The Lineup

Özgür Cebeci has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He received a master’s degree in Computational Mechanics of Materials and Structures at the University of Stuttgart. Since 2015, he has been employed as a Project Engineer by IAT Ingenieurgesellschaft für Automobiltechnik mbH, where he worked on active and passive safety concepts using human models. Since 2020 he has been focusing on periprosthetic femur fractures within his Ph.D. project in cooperation with IAT mbH, Julius Wolf Institute, University of Waterloo. He is also actively supporting the development of models and tools used in biomechanics and human modeling.

Professor Cronin is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Trauma Biomechanics and Injury Prevention and leads the Neck Model Centre of Expertise for the Global Human Body Models Consortium, developing one of the most detailed and biofidelic human body models used globally by industry and academics. His research is focused on tissue-level injury prediction and injury prevention.

Caroline Deck obtained her Ph.D Thesis in biomechanics in 2004 and a research manager habilitation in 2014. Since 2004 she has a permanent research position in Biomechanics at Strasbourg University. She is specialized in finite element modeling of the human head, head trauma numerical accident reconstruction and head injury criteria development as well as head protective system evaluation and optimization.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Fehr studied Mechatronics in Stuttgart and Mechanical Engineering in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. From 2006 till 2011 he was a research assistant and doctoral student at the University of Stuttgart. Afterwards, as a simulation engineer at TRW Automotive GmbH, he was in charge of the development of new mechatronic vehicle safety systems. From 2014 to 2020 Jörg Fehr was a Junior Professor at the Institute for Engineering and Computational Mechanics and Cluster of Excellence Simulation Technology (SRC SimTech) of the University of Stuttgart. Since March 2020 he has a permanent position as a deputy head of the Institute for Engineering and Computational Mechanics. One goal of his current research is the development of validation and simulation strategies for active human body models for the simulation of new mobility solutions and the speedup of the simulations using linear and nonlinear model reduction methods.

Dr. Dmitry Fokin is an Application Specialist at Siemens Digital Industries Software (DISW). He holds a doctor’s degree from Kazan State University. With 25 years of experience in explicit simulation, his expertise includes crash and passive safety simulation and development of airbag simulation methods. His current work involves development of automatic explicit solver conversion programs and numerical modeling of Human Body Models.

Qiuyu Gan is a Safety Engineer at China Automotive Engineering Research Institute (CAERI). Research focuses on computational human body model development, injury assessment methodologies, and anthropometric diversification of human body models. [Name] is currently involved in the development of the AC-HUMs project.

Alexander Gromer has a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Stuttgart. Since 2007 he is employed with DYNAmore and held various roles in Germany as well as the US. For more than fifteen years, he is working the fields of crash analysis, dummy modeling and occupant simulation. Over the last two years he is responsible for the development of human body models at DYNAmore.

Dr. Monika Harant is a researcher at the department “Mathematics for the Digital Factory” at Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics since 2021. She received her interdisciplinary PhD in Mathematics from Heidelberg University. In her research activity at Fraunhofer ITWM, she focuses on applying optimization techniques and dynamic simulation to predict active human motion for product design and development and workplace ergonomics, e.g., analyzing the effects of driving maneuvers on the movement of the vehicle’s occupants.

Dr. Christoph Klein is a researcher at the Virtual Vehicle Research GmbH in Graz, Austria. He is working in the group of occupant and VRU safety and his research focus are Human Body Models. He obtained his PhD at the Vehicle Safety Institute at Graz University of Technology in 2017.

Haiyan Li is a professor and doctoral supervisor at Tianjin University of Science and Technology in China and the director of International Research Association on Emerging Automotive Safety Technology. She holds prestigious positions including membership in the Professional Degree Education Guidance Committee of the Tianjin Municipal People’s Government Degree Committee as well as Vice Chairmanship of the Traffic Injury and Trauma Database Study Group within the Trauma Branch of the Chinese Medical Association. Dr. Li and her team are engaged in research in the fields of automotive safety and injury biomechanics. She has published more than 100 academic papers.

