Dr. James Watzke

Dr. James Watzke is currently the Dean of Applied Research and Director of the Technology Centre & Dr. Tong Louie Living Laboratory at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

James has been researching ways to make environments and products work better for seniors and persons with disabilities for over 25 years now.

After completing his undergraduate work at U.C. Berkeley, he went on to complete a Ph.D. in "Environmental Psychology" from the University of Lund in Sweden. Dr. Watzke has conducted, presented, and published his work in Sweden, the U.S., and Canada. His special research interests include aging, disability, assistive technology; useability testing and product evaluation; and injury prevention to older adults and health care workers.

Dr. Watzke joined the British Columbia Institute of Technology in the Fall of 1998 as Project Leader for the Dr. Tong Louie Living Laboratory - a unique full-scale simulation facility that conducts research and development activities on age and disability sensitive environments and products.

James is a member of Canada Standards Association's Strategic Steering Committee on Community Safety and Well Being, and is the outgoing President of the British Columbia-Yukon Region of the Association of Canadian Ergonomists. He is also the Chair of SOLUTIONS and PROTOgé, two innovative programs that help expose British Columbia's post secondary students to the importance of assistive devices.