UC Irvine has hired a pair of researchers who are known internationally for their studies of how people interact with computers and for advising such companies as Boeing and Ford on how workers can more effectively use such equipment.

Gary and Judy Olson were recruited from the University of Michigan, where they founded the Collaboratory for Research on Electronic Work (CREW), which specializes in such areas as desktop video conferencing and nomadic computing.

Each of the Olsons was appointed to endowed professorships underwritten by Donald Bren, chairman of the Irvine Co., one of UCI’s largest benefactors. Bren donated $20 million to UCI’s School of Information and Computer Sciences, mostly to support top faculty. The school’s graduate program was last week ranked 31st in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine. (Read story).

“Both Ford and Boeing adopted the Olsons’ recommendations about radically collocating a design team (in a large room together, not individual offices), leading to a doubling of their productivity,” said Debra Richardson, dean of the information and computer science. “We’re very excited to have the Olsons coming to UCI.”

The couple, who will both be paid a salary of $215,000, will join the faculty in July.

More Sciencedude:

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