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EDR's were first installed in 1994 and are now installed in 99% of new light vehicles sold in the US. In the US EDR’s are not required, but vehicles with EDR’s made after 9/1/2012 must meet minimum standardized content requirements of 49 CFR, Part 563 including speed, throttle, brake on/off and Delta V.  Data must be retrievable with a publicly available tool.  Only a few manufacturers install EDR’s worldwide currently, but the EU and China are adopting regulations to require them in the next few years.  

Crash reconstruction is a scientific process that utilizes principles of physics and empirical data to analyze the physical, electronic, video, audio, and testimonial evidence from a crash to determine how and why the crash occurred. This course will introduce this reconstruction process as it gets applied to various crash types - in-line and intersection collisions, pedestrian collisions, motorcycle crashes, rollover crashes, and heavy truck crashes. Methods of evidence documentation will be covered. Analysis methods will also be presented for electronic data from event data recorders and for video.

Safety continues to be one of the most important factors in motor vehicle design, manufacturing, and marketing.  This course provides a comprehensive overview of these critical automotive safety considerations: injury and anatomy; human tolerance and biomechanics; occupant protection; testing; and federal legislation. The knowledge shared at this course enables participants to be more aware of safety considerations and to better understand and interact with safety experts. This course has been approved by the Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction (ACTAR) for 18 Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

Photographs and video recordings of vehicle crashes and accident sites are more prevalent than ever, with dash mounted cameras, surveillance footage, and personal cell phones now ubiquitous. The information contained in these pictures and videos provide critical information to understanding how crashes occurred, and  analyze physical evidence. This course teaches the theory and techniques for getting the most out of digital media, including correctly processing raw video and photographs, correcting for lens distortion, and using photogrammetric techniques to convert the information in digital media to usable scaled three-dimensional data.

This title includes the technical papers developed for the 2023 Stapp Car Crash Conference, the premier forum for the presentation of research in impact biomechanics, human injury tolerance, and related fields, advancing the knowledge of land-vehicle crash injury protection. The conference provides an opportunity to participate in open discussion about the causes and mechanisms of injury, experimental methods and tools for use in impact biomechanics research, and the development of new concepts for reducing injuries and fatalities in automobile crashes.

This course introduces basic tire mechanics, including tire construction components based on application type, required sidewall stamping in accordance with DoT/ECE regulations, tread patterns, regulatory and research testing on quality, tire inspections and basic tire failure identification. The course will provide you with information that you can use immediately on-the-job and apply to your own vehicle. This course is practical in nature and supplemented with samples and hands-on activities.

For automotive engineers involved in crash reconstruction and analysis, a knowledge of basic accident reconstruction principles and techniques is essential, but often insufficient to answer all of the questions posed by design engineers, regulators, and lawyers. This course takes participants beyond the basics of accident reconstruction to physical models and analysis techniques that are unique to the reconstruction of single-vehicle rollover crashes.

Many technical projects, most vehicle and component testing, and all accident reconstructions, product failure analyses, and other forensic investigations, require photographic documentation. Roadway evidence disappears, tested or wrecked vehicles are repaired, disassembled, or scrapped, and components can be tested for failure. Photographs are frequently the only evidence that remains of a wreck, or the only records of subjects before or during tests. Making consistently good images during any inspection is a critical part of the evaluation process. 

To investigate the rollover phenomena experienced by all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) during their motion caused by input from the road surface, a combined simulation using CarSim and Simulink has been employed to validate an active anti-rollover control strategy based on differential braking for ATVs, followed by vehicle testing. In the research process, a nonlinear three-degrees-of-freedom vehicle model has been developed. By utilizing a zero-moment point index as a rollover warning indicator, this approach could accurately detect the rollover status of the vehicle, particularly in scenarios involving low road adhesion on unpaved surfaces, which are characteristic of ATV operation. The differential braking, generating a roll moment by adjusting the amount of lateral force each braked tire can generate, was proved as an effective method to enhance rolling stability.

The objectives of this study were to provide insights on how injury risk is influenced by occupant demographics such as sex, age, and size; and to quantify differences within the context of commonly-occurring real-world crashes. The analyses were confined to either single-event collisions or collisions that were judged to be well-defined based on the absence of any significant secondary impacts. These analyses, including both logistic regression and descriptive statistics, were conducted using the Crash Investigation Sampling System for calendar years 2017 to 2021. In the case of occupant sex, the findings agree with those of many recent investigations that have attempted to quantify the circumstances in which females show elevated rates of injury relative to their male counterparts given the same level bodily insult. This study, like others, provides evidence of certain female-specific injuries.

With the current trend of including the evaluation of the risk of brain injuries in vehicle crashes due to rotational kinematics of the head, two injury criteria have been introduced since 2013 – BrIC and DAMAGE. BrIC was developed by NHTSA in 2013 and was suggested for inclusion in the US NCAP for frontal and side crashes. DAMAGE has been developed by UVa under the sponsorship of JAMA and JARI and has been accepted tentatively by the EuroNCAP. Although BrIC in US crash testing is known and reported, DAMAGE in tests of the US fleet is relatively unknown. The current paper will report on DAMAGE in NCAP-like tests and potential future frontal crash tests involving substantial rotation about the three axes of occupant heads. Distribution of DAMAGE of three-point belted occupants without airbags will also be discussed. Prediction of brain injury risks from the tests have been compared to the risks in the real world.

