Dr. Arunkumar Pennathur's research expertise is in human factors engineering and engineering education research. His previous work has included physical and mental workload modeling for the US Army, modeling cognitive work in planning funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and modeling the etiology and progression of disability and disease among older adults, and developing gerontechnology interfaces and engineering interventions for promoting graceful and successful aging, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). His current work in engineering education research funded by NSF includes developing strategies for enabling student success, particularly for URM students.

He has authored/co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters, including 3 books, and has presented his work at numerous national and international conferences in human factors engineering, industrial engineering and engineering education. He has developed undergraduate and graduate curriculum in human factors engineering, and has trained many undergraduate and graduate students in Ergonomics, Safety Engineering, Work Design, Cognitive Work Analysis, Design and Analysis of Experiments, among other topics.

Dr. Pennathur was the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Industrial Engineering for 15 years and has served on the editorial boards of numerous international journals. He continues to serve many research journals as a reviewer. He also continues to serve on NSF review panels every year. He is a member of the leadership team and the webmaster for the ASEE North Midwest Section. He is a member of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, and the American Society of Engineering Education.