• Human Factors Engineering

• Macroergonomics

• Socio-Technical Systems

• Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety

• Collaboration

Professor Kathryn Wust is an industrial and systems engineer and human factors and ergonomics specialist who is committed to transforming complex systems through sociotechnical systems design. Professor Wust’s teaching and research center around the concept of collaboration. Her pedagogical approach involves creating an active, inclusive, and collaborative learning environment where students have the opportunity to learn and apply new theories, skills, concepts, and techniques.  Her research focus has been in health care settings, where she has used qualitative methods and applied sociotechnical systems principles to understand how older adults and clinicians collaborate in health care settings, such as the emergency department, to inform system redesign. 

Education

• Ph.D in Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison
• M.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison
• B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Professional Background

Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of Industrial and Systems and Engineering, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (2023 - present) 

Scientific & Professional Societies

Teaching Subjects

• Systems engineering
• Human factors engineering
• Ergonomics

Currently Teaching Courses

• Industrial Engineering 4541 - Project Management
• Industrial Engineering 5111 - Systems Engineering I

Honors and Awards

2022 Institute of Aging New Investigator Award, Semptember 2022

Selected Publications

Wust, K., Carayon, P., Werner, N.E., Hoonakker, P., Salwei, M.E., Rutkowski, R.A., Barton, H.J., Dail, P.vW., King, B., Patterson, B.W., Pulia, M.S., Shah, M.N., Smith, M. (2022). Older adult patients and care partners as knowledge brokers in fragmented health care. Human Factors.

Wust, K., Carayon, P., Werner, N.E., Hoonakker, P., Salwei, M.E., Rutkowski, R.A., Barton, H.J., Dail, P.vW., King, B., Patterson, B.W., Pulia, M.S., Shah, M.N., Smith, M. (2021). Patients and care partners as knowledge brokers and contributors to system resilience in fragmented health care. Proceedings of the 21st Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2021).

Wust, K., Barton, H.J., Werner, N.E., Rutkowski, R., Hoonakker, P.L.T., Shah, M.S., Patterson, B.W., Pulia, M.S., Buckley, D., Smith, M., King, B., Dail, P.v.W., Carayon, P. Patient and clinician perspectives on collaborative work in the emergency department. Proceedings of the Healthcare Ergonomics and Patient Safety Conference (HEPS), November 2-4, 2022.

Wust, K., Barton, H.J., Werner, N.E., Rutkowski, R., Hoonakker, P.L.T., Shah, M.N., Patterson, B.W., Pulia, M.S., Buckley, D., Smith, M., King, B., Dail, P.vW., Carayon P.  SEIPS-based patient journey mapping: Application to a patient visit in the emergency department. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) 66th Annual Meeting 2022, October 10-14, 2022.