Dr. Cohen’s consulting practice in industrial engineering specializes in the design, adaptation, and implementation of technology to solve operational problems for the U.S. Military. This work involves evaluation of capability gaps for deployed soldiers, technology assessment and testing, rapid prototyping, and iterative product design.
Dr. Cohen spent 17 months working throughout Iraq providing science and technology solutions to mission essential operational problems (June 2004 to December 2005). Using his engineering expertise in conjunction with field experience, Dr. Cohen identified and implemented numerous solutions for U.S. Army Soldiers and Marines conducting IED sweeps and patrols in Iraq. Of particular note is the MARCbot robot used for remote inspection of potential IEDs. Over the course of a year, Dr. Cohen was chief proponent for the design, testing, training, repair and fielding of the MARCbot—culminating in the delivery of 350 of this proven, life saving device to the U.S. Army in late 2005. As a solution finder for soldiers, Dr. Cohen’s approach is to focus on purpose-built, practical, high quality, and value-for-money solutions for the U.S. Military.
Using his industrial and safety engineering background, Dr. Cohen assessed, designed, and implemented solutions for many safety related issues for soldiers to include a new turret gunner seating, power solutions, and a cooling solution for the armored HMMWV. Solutions to mission specific problems include acoustic and visual surveillance tools, persistent stare technology for base security and field overwatch, translation devices, and vehicle inspection at base entry control points.
Prior to his work with the US Army, Dr. Cohen consulted extensively on human factors, ergonomics, and safety engineering relating to industrial accidents (particularly in the oil and train industries). With a background in vision and human information processing research, Dr. Cohen uses his professional photography skills to help clients understand potential hazards and accidents. In addition, he has experience in warnings evaluation, design, and testing.
As an assistant professor of business management at Massey University in New Zealand, Dr. Cohen taught operations management and ergonomics and was an independent safety and ergonomics consultant. His teaching and research background in industrial engineering and psychology includes human factors engineering, operations management, occupational safety, job and organizational design, and industrial ergonomics. Additionally, Dr. Cohen was a licensed EMT in New Zealand working as a volunteer ambulance officer for four years, in addition to ski patrolling at Whakapapa Ski Field on the North Island. He was also a professional and volunteer ski patroller at Mount Snow, Vermont over 10 years.