HFA - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Chief Scientist
• Founder
• President

Dr. Anthony Ciavarelli is the founder of Human Factors Associates, Inc. and serves as the company's president and Principal Scientist. He held the position of Professor of Applied Psychology at the Naval Postgraduate School (1988 - 2010), where he was responsible for teaching and research in Human Factors, Aviation Safety, and Training Technology. He has a broad technical expertise that includes training requirements analysis, system engineering development, and human-machine interface design gained from over 20 years of experience in the Aerospace and Defense Industries, including Boeing Aerospace and Cubic Defense Systems (1967 - 1988). Dr. Ciavarelli is an accomplished Human Factors Engineer and Research Psychologist and is nationally recognized for his research in military aircrew training, human performance assessment, training system development, test and evaluation. For past several years, he has focused on studying safety culture and organizational reliability. He developed and applied various methods to assess the operational safety effectiveness of high-reliability organizations, including military and civilian aviation. He has served as an expert in Human Factors and Organizational Behavior on national and international study committees, including National Academy of Sciences, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). He worked with the NASA Flight Research Centers in a multi-year contract effort (2009 -2018). The NASA effort focused on assessing safety culture and safety management system (SMS) effectiveness. Dr. Ciavarelli's expertise includes investigation of human performance factors in accident causation. He has served as an expert witness in litigation involving serious automobile accidents and falls.