies. Ideally your questions will be pertinent or researchable within the attractions industry although the underlying theories and methods may and should be generalizable.

You should have technical skills for use of computer tools such as programming and fabricating the prototypes and mock-ups, and supervising undergraduate work-study students who may provide assistance on those projects. Don’t hesitate to tell me about your personal relationship with theme parks and carnival rides too.

I am also open to supervising unfunded relevant M.Eng. projects and co-supervising or examining projects in other programs including undergrad programs and other universities, as supervisor or co-supervisor.

While I welcome inquiries from those who are interested and capable to contribute, do not expect me to retrain you to qualify for a spot in my lab. Previous courses, co-op jobs, and thesis projects related to back injury prevention, welding engineering, operations research and process optimization, and big data – for example – are undoubtedly impressive but they are not relevant. I want to know what you have done in cognitive ergonomics and cognitive work analysis and modelling.

Author: Kathryn Woodcock

Dr. Kathryn Woodcock is Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, teaching, researching, and consulting in the area of human factors engineering / ergonomics particularly applied to amusement rides and attractions (https://thrilllab.blog.ryerson.ca), and to broader occupational and public safety issues of performance, error, investigation and inspection, and to disability and accessibility.