Lt. Joseph Thomer, U.S.A.F.

B.S. Operations Research and Mathematics, U.S. Air Force Academy
S.M. Operations Research, MIT, June 2007
Draper supervisor: Laura Forest
Current position: Student Pilot, U.S. Air Force 80th Flight Training Wing/Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training

Thomer developed a “Trust-Based (TB) Design of Human-Guided Algorithms (HGA),” for his thesis research. This design holds the potential to offer operators better insight into the solution process for decision making, improve operators’ trust in the solution, and generate superior solutions under the most challenging of circumstances, such as those facing fighter pilots in combat.

“In order to appropriately utilize algorithms during a planner’s decision making, HGA operators must trust the HGA and the final solution,” explained Thomer. “I wanted to look at how to optimize the operator’s trust in a solution.”

He evaluated algorithms, solution steering methods, and displays required to best match the complementary strengths of human operators and computer generated decisions, and their ability to generate solutions that could be appropriately trusted. Abstract hierarchy, ecological interface design, and various trust models then were used to enhance the operator’s trust in the system. An HGA, including the appropriate controls and displays, was designed and developed. A human-subject evaluation next was used to test its effectiveness. The participants were presented with the task of using the HGA to develop a routing plan for military aircraft to prosecute enemy targets. The results showed that TB design had a significant effect on trust, human-guided algorithm performance, and in some cases, the quality of final solutions.