Undergraduate Frequently Asked Questions

• • • What is the difference between human factors engineering and engineering psychology?
    • What kind of jobs can I find?
    • Can I double major?
    • Can I study abroad?
    • Can I do a coop?
    • How do I do an internship?
    • Can I minor in Engineering Psychology?
    • What classes are good portfolio builders?
    • What classes outside of the required classes should I take to supplement my major?
    • What are double-counts and set-asides?
    • What classes do I take during certain semesters?

What is the difference between human factors engineering and engineering psychology?
While the programs are largely similar, HFE is offered by the Department of Mechanical Engineering and ENP offered by the Department of Psychology, as such there are different foundation requirements. ENP students have to complete Arts & Sciences foundation requirements including the college writing requirement and foreign language requirement. HFE students have to complete Engineering foundation classes including EN 1 and ES 3 or 5. They also have additional requirements in the form of ENP 171 and ES 93

What kind of job can I find?
There are a variety of career options for a Human Factors major. Find a list of potential careers on the Career page, along with guidance on supplemental courses. You can also check out this informative document Professor Wiklund created:   Tufts_HFE Professional Roles _2019b Smaller

Can I double major?
Yes, it is possible to double major with Human Factors. A popular option is HF and Computer Science, for both students in Arts and Sciences and students in Engineering. As always, it is easiest to double major in two fields that have some crossover in terms of required courses, but students are encouraged to talk with their advisor if they have a certain program in mind.

Can I minor in Engineering Psychology or Human Factors Engineering?
Students in the School of Engineering can pursue a minor in Human Factors Engineering. More information can be found here.  There is no minor available to students in the School of Arts and Sciences.

Can I study abroad?
Studying abroad is possible, but requires planning for Engineering Psychology students. Please see our Study Abroad page for more information.

Can I take part in a CoOp program?
Yes!  Students (undergraduate as well as graduate) can participate in our coop program!  Please see our CoOp Information page for more information.

What is involved in an internship (for academic credit)?

•              BEFOREHAND:  Find an internship that you think will help your professional career.  Then (once you have it ready), complete an internship proposal — find the form here:   https://engineering.tufts.edu/me/current-students/forms.  Complete that and send it to your supervisor/advisor for a signature.
•              AFTER:  Submit to your supervisor/advisor

• A summary (1000-1500 words) of what you did over the course of the semester
• What you learned from the internship (500-750 words) and some evidence/examples to back this up.
• How your work/learnings apply to the field of Human Factors/Engineering Psychology (250-500 words)
• A one-page “web-ready” summary of the company, your work, and what you learned (e.g. to inspire future students). Please make sure to have your internship supervisor approve of this content for public display..  See examples of past web-ready summaries here:   https://sites.tufts.edu/humanfactor/internships/

•             OPTIONAL/ADVICE:

• If possible, try to create a mini “project portfolio” over the internship — take photos of you working in groups, working in interesting places, get photos of artifacts (tests?  sketches?  Mock-ups? user-testing?).  If you are shy, feel free to blame the university (“my prof wants me to get some photos… is that ok?”).   Screenshots (eg of Zoom meetings) are also useful perhaps?
• You could keep a mini blog going (e.g. weekly?) documenting your activities and including the photos.   This little effort (e.g. 30 mins per week?) could pay off HUGE down the road as you are looking for a job, etc.  Just a thought….  At least get photos and some notes… – you can add richer narrative down the road.  🙂

What classes are good portfolio builders?
ENP 166 (Computer Interface Design) and FAM 39 (Graphic Design) are both good portfolio builders.  Other classes offer a range of assignments that can also be “done up” to make them into robust portfolio pieces. Many students have created excellent portfolio pieces from assignments in such classes as ENP161 (Product Design), ENP162 (Human Machine System Design), ENP110 (HFE and Medical Devices), etc.

What classes outside of the required classes should I take to supplement my major?
Graphic design and web design are both good classes for ENP majors. It is also helpful to check the elective listings of departments like psychology, computer science, and cognitive and brain science.

I am an undergraduate and preparing to apply for the 4+1 masters, I have heard about double-counting and set-asides.  What are they?
Tufts has these lovely double-count and set-aside rules which might work for you –e.g. let’s say you took ENP161 and ENP162 in your senior year. You could also count them towards your masters degree (which means you would only need 8 more classes to reach the 10-classes-required-for-masters). AND, this would save you money (as a masters student you basically pay per-class…. Not per-term…. Soooo, if you can get a few classes done as an undergrad, and get them basically “for free”, that saves lots of money). That was the double-counting thing. There is also a set-aside thing: IF you took those two classes (double-counts) and lets say you took one more class (e.g. ENP163 or whatever), and if the class in question (e.g. 163) is a class that you do NOT need for your undergrad degree (i.e. it is not needed to meet any of your degree requirements), then you can ask Tufts to “set aside” that class – and not roll it up into your undergrad degree… then you can scoop it up and use it towards your masters. You should check the current rules, but at the time of this writing students can set-aside up to 2 classes. SO, in theory you could start the masters with four classes already done! (2 double-counted and 2 set-asides).

What classes do I take during certain semesters?
The courses you take each semester will vary based on whether you are in Arts and Sciences or Engineering. Below is a sample course map of Human Factors courses required for all majors, which would be supplemented with additional requirements based on whichever school you are enrolled in. Note that all courses listed with an asterisk are only offered during the semester they are listed in below.