News & Updates

From the Foundation for Professional Ergonomics

Ergonomists Without Borders (ErgWB) Comes to the Aid of Ergonomics Students in Puerto Rico

Ergonomists Without Borders (ErgWB) Comes to the Aid of Ergonomics Students in Puerto Rico

When Hurricane María released its full fury on the island of Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, the power grid was devastated.  Months later, only about 34% of the population had reliable power. Sheree Gibson, the Vice President of the Foundation for Professional Ergonomics (FPE) contacted her friend and colleague, Professor Lida Orta Anés, an ergonomist who teaches in the School of Public Health at the University of Puerto Rico, to determine if there was anything that would help the University.



Orta Anés said that the school had previously standardized on electronic textbooks rather than hard-copies for their students.   With power only partially available and unreliable even then, the students were using their smart phones to access the texts.   Unfortunately, the heavy smart phone use ran down the phones’ batteries and with the current power situation and the lack of capability to charge the phones, the students could not read or complete assignments in a timely manner. Ms Gibson collaborated with the FPE’s ErgWB liaison, Dr. Tom Albin.  Together they arranged for ErgWB to purchase solar phone chargers for the students to use.  Twenty-two solar chargers were sent.  They were used by students when classes resumed on January 8th.

 

 

Contact Us

Foundation for Professional Ergonomics
P.O. Box 453
Poway, CA 92074

contact@ergofoundation.org

Who We Are

The Foundation for Professional Ergonomics was established in 2004 as a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing professionalism in ergonomics through educational activities and awards.  Our goals support the goals of BCPE, and we work closely with the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) on various ergonomics practitioner initiatives.  FPE attained an IRS 501(c)(3) status enabling tax-deductible donations from those sharing this dedication to professionalism in ergonomics.