Purpose: To recognize mobility professionals who have demonstrated outstanding technical innovation and leadership early in their careers. This award was made possible by generous gifts from Russell S. Springer, the Max Bentele Foundation and AEM. Criteria: Engineer working in the mobility industry with less than 10 years industry experience. Demonstrated innovation that has resulted in improvement in a mobility industry technology. Demonstrated leadership and encouragement of others to innovate and promote advances in mobility. Leadership in SAE activities. Eligibility: Members of the Selection Committee are not eligible for the award while serving on the committee. Two years must pass before former members of the Selection Committee are eligible to receive the award. Recognition:  This includes an honorarium and an award that is presented at an SAE Event.

Purpose: This award celebrates the successes of women in the engineering profession and recognizes their leadership and technical contributions in the aerospace, automotive and commercial vehicle sectors. It serves to broaden the awareness of the reach and impact of women working in mobility engineering, and opening doors for young girls interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) who wish to pursue engineering careers. Rodica Baranescu, Ph.D. made a generous gift in 2011 to establish this award. Dr. Baranescu is Past President of SAE International, an SAE Fellow and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.  As a mechanical engineer, she began her professional and academic career in her native country, Romania, before immigrating to the United States in 1980 and was later the first woman elected President of SAE International in 2000.

Purpose: This award recognizes individuals for their executive leadership in the off-highway industry. Nominees may be executives who have served the off-highway industry for a large portion of their career and can demonstrate significant contributions to the progress and development of this industry, creating value for their company, the industry and/or society. Providing supervisory or managerial engineering direction alone does not fulfill the award requirement This award honors Sid A. Olsen, his contributions to the off-highway industry, and the outstanding engineering management values he personified. Olsen, an SAE Fellow, was Manager of Engine Engineering at John Deere Product Engineering Center. Olsen was an industry leader who actively supported and participated in leading industry activities. Criteria: Vice President or C-suite executive for a minimum of five years. Led at least two major corporate or industry initiatives. Demonstrated success developing collaborative teams.

Purpose: This award recognizes students (individuals or teams) who have developed technological innovations in the mobility industry in their research or schoolwork. This award honors the memory of Professor Henry O. Fuchs. Professor Fuchs participated in the SAE Fatigue Design & Evaluation Committee's research projects and founded the SAE Fatigue Concepts in Design short course. Criteria: Nominees must be students at the time of nomination and have demonstrated new and unique innovations or concepts that benefit the mobility industry which can include, but are not limited to, fatigue technology. Eligibility: Members of the Selection Committee are not eligible for this award while serving on the committee. Two years must pass before former members of the Selection Committee are eligible to receive the award. Recognition: This includes an honorarium and a certificate that is presented at an SAE Event. Past Recipients: YEAR RECIPIENT COMPANY Spring 2013 Jonathan R.

Purpose: This award recognizes volunteers who develop students' understanding and experience in math and science by helping teachers implement the A World In Motion® (AWIM®) program in the classroom. The award honors Dr. William G. Agnew, who was instrumental in establishing AWIM and supported the program throughout his lifetime. Criteria: Volunteer experience must have occurred during the most recent academic year. All AWIM volunteers are eligible, including retirees, industry professionals and university/high school students. Eligibility: Members of the Selection Committee are not eligible for the award while serving on the committee. Two years must pass before former members of the Selection Committee are eligible to receive the award. Recognition: This includes a certificate and honorarium and is presented at a location meaningful to the recipient. Past Recipients: YEAR RECIPIENT COMPANY 2020 Georgina M.

Purpose: This award recognizes the significant technical achievements brought about by innovation, leadership, and inspiration of employees with disabilities working in the mobility engineering industry. The award was established through a generous contribution from Boeing in 2011. Criteria: The nominee must be an individual who has met the purpose of this award and who is disabled as defined by the latest amendment to the “Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.” Demonstrated success in at least one major technical achievement benefiting the nominee’s company, industry, or society. Eligibility: Members of the Selection Committee are not eligible for this award while serving on the committee. Two years must pass before former members of the Selection Committee are eligible to receive the award. Recognition: This includes an honorarium and an award that is presented at an SAE Event.

Purpose: This award recognizes an individual or a team from the automotive industry for outstanding contributions to automotive transmission and driveline technology. Funded through a gift from the Timken Company in 2007, this award honors Howard Simpson, who invented a revolutionary planetary gear set which constituted the basis for the Ford C4 and C5 transmission produced or the famous Chrysler Torqueflite transmission and several General Motors transmission models. Criteria: The award acknowledges new ideas, concepts, innovations, or applications that will assist in improving this technology. Nominees should have demonstrated significant achievements in improving automotive transmission and driveline technology. Eligibility: Members of the Selection Committee are not eligible for this award while serving on the committee. Two years must pass before former members of the Selection Committee are eligible to receive the award.

Purpose: This Award recognizes elementary school teachers that develop students’ understanding of math and science through the use of SAE’s A World In Motion® (AWIM ®) curriculum. The award honors the work and dedication of Lloyd Reuss, former President of General Motors Corp. and Chair of the SAE VISION 2000 Executive Committee. Reuss was a steadfast supporter of SAE’s AWIM program. Criteria: Demonstrated, through qualitative and quantitative data, exemplary use of the AWIM curriculum. Nominees (individuals or teams) must be elementary teachers (K-6) from public, parochial, or private schools. Eligibility: Members of the Selection Committee are not eligible for the award while serving on the committee. Two years must pass before former members of the Selection Committee are eligible to receive the award. Recognition:  This includes a certificate and honorarium and is presented at the recipient’s school.