校友团队发展的一部分 新车辆安全协议

Sushant Jagtap
凯特林的研究项目给了我很好的接触机会和一个很好的, deep insight into the automotive safety industry and what goes into that research.

——Sushant Jagtap

Dr. Pat Atkinson, Sushant Jagtap和Dr. 特里萨·阿特金森.

左起:博士. Pat Atkinson, Sushant Jagtap和Dr. 特里萨·阿特金森.

Sushant Jagtap MS ' 19一直对汽车安全充满热情, which is one reason why he chose 正规的赌博app to earn his Master’s degree.

The 2019 Automotive Systems (now Mobility Systems) graduate is now part of an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) team whose research led to the development of a new crash test, 这在美国还是第一次. IIHS更新了运行时间最长的碰撞测试, 中等重叠前缘评价, in 2022 to include the evaluation of the rear-seat passengers and ensure protection for rear occupants matches what’s available to front-seat occupants.

“I’m working with the other teams to conduct research and develop protocols that fill the gaps in automotive safety in the U.S.贾格塔普说. “We identified a gap between protection provided to the front- and rear-seat occupants in frontal crashes. 来自真实世界的车祸数据, we know the average size of passengers in the rear seat and that the head, 颈部和胸部是最常受伤的身体部位. We conducted crash tests in-house with dummies and developed a protocol that targets the injuries we see in the real world and challenges automotive companies to improve protection for rear-seat passengers.” 

Jagtap’s experience collecting crash-test data started as a research assistant with Drs. 正规的赌博app的特蕾莎和帕特·阿特金森. 阿特金森夫妇的工作重点是儿童安全座椅.

“The research project at Kettering gave me good exposure and a nice, deep insight into the automotive safety industry and what goes into that research贾格塔普说. “我在一次会议上展示了这项研究. My time at Kettering taught me the necessary skills to have a successful career in this field. Both Theresa and Pat are highly experienced and well-versed in what they do. Working on a research project with them was definitely the highlight of my master’s program.”   

The research project focused on safely transporting children with hip spica casts (due to surgery or to heal from fracture) because due to center belt/strap designs, 有些儿童安全座椅无法容纳打了石膏的儿童. 根据他们的研究, the team made recommendations on seat characteristics to look for when selecting a seat for a child with a hip spica cast.

Jagtap also worked with the physicians on-site to cast the dummies and prepare and position the dummies for testing. 他帮助进行了测试, collect data to locate the dummy in the 3D coordinate system and analyze the data to compare injuries to kids with body casts to those without and how they changed based on the seat designs.

“Working in the 正规的赌博app Crash Safety Center was my favorite part贾格塔普说. “这很有趣,与典型的课堂环境非常不同. This hands-on experience with crash testing proved to be very valuable during my job hunt and the initial stages of my career.”

Jagtap开始与IIHS合作, 一个独立的, 非营利组织, 在获得硕士学位后,他将于2019年成为一名实习生. Six months later, he accepted a full-time position as a research engineer. 

最终, Jagtap analyzes the data from various tests and makes those connections to what makes a good performance for a vehicle and what makes a poor performance. His favorite part of the job is conducting and analyzing crash tests.

“Multiple people put hours into preparing a vehicle for a crash test, and it’s exciting that all of those hours are for an event that happens within 3/10 of a second贾格塔普说. “作为一名研究工程师, I get to analyze the data and high-speed videos from that fraction of a second to understand how the different safety systems can protect the occupants and study how we can improve them.”

Only two of 15 small SUVs tested and four of 13 mid-size SUVs received a good rating. Next, the team will release ratings for small and midsize cars and pickup trucks.

Jagtap predicts one of the first changes will be seat belt technology in the rear seats. 先进的皮带技术, 例如碰撞张紧器和负载限制器, are standard in front seats but not widely available in some rear seats. 到2020年,美国约40%的汽车将使用电动汽车.S. 在他们的后座上安装了这种先进的皮带技术,贾格塔普说. 坠机时, these technologies help effectively slow the passenger while preventing excessive loading by the seatbelt.

作为对这个新测试的回应, 在制造商的下一个车型周期中,变化是可以预期的, 对一些人来说,最早可能是2024年. Some of the changes include alterations to the seat design or seat belt technology. Some vehicle manufacturers have already begun rolling out new designs. 

仍然, it’s not as simple as moving the front-seat technology to the back because it needs to be adapted for the back seat’s environment, 比如保护不同体型的乘客, 包括儿童.

Jagtap said it will take a couple of years to gauge the impact of the changes as real-world data becomes available.

He suggested consumers compare safety technology and performance when looking for a new or used vehicle. Some of the useful technologies include automatic emergency braking, 车道偏离警告, 车道保持辅助和碰撞张紧器. To find out how these technologies performed during tests, visit the IIHS website at www.公路安全保险.org/ratings.

“This not only includes information about how safe the vehicle is in a crash but also how effectively it is able to avoid or mitigate one with the help of technologies such as automatic emergency braking贾格塔普说.

IIHS 2023最佳安全选择可在以下网站获得 www.公路安全保险.org/ratings/top-safety-picks to select the best vehicle options for safety within size categories.

"The field/industry allows me to combine my personal interest in automobiles and technology with a meaningful career platform to reduce injuries and deaths in automobile crashes,贾格塔普说.