Human Factors Engineering Associate

St. Croix Montessori School (SCM) is a small school — there are fewer than 30 students and fewer than 5 employees, which allowed me to have a personal understanding of staff needs. I began this role in-person while back home in the USVI during the pandemic, and pivoted to providing remote services when I returned to in-person classes at UofT. There had been a change of management before I began this position, and the previous management left little system documentation — my first major task was… Show more St. Croix Montessori School (SCM) is a small school — there are fewer than 30 students and fewer than 5 employees, which allowed me to have a personal understanding of staff needs. I began this role in-person while back home in the USVI during the pandemic, and pivoted to providing remote services when I returned to in-person classes at UofT. There had been a change of management before I began this position, and the previous management left little system documentation — my first major task was to regain access to all school accounts and to organize this information. Once this was complete my focus pivoted to the implementation of FACTS, a student information system with an integrated tuition management system. I worked closely with FACTS representatives to configure the system for our school, and also communicated with parents throughout the process to help them enroll with and understand the new system. I also manage the school website and help with hardware procurement and grants.Roles/Projects:- Tracked returning student enrollment, tuition payments, and mapping from student information system to tuition management system during rollout of integrated system.- Supported rollout of integrated admission/tuition management/student information management system.- Designed and implemented data management systems and procedures.- Configured and managed Microsoft 365 workspace and Google Workspace for organization.- Configured and managed Google Classroom.- Managed website and domain registration.- Managed online ticketing and live-streaming for student performances.- Deployed student laptops, distributed and managed student accounts in compliance with relevant regulations.- Procured staff computers, AV equipment, and supporting equipment through Virgin Islands Department of Education procurement processes.- Managed SAM.gov entity registration for federal grant eligibility.- Secured education discounts for various web services. Show less

At Leatherback, I experienced working for a new company that was scaling rapidly. Leatherback opened in 2017 and has since become the dominant craft beer in the territory, with expansion efforts underway in Puerto Rico, Florida, and the BVIs. I did a lot of manual labor in this role, often with the company founders — everyone pitched in to make sure things got done! Through this experience, I built a mental model of how management, operators, and maintenance workers work together in an… Show more At Leatherback, I experienced working for a new company that was scaling rapidly. Leatherback opened in 2017 and has since become the dominant craft beer in the territory, with expansion efforts underway in Puerto Rico, Florida, and the BVIs. I did a lot of manual labor in this role, often with the company founders — everyone pitched in to make sure things got done! Through this experience, I built a mental model of how management, operators, and maintenance workers work together in an industrial workplace, and became aware of the hazards and impediments associated with the safe, successful completion of industrial tasks.Roles/Projects:- Operated production equipment. - Measured product against control limits. - Engaged in root cause analysis activities to find cause of production irregularities. - Adjusted machine to specifications set by the equipment manufacturer. - Supported workplace ergonomics initiatives. - Monitored and operated keg cleaner. - Cleaned fermentation and brite tanks, canning line machinery, and tap room equipment with company CIP processes. - Engaged in brewing activities including milling, infusion, dry hopping, and filtering. - Monitored beer CO2 and temperature levels during carbonization to determine when product was ready to package. - Managed inventory of packaged cans and kegs. - Adjusted inventory allocation for on- and off-island distribution and tap room to react to supply chain problems. Show less

It is hard to express how important this position was in building foundational technical and people skills! I was in 6th grade when I began volunteering with the Country Day IT department and was soon working every day after school (as well as full-time during part of my summers) — I continued this role until I graduated high school. I learned important problem solving skills, but more importantly, I learned that sometimes the only way to get the correct story about a problem was to go and see… Show more It is hard to express how important this position was in building foundational technical and people skills! I was in 6th grade when I began volunteering with the Country Day IT department and was soon working every day after school (as well as full-time during part of my summers) — I continued this role until I graduated high school. I learned important problem solving skills, but more importantly, I learned that sometimes the only way to get the correct story about a problem was to go and see it for myself. This role also showed me that most people didn't want to know why their computers worked, they just wanted it to work. Seeing how systems are used in real-world use cases and the unexpected obstacles that prevent users from understanding their system made me appreciate good system design and, in retrospect, was my introduction to what I now know as human factors. This role was also my introduction to formalized procurement and inventory processes, as most of our hardware came from the Department of Education, and also helped me learn how to work a phone line through many hours spent on call with our hardware providers.Roles/Projects:- Performed root cause analysis on school systems. - Managed Title V inventory of thousands of items and corresponded with government officials during annual equipment audits, overhauled data recording methods to bring the annual process from multiple weeks to two days. - Trained staff on using new hardware and software. - Deployed hardware and software across the campus and researched solutions to school technical issues. - Modelled and constructed new computer lab. - Supported workspace ergonomics initiatives. Show less