Biomechanics & Occupant Motion

Behind the terms of Biomechanics and Occupant Motion Research Engineering lies the intent of engineering and investigation to prevent injury. Passenger safety is increased when coupled with proper understanding of injury causation.

Dr. Chandra Thorbole is the founder of the Institute for Occupant Safety Research whose main vision is to decrease traffic related accidental deaths in India and the United States by engineering intervention schemes. Engineering intervention schemes are a daily part of his work.

Curriculum Vitae

Testing and computer modeling can:

- determine the injury potential in any collision

- demonstrate the effects of design changes for seat cushions, rollovers, roof intrusion, interaction with interior surfaces, occupant ejection, and any other dynamic event

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Currently collaborating with OEM’s, universities, government organizations, non-profit foundations, and hospitals on various injury prevention researches, Dr. Thorbole has assisted FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) CAMI (Civil Aerospace Medical Institute) with the development of the computer model in their effort of developing a regulation for aircraft Head-up display certification process using a head injury tester. This effort was published in the International Journal of Crashworthiness in 2011.

The Children’s Hospital of Arkansas has contracted him to conduct a research initiative in an attempt to reduce ATV (All-Terrain Vehicle) related injuries among the young population in the United States. The main focus of this funded study is to identify the injury mechanism for a specific accident and to develop a technical and educational countermeasure to tackle the problem.

Dr. Thorbole is an active member of ASB (American Society of Biomechanics), ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineer’s), and SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers). He has more than 40 refereed publications in the occupant protection and crashworthiness area, two patents focusing on automotive injury prevention techniques on which he is working to develop a successful product.

He completed his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pune, India. He completed his Masters and Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering at Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas, United States. He did his post doctorate research in Aerospace Engineering at the National Institute for Aviation Research, Wichita, Kansas. His major area of focus during graduate study was occupant protection and injury biomechanics.

He has assisted FAA-CAMI (Civil Aerospace Medical Institute) and NIAR (National Institute for Aviation Research) in the development of a computational model using MADYMO and LS-DYNA for aircraft seats, seat cushions and bulkheads. He has software skills in multi-body simulation, occupant safety analysis and finite element analysis.

Please contact us if you would like a copy of any of his papers.