Dubbed "SpartaKUs" in a campus-wide naming contest, the 50th percentile male anthropomorphic test device (ATD), will bring a hands-on element to the current Crash Safety curriculum, as well as other courses under development.

In addition to enhancing curriculum, the Crash Lab will be used for community education (i.e. K through 12 education, drivers training, Safe Kids Programs), summer university programs, consulting, product development, and research.

"Fully instrumented, an ATD is worth approximately $130,000," said Dr. Janet Brelin-Fornari, associate professor of Mechanical Engineering and coordinator of the Crash Lab. SpartaKUs does not currently have instrumentation, but he will be built-out for testing in early 2005. SpartaKUs was donated to Kettering by Robert A. Denton, Inc. of Rochester Hills, Mich.

"In addition to donating the dummy for in-house educational purposes, Robert A. Denton Inc. will give Kettering free lease of any other sized crash test dummy needed for research projects," said Brelin-Fornari.

"The Crash Lab has three components, a deceleration sled, a component test area, and a dedicated computer based classroom," Brelin-Fornari said. The deceleration sled is a large piece of test equipment on which the interior of a vehicle is placed along with test dummies, vehicle safety systems (airbags, seat belts), instrumentation, and high-speed video. It is propelled down a track up to 42 mph and is decelerated using pneumatics to simulate the abrupt stop during a crash.

The component test area studies impact on specific pieces, such as the dummy's head or legs, and the computer classroom allows students to review data from the test instrumentation and learn how to set up and perform virtual crash tests.

"The lab is multi disciplined," explained Brelin-Fornari, "so faculty from Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Manufacturing Engineering and Business and Science and Mathematics including Physics and Chemistry will use the lab for research."

Donors supporting the Crash Lab include: Takata, AAA of Michigan, Robert A. Denton Incorporated, General Motors Corp., Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Biomet, Autoliv, Lear, TRW, and Via Systems.

For more information on Kettering's dummy, visit: www.kettering.edu/news