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Former
Recipient |
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2002
-2003
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Former
AWC Scholarship Recipinet |
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Laura
Thackray and Volvo
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| When
the AWC awarded a young researcher from Idaho
a scholarship grant two years ago, little
did we know that she would become the creator
of Volvo's first pregnant crash test dummy.
Laura began her project with a degree in mechanical
engineering from the University of Idaho and
a keen interest in safety. It was this interest
in safety that brought her to Sweden, to Chalmers
University, and to Volvo. According to Laura,
everyone these days in a car is protected
by comprehensive safety systems. Everyone...except
the
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| unborn
child. "Too little is known and there's been remarkably
little research on the fetus in car accidents," says
engineer and researcher Laura Thackray. To shed more light
on this area, she has created Volvo's and the world's
first official computer model of a pregnant crash dummy,
known as GH11150%. Laura is impressed by the Swedish approach
to safety and Volvo's outstanding reputation for safety.
She completed her work on the basic geometry of the crash
dummy in January 2002. This also marked the completion
of her second engineering degree from Chalmers University
in Gothenburg. Since then, she has continued to refine
the model, working under a project contract at the Volvo
Cars Safety Center where they will be starting simulated
front-end impact tests. The purpose of this is to study
how the virtual mother-to-be and her unborn baby are affected
by the seat belt and the airbag in simulated accidents.
The computer model makes it possible to study--in great
detail--how the belt moves, the influence of the belt,
and the airbag on the uterus, placenta and fetus. |
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| Laura
sent me a copy of her two page article in Volvo
Car's in-house magazine for Volvo Car Corporation...June
2002 edition. The heading is LAURA'S BABY--THE WORLD'S
FIRST VIRTUAL PREGNANT CRASH DUMMY IS BORN. Laura
wanted us to know about her progress at Chalmers
University and Volvo. She also thanked the AWC for
our support and the extra money that the AWC raised
through a luncheon bake sale and a special AWC evening
event hosted by Volvo at their Stockholm showroom
in Kungsträdsgården. |
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The
ladies' hard work, creating incredible cakes and fantastic
gift baskets for the scholarship raffle, proved that giving
is really a great feeling.
Thank you, Laura, for making us feel so proud of you as
an AWC scholarship winner.
Rebecca Warnander, AWC President |
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