Michael Feary's NASA Home Page

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Michael Feary Research Psychologist, AST
Human Automation Integration Research Branch (IHI)
Flight Management and Human Factors Division (IH)
Ames Research Center (ARC)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

email: michael.s.feary@nasa.gov

fax: 650.604.3729

Research

Current Projects:

I am working on methods for improving the design of complex systems, by focusing on increased communication of complex system behavior, primarily in aviation related systems. This work centers on a formal approach to the design and representation of the decision logic for complex systems, and trying to reduce that set of information to the minimum required. This minimum information set can then be used for the design of the interfaces, training, and procedures for the system. Below are links to the various aspects of the project.

The Cognitive Usability Engineering and Analysis Project is part of the Human Automation Interaction Element of Airspace Operations Systems Project of NASA's Airspace Systems program.

Past Projects:

Development and Testing of airborne procedures for the Center-TRACON Automation System (CTAS) which has evolved into the Air-Ground Integration group

Education

M.S. Human Factors Engineering, San Jose State University, 1997
B.S. Engineering Psychology, University of Illinois - Urbana/Champaign, 1992
FAA Commercial Pilot - Airplane, Single and Multi-engine Land, Instrument Airplane, CE-500 Type rating, 1990
FAA Certificated Flight Instructor - Airplane, Single and Multi-engine, Instrument Airplane, 1991

Publications:

Journal Articles

Feary, M., McCrobie, D., Alkin, M., Sherry, L., Polson, P., Palmer, E. (1999). Aiding Vertical Guidance Understanding. Aeronautique-Astronautique. Elsevier. Paris, France.

Magazine Articles

Sherry, L. and Feary, M. (2001) : Using Improving the Aircraft Cockpit User-Interface Rule-based Expert System Models. PC AI Magazine

Technical Reports

	Sherry, Lance, Feary, Michael, Polson, Peter, Mumaw, Randall, and Palmer, Everett. (2001). A Cognitive Engineering Analysis of the Vertical Navigation (VNAV) Function. Technical Memorandum No. NASA/TM-2001-210915. NASA Ames Research Center.
	Feary, M., McCrobie, D., Alkin, M., Sherry, L., Polson, P., Palmer, E., and McQuinn, N. (1998). Aiding Vertical Guidance Understanding. Technical Memorandum No. NASA/TM-1998-112217. NASA Ames Research Center.
	Lance Sherry, Steve Quarry, Stephan Romahn, Thomas Prevôt, Barry Crane, Michael Feary, Rosa Oseguera-Lohr, Dave Williams, Everett Palmer. (1999)Closing the Controller/Pilot Loop in the CNS/ATM TRACON: FMS Features toSupport CTAS in the TRACON. Honeywell Publication C69-5370-011.
	Sherry, Lance, Polson, Peter, Feary, Michael, and Palmer, Everett. (1997). Analysis of the Behavior of a Modern Autopilot. Honeywell Publication C69-5370-009.

Proceedings Papers

	Sherry, L., Polson, P. and Feary, M. (2002) Designing User-Interfaces for the Cockpit: Five Common Design Errors, and How to Avoid Them. Paper to be presented at the 2002 SAE World Aviation Congress, Phoenix, AZ (November 5 – 7).
	Sherry, L., Polson, P., Feary, M. and Palmer, E. (2002) When Does the MCDU Interface Work Well? Paper presented at the the International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction in Aeronautics, Cambridge, MA (October 22-24).
	Feary, M., Sherry, L., Polson, P., and Palmer, E.(2001). A Formal Method for Integrated System Design. 8th European Conference on Cognitive Science Approaches to Process Control (CSAPC ’01), Munich, Germany (September 24-26).
	Feary, M., Sherry, L., Polson, P., and Palmer, E.(2000). Formal Method for Developing Part-Task Training for a Modern Autopilot. Paper presented at the 3rd International Conference on Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics, Edinburgh, Scotland (October 25-27).
	Feary, M., Sherry, L., Polson, P., and Palmer, E.(2000). Evaluation Of A Formal Methodology For Developing Aircraft Vertical Flight Guidance Training Material . Paper to be presented at the International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction in Aeronautics, Toulouse, France (September 27-29).
	Feary, M., Barshi, I., Sherry, L., and Alkin, M. (1999) “Why is it Doing That?” Perspectives of the FMS. Paper presented at the Tenth International Symposium on Aviation Psychology, Columbus, OH (May 3 -May 7).
	Feary, M. and Sherry, L. (1998) Evaluating Flight Crew Operator Manual Documentation. Paper presented at IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, San Diego, CA (October 11-14).
	Feary, M. and Sherry, L. (1998) Evaluation of a Formal Methodology for Developing Aircraft Vertical Flight Guidance Training Material. Paper presented at the 42nd Annual Meeting of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Chicago, IL (October 5-9).
	Feary, M., McCrobie, D., Alkin, M., Sherry, L., Polson, P., Palmer, E., and McQuinn, N. (1998). Aiding Vertical Guidance Understanding. Paper presented at the International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction in Aeronautics, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (May 27-29).
	Feary, M., Palmer, E., Sherry, L., Polson, P., Alkin, M., and McCrobie, D.(1997) Behavior-Based vs. System-Based Training and Displays for Automated Vertical Guidance. Paper presented at the Ninth International Symposium on Aviation Psychology, Columbus, OH (April 27-May 1).
	Palmer, E., Cashion, P., Crane, B., Green, S., Feary, M., Goka, T., Johnson, N., Sanford, B., and Smith, N.(1995). Field Evaluation of Flight Deck Procedures for Flying CTAS Descents. Paper presented at the Ninth International Symposium on Aviation Psychology, Columbus, OH (April 27-May 1).

More information about automation research conducted at NASA Ames can be found at: http://automation.arc.nasa.gov