Editorial Festschrift to Professor M. M. Ayoub

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Editorial Festschrift to Professor M. M. Ayoub WALDEMAR KARWOWSKI

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Louisville, Kentucky Published online: 31 May 2007.

To cite this article: WALDEMAR KARWOWSKI (1992) Editorial Festschrift to Professor M. M. Ayoub, Ergonomics, 35:7-8, 709-712, DOI: 10.1080/00140139208967357 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00140139208967357

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Editorial

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Festschrift to Professor M. M. Ayoub When the Braniff's DC-9 smashed into the concrete runway of the Lubbock International Airport, my personal and professional life changed in ways I could have never predicted. On that hot.August night of 1979,I had arrived to pursue my Ph.D. degree at Texas Tech University under the direction of then a mysterious man, my teacher and mentor to be, Professor M. M. Ayoub. I am convinced that the personal account of events that followed my arrival in Lubbock are similar to those experienced by many of my colleagues who were studying at Texas Tech at that time, as well as those who arrived in Lubbock before or after I did. My life changed not only because I had an opportunity to learn firsthand about the exciting field of occupational ergonomics directly from Professor Ayoub, but also because I was about to experience both the cultural and linguistic shock of the West Texas area. And that indeed did happen to me.. . Of the many warm memories that I have kept over the ten years since I left Texas Tech, I vividly remember one of the many meetings of graduate research assistants and research fellows who had the privilege to work with Professor Ayoub on several research projects. This particular meeting was called when somebody failed to finish their work by the required deadline. Instead of reprimanding the individual responsible for the project delay, Professor Ayoub invited all of us into a conference room for a few words of wisdom. Somewhere during his articulate deliberations about the work ethic, he said that then and there each of us had to decide whether to have just a job from 9:OOa.m. to 5:00p.m., or to have a career in academe or industry alike. He pointed out that a career would require, in addition to building knowledge and expertise in our selected research field, a lot of self-discipline, laborious everyday work, and continued development of our curiosity for scientific inquiry. He added that a career would also involve, as a reward for all the above, a unique joy of scientific discovery. I believe that many of us who were present at that meeting took this short, but powerful message to our hearts, and to this day we are still trying to meet the challenge that our Professor put in front of us many years ago. There could not have been a more suitable theme for this Special Issue honouring the 60th birthday of Professor M. M. Ayoub than that of manual materials handling. This volume of Ergonomics also reflects upon over thirty years of Professor Ayoub's contributions to both theoretical and applied research, teaching and industrial training in ergonomics of materials handling. A total of 26 papers written by 60 authors, many of whom are past students of Professor Ayoub, as well as his contemporary associates and colleagues, present both theoretical and practical issues in this interdisciplinary field of research. And so through this Festschrifi, we all are indirectly paying our tribute to Professor M. M. Ayoub's lifetime achievements as our teacher, an extraordinary researcher, an invaluable colleague, and a true friend. On behalf of all your students, associates and friends, I would like to wish you many, many more Happy Birthdays Mo! And joyful flying of your model airplanes too.. . WALDEMAR FLRWOWSKI Louisville, Kentucky May 1992 0014-0 l39/92$3.00O 1992 Taylor & Francis Ltd.