“Engineering in Ergonomics” will be the subject of the 2017 Paul D. Scholz Symposium on Technology and its Role in Society to be held from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Thursday, April 6, at W10 Pappajohn Business Building.

College of Engineering alumna Dr. Lauren Gant (BSE 2006, MS 2008 biomedical engineering, PhD 2012 bioengineering and biomedical engineering) will be the guest speaker.  In her role as human factors and ergonomics manager for HNI Corporation, Muscatine, IA (one of the leading manufacturers of office furniture systems in the US), Gant assists product development through anthropometric analysis and comfort assessments and leads the company's research on workplace trends and their implications on office ergonomics. She also provides ergonomics training and education to internal employees and end users. In addition to her primary professional duties, Gant also is an adjunct assistant professor of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Iowa.

She will be joined in the symposium by Dr. Arunkumar Pennathur, lecturer in the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department.

The free, public symposium was named in 1993 to honor the late Paul Scholz, 20-year Tau Beta Pi advisor and associate dean of the UI College of Engineering (1979-1992). Scholz was inducted as a member of the Legacy of Iowa Engineering (http://www.engineering.uiowa.edu/alumni-friends/honor-wall/legacy-iowa-engineering-members/paul-d-scholz) in 2006.

Co-sponsors are the UI Tau Beta Pi chapter, Tau Beta Pi alumni, and the College of Engineering.