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Andrew McKune’s background in stress physiology led to a working relationship with KJR on the development of FatigueM8, a smart steering wheel technology. FatigueM8 has been designed to assess long-haul truck drivers heart rate variability in order to detect and predict fatigue allowing them to proactively manage their fatigue throughout their drive. With almost 20 years in academia behind him, and 8 years of experience researching heart rate variability, Andrew’s commitment to rigorous testing and the continual questioning of data makes him a powerful ally in the development of research to demonstrate the efficacy of fatigue aids. Andrew is also interested in how this technology has the potential for further reaching applications, not just to measure fatigue, but as a tool that can be used as a holistic approach to driver health and wellbeing. Andrew talks to KJR about his love of science, how he became involved with FatigueM8, and why he believes it’s important to use science to develop solutions to real-world problems. This sentiment is echoed in his advice to future scientists; “engage with the community you want to work with. That’s the way you’re going to make an impact.” KJR: From a glance at your LinkedIn profile, people might be wondering why KJR considers you an industry ally! As an Associate Professor in Exercise Science, can you tell us a little bit about how technology fits into that world? Andrew: I was contacted by Andrew Hammond (KJR GM) over a year ago. He was reading a research paper as part of his background reading for more development of the system that we’re working with and my name was there as one of the reviewers. I’m an Associate Professor of Exercise Science but my main background is looking at stress physiology. That’s my main interest, and heart rate variability is a way of monitoring the stress response, which I’ve used since 2012 to monitor training in athletes. Athletes who are training too hard – their physiology starts to drain, their performance deteriorates, they get excessive fatigue, they lose strength, and they don’t perform well. Heart rate variability is just a really unique, practical method to monitor the stress response in these athletes. Now Andrew [Hammond] is using heart rate variability to monitor fatigue in truck drivers. KJR: Was there a moment in time or a particular decision that led you down the career path you’re on today? The first people that I met that just made me love science were two professors (Professor Pat Scott and Professor Jack Charteris) at Rhodes University, Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in South Africa. I ended up doing my Honours degree in Human Movement Studies with them as my mentors. I was the only Honours student to arrive. There were 12 other students from my third year who were supposed to come for Honours in 1993. I remember driving with my parents down the streets of Makhanda and we saw these two professors. They said, “Andrew, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but you’re the only Honours student. None of your other classmates are coming, and we’re not too sure whether you want to continue with your Honours.” I did. And Honours that year was just me sitting in their offices talking about science. They were the people that stimulated my love for science. I’ve just continued researching ever since, using their philosophy towards the understanding of human movement as a guide. KJR: You’re working with some of the KJR team on the FatigueM8 initiative through Augmented Intelligence. What role do you play there, and how did you come to be a part of the FatigueM8 team? Andrew: My main role at the moment is as academic mentor for Katie Speer, who has an Australian Post-Graduate Research internship, and so will be interning with Andrew [Hammond] as her industry supervisor. Katie has already been working with me for the past four years, and the main methodology that she’s becoming an expert in is heart rate variability. I also work with Andrew [Hammond] and Katie to see how the research that he has already been doing – a lot of pilot work – can be formalised and how we can develop a research study that stands up in terms of the science, and actually provide some really unique rigorous information with regards to the benefits of fatigue for predicting fatigue and actually protecting the drivers. KJR: FatigueM8 is an important project that aims to reduce fatigue related accidents in long haul truck drivers. How does your experience contribute to the development of this? Andrew: Heart rate variability has been around for many years, but it was always the domain of scientists and research labs using ECG with calculations performed by hand basically. Thankfully, these days, there are devices and software that make calculating heart rate variability less onerous. Heart rate variability entails measuring the time between beats obtained from an ECG trace. Your resting heart rate might be 60 beats per minute, and heart rate variability is an indication of how we get to the 60 beats per minute. We could get there if the time between beats was very consistent, that would be considered poor heart rate variability. If you’ve got a high heart rate variability, the time between beats varies. Between the first two beats, it might be 600 milliseconds and then between the next two beats it might be 1,200 milliseconds. In 2011, 2012, I spent my time trying to work out what are the best ways in terms of making this a practical measure, because it’s a very good marker of stress. Research has started to show that changes in heart rate variability are associated with fatigue and concentration and this is why Katie and I are involved as we need to determine the best way to measure heart rate variability during truck driving and to determine the association with fatigue across a shift. I’m still testing heart rate variability after eight years, and if it doesn’t work out, we move onto the next thing. But I want to do it properly. Everything needs to be done correctly and the same with a fatigue aid
