PhD student - Human body models for gender equality in vehicle safety

Information about the division
The research at the Division of Vehicle Safety investigates why and how often accidents and incidents occur, driver reactions in different traffic situations, and how injuries occur. The Injury Prevention (IP) group is responsible for investigating the injury mechanisms at the microscopic level as well as the dynamic response of the whole human body to externally applied mechanical loads. In 2009, the IP research group initiated research activities in the field of Human Body Modelling (HBM) in close collaboration with the industry and SAFER - The Vehicle and Traffic Safety Center at Chalmers. The division of Vehicle Safety is physically located at SAFER and utilizes this central positioning to collaborate with the resources of other SAFER partners, including prominent Swedish Universities, research institutes, government agencies, and supporting industries.

HBMs are valuable tools to simulate the pre-crash and in-crash occupant response in order to develop advanced restraint systems that will save lives and reduce injuries in traffic accidents. This specific project (ViVA II) focuses on the continued development of an OpenSource HBM representing the average size female, with a focus on implementation of muscles which is essential for representing the human response in rear end impacts. In order to elucidate how gender differences affect injury risk in rear impacts, the improved female HBM will initially be validated with respect to rear-end impact volunteer tests. Then it will be used for accident reconstruction simulations, as well as seat concept evaluation, and be compared to a state-of-the-art average male HBM.

Just as women would not accept walking in men’s shoes of size 45, it should not be acceptable to anyone that women have to travel in cars with restraint systems designed exclusively for men. However, at present this is the case for rear end impact protection systems, which is partly due to the lack of appropriate tools for assessment. In a previous project, we have taken important steps to address this problem by initiating development of the world’s first Open Source HBM of an average sized female. Developing the model with an Open Source license is a unique approach, which allows for the model to be used and further developed by all universities, car manufacturers, and consumer testing organizations. The present version of the HBM has an anatomically detailed neck and kinematic model of the other body parts and was validated compared to cadaveric experiments. The finite element code used is LS-DYNA.

Major responsibilities
Your major responsibilities as a PhD student is to pursue your own doctoral studies. You are expected to develop your own scientific concepts and communicate the results of your research verbally and in writing, both in Swedish and in English. Your research will be supervised by well respected senior researchers at the involved department. The position generally also includes teaching in Chalmers' undergraduate program or performing other duties corresponding up to 10 percent of working hours.

You are responsible for method development, constitutive models, and numerical implementations to enhance the average sized female HBM (the ViVA F50 model) with active muscles. You are expected to keep updated on results from international research studies on the influence of gender on injury outcome and risks, especially regarding experimental data that can be used as input or validation of the HBM. You will maintain the Open Source license and webpage for download of the models. You will perform simulations with the ViVA F50 model and other HBMs, analyze the simulations results and draw conclusions based upon them. You are expected to write scientific publications based on your research results. You will actively participate in the ViVA II – project and collaborate with our project partners.

Position summary
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of 4,5 years.

Qualifications
To qualify as a PhD student, you must have a master's level degree corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits in a relevant field. The position requires sound verbal and written communication skills in Swedish and English. If Swedish is not your native language, you should be able to teach in Swedish after two years. Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

You like to work independently, plan and think strategically, and deliver results timely. You are creative and like to put new ideas into practice. You have a solid interest in scientific computing, and you understand and are able to handle numerical codes and data quickly and correctly. You have an interest in the mechanical response of human tissues during impact loading and the challenge to find material parameters and constitutive models to describe them. You like to work in interdisciplinary projects and you have the ability to discuss and communicate your work with people of different backgrounds. We also believe that you are a motivated person, inquisitive, and possess a genuine wish to learn more. You have the desire to continuously develop your skills and knowledge in the fields of research, research communication, and project management.

You will be working in the environment of the SAFER vehicle and safety center at Chalmers, participating in the close collaboration and knowledge transfer with our industrial partners.

Chalmers continuously strives to be an attractive employer. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.

Application deadline: 12 March 2017

For questions, please contact:

Prof Karin Brolin,
karin.brolin@chalmers.se,
+46 31-772 1509

Prof Mats Svensson,
mats.svensson@chalmers.se,
+46 31-772 3644