Karen Chen
Assistant Professor
- Email: kbchen2@ncsu.edu
- Office: 4349 Fitts-Woolard Hall
Karen Chen joined NC State’s Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering as a faculty member in the Human-Systems group in August 2016. Prior to joining ISE, she was a postdoctoral research associate at the Healthcare Systems Engineering Institute at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dr. Chen’s research studies human performances and uses human factors and ergonomics frameworks as the foundation. She also implements technologies such as virtual reality to explore potentials in improving health and safety of various populations. She has investigated the use of virtual reality to understand older driver biomechanics and the utility for ranges of motion rehabilitation of chronic pain patients. Besides research, she also offers courses in Human Factors in Systems Design, Musculoskeletal Biomechanics, Human-Computer Interface, and Special Topics in Technology and Healthcare Applications.
Publications
- Emotional States and Charging Behaviors in Human-System Interactions with Battery Electric Vehicles
- Malaek, M., Zhu, M., & Chen, K. (2026, January 1), SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6172852
- Applying Engineering Anthropometry to Mitigate Eye Strain in Virtual Environments
- Sanders, N. E., & Chen, K. B. (2025, September 1), Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting. https://doi.org/10.1177/10711813251369860
- Examining User Interactions With Signaling Elements in a Virtual Reality Learning Application
- Fang, E., Kulasingam, R., Cheng, F., Peterson, M., Delgado, C., & Chen, K. B. (2025, August 11), Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting. https://doi.org/10.1177/10711813251360711
- Human Factors Extended Reality Showcase
- Chen, K. B., Fussell, S. G., Spain, R., Bailey, S., Cheng, F., Choi, H. S., … Wu, L. (2025, July 23), Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting. https://doi.org/10.1177/10711813251360061
- Human-Centered eXtended Reality for Occupational Applications in the Era of Industry 5.0: Introduction to the Special Issue
- Jeong, H., Chen, K. B., Jeon, M., & Stanley, L. (2025, June 4), IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors, Vol. 5. https://doi.org/10.1080/24725838.2025.2512681
- Measuring Size and Scale: The Development and Validation of the Assessment of Size and Scale Cognition (ASSC)
- Harper-Gampp, T., Delgado, C., You, H., Peterson, M., & Chen, K. B. (2025, June 26), Research in Science Education, Vol. 6. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-025-10274-w
- Mental Models of Gestural Interaction for Information Processing in Virtual Reality
- Cheng, F., Fang, E., & Chen, K. B. (2025, July 16), Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting. https://doi.org/10.1177/10711813251357931
- Privacy-Aware EMG signal synthesis for ergonomic studies using a generative diffusion model
- Qing, L., Jung, S., Su, B., Lu, L., Chen, K. B., Wan, H., & Xu, X. (2025, November 5), Biomedical Signal Processing and Control. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bspc.2025.108971
- Understanding Emotional States and Charging Behaviors for Decision Making and Battery Preservation in Electric Vehicles
- Malaek, M., Zhu, M., & Chen, K. B. (2025, July 17), Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting. https://doi.org/10.1177/10711813251358248
- Embodiment of Virtual Body and Extremities With Movement Control in Reaching Tasks Using Virtual Reality
- Wu, L., & Chen, K. B. (2024, August 29), Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting. https://doi.org/10.1177/10711813241273495
