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| Education |
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Wright
State University |
Dayton,
OH |
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In
Progress: Doctor of Philosopy (Ph.D.) in Human Factors
Psychology |
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Proposed dissertation
research concerns culturally-sensitive and assistive
technology and systems in the aviation environment |
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Integrative
Graduate Education & Research Traineeship (IGERT)
Fellow |
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California Doctoral
Incentive Program Recipient |
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California
State University
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Northridge,
CA |
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May
2009: Master
of Arts (M.A.) in Human Factors Psychology
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Thesis Title:
The Cognitive Costs of Codeswitching in Cockpit Communications |
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Elective
coursework conducted in aerospace & electronics (avionics)
engineering; vector calculus & mathematical analysis;
and cultural, language & global studies |
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May 2004: Bachelor
of Arts (B.A.) in Psychology
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Overall GPA 3.97/4.00 in the major |
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First
quarter of units transferred from California State University,
Los Angeles |
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University
of Southern California / Annenberg
|
Los
Angeles, CA |
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May
1996: Master of
Arts (M.A.) in Communications Management
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Washington
University
|
St.
Louis, MO |
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May
1993: Bachelor
of Arts (B.A.) in English Composition, American Literature
and Music
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Original candidacy: Languages & Linguistics with a concentration
in Chinese and Russian |
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| Presentations
& Publications |
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International
Symposium of International Psychology, 2007 Conference
April 23 – 27, Dayton, OH |
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Presentation
– Permanent NORDO: Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Aviators |
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Session
Chair: Selection 2, on behalf of the FAA/CAMI
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Society
for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, 2004 Conference |
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Presentation
– Heterosexist Discourse Among U.S. Adolescents: A
comparison of talk about race and sexuality
Kevin A. Whitehead, Malena Hinze, Mel J. Futrell |
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Qualitative discourse
analysis |
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Submitted for
publication |
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Office
of Aerospace Medicine (OAM) Technical Report, pending revision
and review |
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Publication
– Non-native as Compared with Native English Speaking
Enroute Communication
Dr. O. Veronika Prinzo, Mel J. Futrell |
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• |
Federal Aviation
Administration/Civil Aerospace Medical Institute document |
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Office
of Aerospace Medicine (OAM) Technical Report, pending revision
and review |
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Publication
– Permanent NORDO: Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing in Aviation
Mel J. Futrell, Kevin C. Willis |
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Federal Aviation
Administration/Civil Aerospace Medical Institute document |
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To be submitted
for further publication to the International Journal
of Aviation Psychology |
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Federal
Air Surgeon Quarterly Bulletin, pending review |
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Article
- Conducting a Deaf Medical Certification Exam
Mel J. Futrell, Dr. Warren Silberman |
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Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners on proper exam procedures for deaf & hard-of-hearing |
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| Additional
Research & Related Projects |
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Professor Tim Fox, Aerospace Engineering, & Human Factors
Psychology Faculty
California State University Northridge |
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Program
Initiation – Independent
project by a team of engineering (AE & EE) students
to design an aircraft to be entered into international UAV
competition. |
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Interdisciplinary
integration effort: first formal involvement
of human factors analysis and students in an engineering
project |
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Recruitment
& organization of faculty and fellow students with
appropriate focuses to shape a unique, integrated HF unit |
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Program design and organization for both current &
potential future HF students |
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HF analysis & recommendations to design engineers
– application, usability testing and evaluation
as implemented |
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Structure and conduct of cooperative research studies
in human performance and error as associated with remote
aerial operation, navigation and related systems |
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Dr.
Michele Wittig
California State University Northridge |
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Graduate
Researcher – Prejudice & discrimination reduction,
outgroup orientation, intergroup contact theory &
social dominance orientation and influence |
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Formulation of design questions and methodology |
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Summarization
of results for grant audit reports |
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Study of design and approval processes |
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Hypothesis testing, survey and evaluation |
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Data collection, entry & verification |
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Statistical analysis (t-test, ANOVA, linear regression
& correlation, multivariate, plus pilot & post
hoc analyses) |
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Dr.
