Dr. Klinich has 33 years of experience performing research on how to protect occupants in motor-vehicle crashes, particularly child passengers. She has experience in the analysis of motor-vehicle crashes and crash databases, crash dummy design, laboratory reconstruction of real-world loading events, injury criteria development, occupant-anthropometry and posture evaluation, engineering analysis of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), child-passenger-safety issues evaluation, and finite element modeling. Her most recent research efforts have focused on wheelchair transportation safety issues and autonomous vehicles, assessing factors contributing to motor-vehicle fatalities, and analysis of crash data to guide future safety priorities.
Expertise: Occupant protection through a combination of experimental testing, computational modeling, and crash data analysis. Experimental testing, computational modeling focusing on developing injury prevention strategies for vulnerable occupant populations such as children, pregnant occupants, the elderly, and occupants in wheelchairs.
Let’s Connect
Phone
(734) 764-1114
Location
UMTRI
2901 Baxter Rd. Rm 2901
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Primary Website
Additional Information
Education
PhD, Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan
MS, Mechanical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University
BS, Mechanical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University
BA, English, Case Western Reserve University
Service
SAE Dummy Testing Equipment Committee
SAE Child Restraint Systems Committee
IRCOBI Technical Committee. She is a certified
Child Passenger Safety Technician
Board member of Safe Ride News
Member of the UMTRI Executive and Faculty Development Committees
Awards
- Research Faculty Achievement Award (2023)
- UMTRI Departmental Faculty Award (2021)
- Best Paper Award, 58th Stapp Conference (2015)
- Best Paper Award, 57th Stapp Conference (2014)
Projects
Development of an Automated Wheelchair Tiedown and Occupant Restraint System
Evaluating Wheelchair Crashworthiness for Potential Use as Aircraft Seating
Motorcycle Crash Avoidance Technology Review
Developing Tools to Assess Vehicle Crash Safety for Occupants in Wheelchairs
Publications
For a complete list of Dr. Klinich’s publications, please visit her website.
Student Engagement
In her past role as associate director, Dr. Klinich has led efforts to increase student engagement at UMTRI. This work has included organizing student seminars, managing the SURE and MEDC internship programs, tracking student researchers, and participating in discussions regarding experiential learning for engineering students.
Dr. Klinich also regularly supervises undergraduate students who work on her research projects.