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Carl Westin

Assistant Professor

What is it doing? Why is it doing that? What happened now? My research focuses on how operators interact and understand automation and how we can design automation to improve human-automation collaboration.

Human factors research on human-automation collaboration in safety-critical working environments

We are becoming increasingly dependent on automation in our profession and private life. In parallel, automation is growing more capable and complex, making it increasingly more difficult to understand. Issues of misunderstanding and mistrust of automation are particular concerns in safety-critical working environments where human operators supervise the automation and are required to assume control if needed (e.g., aviation, maritime, rail, road, and process industry). As a Human Factors (ergonomics) researcher, my mission lies in studying the physiological and psychological interaction between humans and automation and designing automation that better supports the collaboration between humans and automation. The goal is to enhance safety, improve comfort, increase efficiency, and reduce breakdowns between humans and automation.   

My main research interests center on empirical studies in safety-critical transportation domains, such as flight decks, air traffic control, and maritime operations. My focus has been on understanding the relationship between humans and machines from the perspective of human behavior and cognition and exploring automation designs that work in symbiosis with humans while supporting safety and efficiency. I am particularly interested in personalized automation (i.e., strategic conformal automation), transparent automation, and solutions to applying eye-tracking technologies in active operations and simulator training.

For thirteen years, I have combined the role of an academic researcher and a commercial pilot.

More information about my research and academic profile can be found on:

Publications

2023

Matteo Cocchiono, Stefano Bonelli, Carl Westin, Ana Ferreira, Nicola Cavagnetto (2023) Guidelines for Artificial Intelligence in Air Traffic Management: a contribution to EASA strategy
Vanessa Rodrigues, Carl Westin, Stefan Holmlid (Editorship) (2023) This space intentionally left [blank]
M. Cocchioni, S. Bonelli, Carl Westin, C. Borst, Magnus Bång, B. Hilburn (2023) Learning for Air Traffic Management: guidelines for future AI systems 12TH EASN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON "INNOVATION IN AVIATION & SPACE FOR OPENING NEW HORIZONS", Article 012105 (Conference paper) Continue to DOI

2022

Carl Westin, Clark Borst, Erik-Jan van Kampen, Tiago Monteiro Nunes, Supathida Boonsong, Brian Hilburn, Matteo Cocchioni, Stefano Bonelli (2022) Personalized and transparent AI support for ATC conflict detection and resolution: an empirical study
Lothar Meyer, Supathida Boonsong, Billy Josefsson, Aida Nordman, Katerina Vrotsou, Carl Westin, Karl Johan Klang, Jonas Lundberg (2022) Mapping the Decision-Making Process of Conflict Detection and Resolution in En-Route Control: An Eye-tracking based approach

Education

PhD in Human Factors, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, 2017     


MSc in Applied Ergonomics, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, 
2012

Air Traffic Pilot - University diploma. School of aviation, Lund University, Sweden, 2006

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