Biography

Ben Sawyer is a faculty member in industrial engineering and management systems and the Institute for Simulation and Training at UCF, and the director of LabX, an applied neuroscience group addressing human performance. He is an applied neuroscientist and human factors engineer known for using brainwaves, eye movements and mathematical theory to build better human-machine teams. His models and algorithms power efficient machines that work with  humans. His design recommendations are leveraged by Fortune 500 companies. His work has been covered by Forbes, Reuters, Fast Company, the BBC, and others.

Sawyer’s postdoctoral work at MIT was in collaboration with industry including Google, Jaguar-Land Rover, Honda, DENSO, Monotype and Panasonic. A two-time Repperger Research Fellow with the Air Force Research Laboratory, he performed research with the 711th Human Performance Wing in both their Applied Neuroscience and Battlefield Acoustics (BATMAN group) divisions. He is a recipient of  the Human Factors Prize for cybersecurity research, the K.U. Smith Award for  consumer electronics work investigating driving distraction and Google Glass, and an Outstanding Dissertation Award for work investigating the applied psychophysics of warfighter multitasking. In addition to academic pursuits, he  is the cofounder of Awayr, an AI startup within MIT’s The Engine.