University of Michigan IOE PhD Student Yifan Li honored with teaching awards

Yifan Li, a PhD student at the University of Michigan Industrial and Operations Engineering (IOE) has been honored with the 2024 Richard and Eleanor Towner Prize for Distinguished Academic Achievement, the Distinguished Leadership Award from the College of Engineering and the Rackham Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) Award for his exemplary work as the lead instructor for IOE 463, ‘Measurement and Design of Work.’

IOE 463 gives students a comprehensive look at how human workers interact with their work, and it delves into biomechanic and fatigue issues that exist because of this relationship. Li’s collaborated with the Ann Arbor Parks & Recreation department and the Kellogg Eye Center, to prepare students with practical and impactful experiences.

He was awarded his Distinguished Leadership Award for his work with the Ann Arbor community. Li volunteered at a local middle and high school to teach students about STEM. He has also been a consistent leader in the human factors and engineering safety (HFES) field.

“I have always wanted to pursue a career in academia,” said Li. “Being awarded for my teaching abilities encourages me to be innovative and modernize ergonomics teachings for future generations.”

Li’s research is in ergonomics and occupational biomechanics. He focuses on digital human modeling; specifically relationships between the worker and work space. The aim is to create a comprehensive model that can be applied proactively to a workspace to predict potential ergonomic issues with either the work or the workspace and suggest engineering solutions to alleviate these problems. His additional interests include exploring cognitive and physical workloads in various work situations, specifically healthcare.

The Towner Prize recognizes individuals in the College of Engineering who have exhibited exceptional teaching and educational leadership. Coupled with the Rackham Outstanding GSI Award, which honors the finest graduate student instructors in the College of Engineering, these awards signify Li’s outstanding commitment to education.