A woman with long, wavy blonde hair is holding a small black pair of safety glasses. She is wearing a sleeveless, textured top with a black underlayer. In the background, there are various electronic devices and screens, one of which displays colorful graphics. The scene appears to be in a professional or technical environment with bright lighting focused on the subject. — Ainsley Kyle is a Ph.D. student in the School of Industrial and Engineering Management working toward a career in the Department of Defense.

CEAT doctoral student carving her own path in traditionally male-dominated field

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Media Contact: Mack Burke | Associate Director of Media Relations | 405-744-5540 | editor@okstate.edu

A woman with long, wavy blonde hair is sitting in a flight simulator cockpit. She is wearing a sleeveless black top and a grey vest with white trim. Her right hand is on the control stick, and she appears to be engaged in operating the simulator. The cockpit features various controls and displays, including a screen showing flight information. The setting suggests an environment related to aviation training or simulation. — Ainsley Kyle interned with the Navy last summer and will intern with the Air Force this summer.

Ainsley Kyle is proof that talent and determination transcend all boundaries. She has her sights set on a career in the Department of Defense, and to complete her mission, has gained hands-on experience through internships that will help her redefine the field.

Currently a Ph.D. student in industrial engineering and management with a focus on human factors, Kyle studies how to optimize human performance, safety, comfort and productivity by designing systems that accommodate human capabilities and limitations.

She has studied physiological factors such as brain activity, heart rate and breathing entropy, among others, to help determine improvements in equipment used by the Department of Defense. These improvements are geared toward making the ever-increasing level of technology more manageable for users.

This is her third degree from Oklahoma State University’s College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology, having received her bachelor’s in 2023 and master’s in 2024.

Dr. Katie Jurewicz, an assistant professor in the School of Industrial Engineering and Management, taught Kyle in her junior year Human Factors Engineering course, then asked her to join the Human Systems Engineering and Applied Statistics lab team in 2022. Jurewicz attributes Kyle’s success in a field not typically pursued by women to Kyle’s exceptional talent and drive.

“I know, as a woman, that it can be hard sometimes and there are days where you feel like you don’t belong,” Jurewicz said. “However, Ainsley loves to break down any barrier she may face in her career, and she will be the first in line with the sledgehammer to break down any wall in the way of her goals. As her advisor, I’ve even had to tell her to slow down and be patient with research and she always responds with, ‘Well, why can’t I be the first?’”

Jurewicz and Kyle, alongside Dr. Ryan Paul and Brock Rouser from the mechanical and aerospace engineering department, currently work on projects related to understanding how pilots behave and interact with automation in complex systems.

“Research shows that people cannot make decisions effectively when either in an overload or underload cognitive environment, so our work investigates how to capture cognitive workload in real time and adapt the automation to fit the cognitive needs of the operator,” Jurewicz said.

Pathway to the DoD

Kyle completed an internship with the U.S. Navy over the summer of 2024 as part of the Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program. She was stationed at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River in St. Mary’s County, Maryland — the Navy’s research technology development base. Although she had never had much exposure to military life, the internship was a full circle moment, as her grandfather was a pilot in the Navy.

A black and white photograph of a woman with long, wavy hair, wearing a sleeveless dress with a textured pattern and a decorative button at the center. Her arms are crossed in front of their chest. — Ainsley Kyle’s research is related to human factors in engineering, which includes studying a person’s physiological response when using technology.

Kyle spent 10 weeks researching in naval laboratories involved in the initial stages of the Navy’s study into brain-machine interfacing. The objective was to explore how systems can be designed to be adaptable to any pilot in a dynamic range of operating conditions.

Kyle’s studies are thought to be correlated to important research constructs like mental workload, situational awareness and attention.

“There are plenty of research interests geared toward identifying and extending the physical limitations of pilots, but not very many are concerned with the cognitive limitations encountered throughout a flight. This becomes increasingly critical as technologies become more reliable and humans are faced with tremendous amounts of information,” Kyle said.

She attended many tours on base, including Test Pilot School and the Air Test and Evaluation Squadron. She tried on an F-35 pilot helmet-mounted display system and saw its digital night vision capability. She also tested white and green phosphorous analog night vision goggles used by pilots.

“Overall, the goal was to protect our pilots, protect our country,” Kyle said. “And that was made very apparent throughout the whole process. We are here to advance naval aviation technology by prioritizing human factors.”

Kyle’s research and capabilities continue to evolve. Lately, she has been developing a method to better analyze the data she collects. She is working on a Bayesian statistical model that can predict a person’s physiological response, such as heart rate, based on individual, contextual and task-related factors.

She secured an internship with the U.S. Air Force this summer, working on research at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio with the 711th Human Performance Wing.

The AFRL’s 711HPW develops, integrates and delivers user-centric research, education and consultation benefiting the Air Force. It is made up of the Human Effectiveness Directorate and the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine.

While currently undecided about which DoD pathway she wants to pursue, Kyle is excited about the future with so many possibilities and innovations that await.

“I would love to work in the defense space, which I think is unique for industrial engineering,” Kyle said. “And there is a need for so many different perspectives on these problems. You never know what is coming. You never know what is around the corner.”

Making a strong academic impression

Kyle has shown a tremendous ability to excel as a CEAT student and has received numerous scholarships.

These include the Mark and Lee Ann Dickerson Scholarship, the Woodson Family Trust Scholarship, the Robert F. Herod Engineering Scholarship, the Lynn E. Bussey Scholarship and incentive, the Walter Kolb Graduate School Scholarship and an Academic State Regents scholarship.

Two women are sitting in front of a flight simulator setup. The woman on the left is wearing a plaid dress, and the woman on the right is wearing a black sleeveless top with a gray vest. The flight simulator screen behind them displays various aircraft controls and navigation information. — Ainsley Kyle (right) is pictured in the flight simulation lab inside Oklahoma State University’s Advanced Technology Research Center. Kyle, along with her mentor, Dr. Katie Jurewicz (left), are researchers in the School of Industrial and Engineering Management.

“I certainly wouldn’t be where I am right now without the gift of focus these scholarships have given,” Kylez said.

Under Jurewicz’s tutelage, Kyle has demonstrated the type of curiosity that great researchers possess. She describes Jurewicz as her academic mother, her best friend and her muse.

“Dr. J is my biggest supporter and one of my favorite people,” Kyle said. “She is the reason I stayed at OSU for all three degrees. She pushes me to produce the best work I can and has taught me so much about HFE and research in general. I absolutely love that lady.”

For any student who joins her research team, Jurewicz has them write down their motivations, which she keeps in her desk. In times of stress or waning confidence, she shows them these motivations to remind them why they are there, and that the pursuit of their work is worth the effort.

“I am Ainsley’s academic mom, and I love seeing her grow right now as a researcher so that one day she will be ready to leave home and build her own research program,” Jurewicz said.

Photos by: Ellie Piper

Story by: Tanner Holubar | STATE Magazine