Rate My Professor Jackie Cha

Dr. Jackie Cha is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Clemson University, a position she has held since January 2021. She serves as director of the Ergonomics and Computational Human Operations (ECHO) Lab, Core Faculty in the Biomedical Data Science and Informatics Program, and Faculty Scholar in the Clemson University School of Health Research. Prior to her faculty appointment, she worked as a Biomedical Engineer in the Robotic Assisted Surgery Devices Team at the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Devices and Radiological Health. Cha earned her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University in 2020, M.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2016, and B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2015.

Cha specializes in human factors and ergonomics applied to healthcare environments, utilizing analytical modeling of behavior and physiological signals, along with medical devices, wearables, and robotics to assess and improve skills for training, team performance, and patient safety. Her key publications include "Evaluation of a passive arm-support exoskeleton for surgical team members: Results from live surgeries" (Journal of Safety Research, 2024, co-authored with Athanasiadis et al.), "Objective nontechnical skills measurement using sensor-based behavior metrics in surgical teams" (Human Factors, 2024), "The compatibility of exoskeletons in perioperative environments and workflows: an analysis of surgical team members’ perspectives and workflow simulation" (Ergonomics, 2023), "A year-long case study of multicomponent interventions to promote physical activity in office workers" (Applied Ergonomics, 2024), and "Measurement of Nontechnical Skills During Robotic-Assisted Surgery Using Sensor-Based Communication and Proximity Metrics" (JAMA Network Open, 2021). Cha has garnered major awards, including selection for the National Academy of Engineering's 2024 The Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, the Robert L. Wears Early Career Award from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Healthcare Technical Group (2024), Best Work Systems Track Paper Award from the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (2024), and HFES Product Design Technical Group Best Student Paper Award (2020). As principal investigator, she has obtained over $1.1 million in funding, notably an NSF CAREER grant ($574,834, 2024–2029) on human-robot surgical teams. She teaches courses including Human Factors Engineering, Human Factors in Device Design & Analysis, and Industrial Ergonomics & Automation, and has presented research at Clemson Health Advancement Talks and the University of Michigan.