Our Team
Dr. Freund has served on the faculty of the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering (ISE) at San Jose State University for more than 30 years.. He is the founder and Past Director of the graduate program in Human Factors/Ergonomics, and served as ISE Department Chair for 8 years. His teaching experience includes Human Factors and Ergonomics including anthropometrics, workplace design and evaluation, motion measurement and economy.
Dr. Freund is a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineering (IISE) and is a 5 time IBM Faculty Award recipient for his work in Service Systems Engineering research and teaching. He also received a HIMSS “50 in 50” Award in recognition for his work in healthcare information systems engineering. He is a Member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
His consulting experience ranges from healthcare systems improvement to cell phone usability testing, and from manufacturing computer simulations to workplace ergonomic evaluations. His research interests are in modelling the “human side of co-production” on the quality of service encounters. He has been Co-Chair of The International Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE) subconference on the Human Side of Service Engineering (HSSE) 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 (www.ahfe-hsse.org ).
Louis E. Freund
Principal, LEF & Associates
Ph.D. (University Of Michigan)
Dept. of Industrial & Systems Engineering (San Jose State University)
Anil Kumar
Senior Associate, LEF & Associates
Ph.D. (Western Michigan University)
Certified Six-Sigma, Black Belt
Dr. Kumar has a PhD in Industrial Engineering and is a Certified Six-Sigma Black Belt. His areas of specialty include product design and development (medical products and healthcare), ergonomics, human factors, work measurement and analysis, lean manufacturing, production/operations management, and safety. He has conducted industry and government funded ergonomic and industrial engineering related research (leading to publications in journals and conference proceedings) in the healthcare setting, medical device manufacturers, manufacturing, aerospace and furniture industries.
He also has consulting experience in healthcare, aerospace, automobile, call centers, electronic manufacturing, food processing, furniture manufacturing and distribution, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, plastics manufacturing, retail, small and large assembly, transportation, U.S. government, and warehousing. He also has experience with litigation cases including but limited to FLSA, FELA, Suitable Seating, Workplace injuries and discrimination.
Dr. Kumar is a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, and the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers. He serves as the President of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers Silicon Valley Bay Area Chapter. In 2011-2012, he was the President of the International Society for Occupational Ergonomics and Safety. He also served as the Secretary (2012-2013) of the HFES Potomac chapter. From 2007 until 2010, he served as the treasurer of the International Society for Occupational Ergonomics and Safety. He is co-author of a number of international journal publications and has made presentations at a number of prestigious Industrial Engineering and Ergonomics conferences.