Tandi Bagian earned a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Washington in 1979. She was employed by NASA’s Johnson Space Center and served as Lead Instructor for Astronaut Crew Training; Flight Projects Manager for the Space Biomedical Research Institute; and Head of the Crew Interface Analysis Section. This last position involved supervising six Human Factors Laboratories to support NASA’s Space Shuttle and Space Station missions. She also was a Principal Science Coordinator for Exploration Human Factors, and in that capacity informed the Agency’s Advanced Human Support Technology roadmap in preparation for Mars Exploration mission definition. In 1995, Tandi transferred from NASA to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and worked at the EPA’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor. Along the way, she earned a Master of Science in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1999.

In 2012, Tandi joined the Department of Veteran Affairs as Director, Human Factors Division for the VA National Center for Patient Safety. That team created an award-winning Patient Safety Boot Camp’ training for Biomedical Engineers across the entire VHA. With a vision to make sure patient safety is everyone’s business’, NCPS created strong technical partners across the over 170 VA Medical Centers, as well as with industry partners, to assist Healthcare professionals in providing ‘safer systems, safer care'.

With 46 years of Federal Service, Ms. Bagian retired in 2022 and quickly became Associated with the NASA Engineering and Safety Center’s Human Factors Technical Discipline Team. And this is where we met. This HF team is responsible for responding to requests for analysis and review of human factors issues across the NASA Centers and Commercial/International Partners committed to NASA’s Moon2Mars mission.

Learn more about Tandi:

NESC Academy

Where to find the hosts:

Brian Moon

Laura Militello

#52: The Power of Asking “What Might Go Wrong?” with Tandi Bagian

Naturalistic Decision Making