HAIL is a recent addition to San Jose State University that serves to increase the affiliation of San Jose State's Computer Engineering Department with top domestic and international research organizations ranging from NASA Ames Research Center to the National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) in the Netherlands. This affiliation trains and produces top researchers from San Jose State University's Computer, Systems and Information Sciences Engineering program while providing NASA Ames Research Center and the international research community with superior students and research through collaborative efforts.

HAIL is also designed to provide students with an enriching education experience through domestic and international contacts in the medical and aviation communities.

HAIL specializes in human performance modeling, human-computer interface designs, system-level evaluations and human performance simulations. Areas of specialization have included evaluations of Air Traffic Control and the integration of new displays, new forms of predictive information, and new procedural rules sets.