Chair of Ergonomics

Welcome to the website of the chair of ergonomics (Prof. Dr. phil. Klaus Bengler).

The Chair of Ergonomics at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the TUM School of Engineering and Design focuses on the innovative design and holistic evaluation of human-machine interactions, as well as the ergonomic and anthropometric optimization of technical systems for future applications. Safety, efficiency of use, and user satisfaction or acceptance in all usage scenarios play a central role here.

Research activities are gaining increasing importance in light of current demographic and economic developments, as the quality of ergonomic design and user-friendliness are becoming ever more crucial for many products in global competition. This applies to consumer goods as well as machinery in production environments and vehicles.

Furthermore, the scope of research is expanding to include future-oriented areas such as automated driving, robotics in medicine, and future work with new technologies. These fields place particular demands on human-machine interaction, as they combine complex systems with high safety standards and a heterogeneous user group.

Automated driving requires intuitive operating concepts and trust in highly automated systems, while robotics in medicine opens up new dimensions of precision and assistance. Similarly, the integration of collaborative robots, AI-supported assistance systems, and virtual work environments is fundamentally changing the world of work. The goal is to develop ergonomic solutions that are not only functional and safe, but also accepted and readily used.

Events

Short-term changes of the chairs events are possible. Please check https://www.mw.tum.de/en/lfe/about/event-calendar/ , to make sure the event takes place as planned.

News

In September, Dominik Janetzko presented the paper "Feel the Speed: Supporting Novice eVTOL Pilots in Simplified Vehicle Operations with Haptic Cues" at the Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC) 2025 in Montreal, Canada.

🕵️‍♀️MINT-Erlebnis am Lehrstuhl für Ergonomie/ Human Factors TUM: Die TUM-Entdeckerinnen auf digitaler Spurensuche 💻🔍 Letzte Woche durften wir im Rahmen des MINT-Programms „TUM-Entdeckerinnen: Digital Detectives“ neugierige Schülerinnen am Lehrstuhl für Ergonomie (LfE) begrüßen.

This recent post from Bryan Reimer highlights it again. In our review article, we found that it’s not the duration alone, but the sequence and perceived quality of usage that shape trust and mental models. https://lnkd.in/dBUWckJy

Am 18.Juli 2025 wurde der Heinz-Schmidtke-Preis 2025 mit einem Preisgeld in Höhe von 2.000 Euro an Jasmin Schneider für den besten Abschluss 2024/2025 in dem Studiengang Human Factor Engineering verliehen. Herzlichen Glückwunsch!

🚀 Introducing FRAMalyse – Visualizing Complexity in Sociotechnical Systems

🚶‍♂️🚗 Using a Wizard-of-Oz setup and a real AV equipped with a 360° external Human-Machine Interface (eHMI), we explored how social cues affect pedestrian behavior in urban settings.

Der Lehrstuhl für Ergonomie/ Human Factors TUM ist auch dieses Jahr wieder auf der LOIFT (Lehrstuhl-Orientierungs-, Informations- und Forschungs-Tagung) vertreten – direkt organisiert von der Fakultät für Maschinenwesen der TUM.

I had the great pleasure of participating in the 17th FRAMily Workshop in Delft – an inspiring event dedicated to the application and evolution of the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM).

“Long-term is no term: A systematic review of learning effects and the understanding of 'long-term' in the context of driver-vehicle interaction” 📍 published in Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dTX5bgHB

Just returned from an inspiring few days at the HFES Europe Chapter 2025 Conference in the beautiful city of Bologna 🇮🇹 – home to the oldest university in the world! A big thank you to Marco De Angelis and the University of Bologna’s Department of Psychology for the warm and well-organized…

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