Esa Rantanen

Esa Rantanen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), within the College of Liberal Arts. He holds a BS, MS from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and MS and PhD from Pennsylvania State University. Prior to academia, he worked as an airline pilot and air traffic controller. His research focuses on human factors in complex systems, temporal mental models, and applied domains like air traffic control, healthcare, and process control. He teaches courses such as Graduate Engineering Psychology and Human Factors in AI.

Dr. Rantanen’s work emphasizes human performance measurement, decision-making under stress, and reducing human error. He is a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society, and the Association for Aviation Psychology. He serves on the editorial boards of 'Human Factors' and 'International Journal of Aviation Psychology'.

His recent publications explore topics like temporal awareness in AI, diversity in AI traineeships, and healthcare checklist design during crises. He co-leads the NSF-funded AWARE-AI NRT program, fostering interdisciplinary AI research with a focus on inclusion. His teaching integrates computational foundations with ethical considerations in AI development.

Dr. Rantanen’s grants include the Provost’s Learning Innovation Grant (2019) and collaborations on cognitive task analysis in power grid visualization. He actively bridges academic research with industry needs through practitioner-focused education and partnerships.