Board Certified Human Factors and Safety Expert

Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

Additional Information

Cynthia M. Rando, MBA, MS, CHFP, is a Board Certified Human Factors Professional (CHFP), former NASA Human Factors Engineer, and Safety Engineering consultant with more than 20 years of experience applying Human Factors Engineering, Safety Engineering, and Human Systems Integration (HSI) principles to the design, evaluation, and investigation of products, equipment, workplaces, medical devices, and complex operational systems. Ms. Rando has been retained in more than 80 litigation matters involving product liability, premises liability, industrial equipment, consumer products, medical devices, transportation, workplace safety, design defects, human error, warnings and instructions, and safety management. She has provided expert testimony in more than 20 depositions and multiple jury trials. Her opinions focus on whether products, equipment, environments, and work systems appropriately accounted for foreseeable human behavior through accepted Human Factors Engineering, Safety Engineering, Human Systems Integration, and risk management principles. She evaluates issues involving design defect analysis, human-system interaction, human error, warnings and instructions, hazard identification, risk assessment, hierarchy of controls, accident causation, and compliance with recognized engineering principles, consensus standards, and industry practices. Ms. Rando integrates Human Factors Engineering with Safety Engineering to evaluate whether hazards and foreseeable human interactions were appropriately addressed through design, engineering risk controls, and safety management practices. Her analyses emphasize the relationship between human performance and system design, including whether hazards were reasonably reduced through higher-order engineering controls before relying on administrative controls or warnings. Prior to founding Sophic Synergistics, LLC, Ms. Rando spent more than 12 years supporting NASA's Johnson Space Center as a Human Factors Engineer and Human Systems Integration specialist. Her work included human-centered design, hardware and interface evaluation, crew systems, safety and risk assessment, accident investigation, operational procedures, requirements development, verification, and application of NASA human factors and human systems standards supporting the International Space Station, exploration systems, and future human spaceflight programs. She also contributed to Human Systems Integration requirements and agency initiatives focused on improving safety, usability, and mission success. Ms. Rando holds a Master of Science in Human Factors Engineering from Clemson University, a Master of Business Administration from Northeastern University, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Clemson University. She is a former Vice President and Director of the Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics (BCPE) and previously served as an Adjunct Professor teaching Human Factors and Ergonomics. Her consulting experience spans aerospace, manufacturing, industrial equipment, consumer products, healthcare, medical devices, transportation, energy, commercial environments, and government systems. She has authored peer-reviewed publications and presented nationally and internationally on Human Factors Engineering, Safety Engineering, human error, warnings, risk management, and the application of Human Factors to improve system safety and human performance.