Tyler Blake
California State University Northridge |
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Course
Designer – Distance Learning Systems Group |
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Usability & effectiveness testing; BETA test formulation |
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Course design and production of university residence courses
for distance deliver |
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HCI/HSI
principles assessment & analysis as applicable |
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| Professional
Experience |
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Federal
Aviation Administration |
Oklahoma
City, OK |
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Psychology
Technician – Human Factors Laboratory/CAMI |
Sept
2006 - Present |
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Researcher under
the supervision of FAA principle investigators, examining
the use of Aviation English between international pilots
and air traffic control facilities |
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Temporary one-year
long part time position |
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Conducting literature
reviews of relevant prior research |
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Collecting,
“cleaning” and entering data & conducting
statistical analyses |
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Preparing technical
and academic papers and presentations to inform ICAO international
language proficiency standards |
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AviaTech
Concepts
|
North
Hollywood, CA |
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Founder/Owner
|
July
1999 - Present |
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Market: Active
network of successful international aviation entities; private
pilots; employed commercial, test and airline pilots; instructors;
researchers; regulators; attorneys and aircraft owners |
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Concept/designer, product & business manager: Aviation
service/products, multicultural design considerations,
technologic relevance and use – particularly deaf
pilot and alternative modality interests; flight training
and performance research |
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Specialty
closed-captioning
services for aviation multi-media to accommodate deaf
and hard-of-hearing audiences as well as facilitate English-as-a-Second-Language
needs. Developed from professional transcription services
(clients included The History Channel, A&E, and independent
producers) concerning aviation, maritime & automotive
and other technological subjects. |
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Ground
instruction and university liaise for flight training –
Hollywood
Aviators, VNY |
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Contract
work: technical content of manuals and support materials;
design analysis; consulting and human factors principles
advisement; copy and technical writing, editing, proofreading;
word-processing & print content management services;
database design, conversion & management; graphic design;
budgeting; web content & site coordination; business
& electronic documents (with & without GUI) |
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Second
cohort participant of developing NASA-sponsored Cal-Polytech
(Pomona) business
incubator & technology transfer program |
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Customer
support/technical support systems for DOS/Windows/Mac based
software and aviation products |
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| Academic
Honors & Activities |
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Phi Kappa Phi
Graduate Member since 2008 |
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Golden Key Honour
Society Graduate Member since 2008 |
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Airbus Leadership
Grant Women in Aviation International, 2007
Finalist |
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Psi
Chi Graduate Member since 2003 |
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Multicultural Psychology
Association Executive Board, 2003 |
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Dean’s List
California State University, Los Angeles & Northridge;
University of Southern California |
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International Psychology
Student Organization General Member since 2002 |
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Advanced Statistics
Tutor and TA Drs. Jay Holden and Howard Lee,
CSUN, 2003 & 2004 |
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| Volunteer
Experience |
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Experimental
Aircraft Association |
Oshkosh,
WI |
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Volunteer
Staff |
2000
- Present |
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On-air
personality, “Magneto Mel,” for EAA
Radio at AirVenture (first and only female full-time):
field interviews in all aspects of aviation, technical editing,
on-air delivery; webcast worldwide |
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Project
manager for regional expansion of EAA Radio project –
year-round webcast with live broadcasts from each regional
airshow, beginning with California’s Golden West |
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Foundations
Forum presenter on the topic of deaf pilots and accommodating
industry technology – AirVenture 2005-2007, Golden
West 2006-2007 |
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International
Symposium of Aviation Psychology - 2005 |
Oklahoma
City, OK |
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Volunteer
Staff – IAAP & Wright State University |
April
2005 |
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Registration
& coordination staff for duration of convention (Monday
– Thursday) |
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Informal
PowerPoint
presentation on Culture & Communication Concerns
in General Aviation |
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Pacifica
Radio – KPFK, 90.7 Public Radio |
Studio
City, CA |
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Volunteer
Staff |
2005
- Present |
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Volunteer
consultant for ongoing station needs: audio editing, content
& transcriptions, library & information/database
development, news anchor, community & collegiate project
ventures |
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Event volunteer staff for fund-raisers and lecture events,
web-events and links |
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| Societies, Associations
& Organizations |
| Aircraft Owners
& Pilots Association (AOPA) |
| American Institute
of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA) |
| Association
of Aviation Psychology (AAP) |
| Association
of Psychological Science (APS) |
| Deaf Pilots
Association (DPA) |
| Experimental
Aircraft Association (EAA) |
| Human Factors
& Ergonomics Society (HFES) |
|
| IEEE Communications
Society (ComSoc) |
| Institute
of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE) |
| International
Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP) |
| National Association
for the Deaf (NAD) |
| Society of
Automotive Engineers (SAE) |
| Society for
the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) |
| Women in Aviation
International (WAI) |
|
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| Additional
Skills |
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• |
Private
Pilot - ASEL |
|
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Instrument-rated, pursuing
Commercial/CFI |
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o |
Certified
Ground Instructor (AGI), mentor & curriculum designer |
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Language
ability (in order of fluency): German, French, ASL, Spanish,
Japanese |
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o |
Chinese, Russian &
Arabic studied
>
Including Chinese characters and Cyrillic & Aramaic
alphabets
> Not
currently capable |
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o |
Korean, Armenian (Eastern dialect), Italian & Tagalog familiarity - no language skills |
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o |
German teacher –
K-6 (summer session, 1988) |
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• |
IT
- Internet - Programming |
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o |
Basic
>
Bilingual OS and hardware (Mac/Unix, Windows/DOS)
>
Standard HTML, some scripting (Flash/Java)
>
Relational database design and management
>
MS-Office, Adobe, Macromedia |
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o |
Specialized
> VBA
& syntax editors (flight profile and data analysis)
> SPSS,
MatLab, SuperLab, PSPICE (circuit analysis)
>
Various additional proprietary software |
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Audio
and event production |
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Live sound, lights, sets
– promotion & management |
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Studio production and sound
editing (recording & broadcast) |
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Voice-over, narration |
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o |
Transcription
& multimedia |
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| Will
Work for Sushi |
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