Thanassis Lioras pursued his diploma in Mechanical Engineering at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, followed by completing his master's thesis in Computational Mechanics at the National Technical University of Athens. Since 2008, he has been working at BETA CAE Systems SA, contributing as a software developer specialized in Crash and Safety applications. Over the past few years, he has played a pivotal role in the development of tools for Human Body Models, collaborating closely with the relevant communities. Currently, he serves as a Senior Supervisor in the Crash and Safety Applications department.

Dr. Galal Mohamed has over 15 years’ experience in using and supporting LS-DYNA in the aerospace and automotive industry. He has a doctorate in aerospace engineering in the field of FRP composite lightweight structures. Galal is the technical support engineer at Arup for LS-DYNA and Oasys Suite – the advanced pre- and post-processing software for LS-DYNA. He currently supports automotive clients in the UK and helps support the development of many tools and features including those for occupant positioning and human body modelling.

Lena Pett completed her Master of Science in Human Movement Analytics, specializing in Biomechanics, Motor Control and Learning, in late 2023. Since May 2024, she has been working as a Research Assistant at the Traffic Accident Research in Dresden, where her work focuses on traffic injury biomechanics, GIDAS-based crash data analysis, multivariate statistical modeling, data science, and the development of injury risk functions. Previously, she worked at the Laboratory for Biomechanics and Implant Research in Heidelberg, where she investigated the fracture behavior of coupling mechanisms in rotating-hinge knee prostheses as part of her master's thesis.

Bengt graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from Chalmers University in 1989. In 1996 a dissertation in the area of injury prevention was successfully defended. In 1996 he joined Autoliv Research where he from 2005 – 2025 was director. In 2025 he joined Volvo Cars as a Technical Leader in Injury Prevention methods. Since 2016 he is also an adjunct professor in protective systems at Chalmers University. The research interests are in the area of biomechanics, human body modelling, injury mechanisms and injury prevention.

Dr. Felix Ressi has been a researcher at the Vehicle Safety Institute of Graz University of Technology in Austria since 2016. He completed his PhD in 2024, where he conducted stochastic human body model (HBM) simulations in a generic vehicle environment to advance occupant safety research using HBMs. Currently, he manages several industry projects focused on occupant safety, working with a variety of HBMs.

Frank Schoenmakers has 30 years of experience in automotive safety. Over the course of his career, he has been active in both numerical simulations of crash tests as well as the execution of physical crash tests. He has worked at leading institutes such as TNO from 1997 till 2012 and at several Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), including Volkswagen, Porsche and Nissan. In addition, he has developed substantial expertise in accident reconstruction, including the analysis of crash dynamics and the assessment of injury severity.

Dr. Karthik Somasundaram is an injury biomechanics researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin, with a joint appointment in Biomedical Engineering at Marquette University. His research focuses on occupant safety, crash injury mechanisms, human body modeling, and restraint biomechanics, with particular emphasis on vulnerable populations including children, females, obese occupants, and reclined occupants. His work combines real-world crash data, PMHS sled testing, ATD evaluation, and computational modeling to improve vehicle safety and injury prevention.

Dr. Soni is working as Product Manager at Humanetics Innovative Solutions, Inc., leading the development and management of advanced digital products that drive innovation in automotive safety and biomechanics. With over 20 years of experience in occupant safety research and product development, he has participated in the development and validation of several Human Body Models (HBMs) that are now widely used across the industry. His expertise spans HBM applications in restraint system design, with a focus on developing and implementing virtual testing solutions to improve crashworthiness and occupant protection. Passionate about innovation in digital safety solutions, Dr. Soni is committed to integrating cutting-edge technologies into occupant protection strategies.

Dr. Aravind Sundararajan is a Research Engineer at Elemance, LLC, where he develops methods and software for positioning, evaluating, and visualizing finite element human body models. He holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Tennessee and has expertise in computational biomechanics, rigid-body dynamics, computer graphics, and engineering visualization. His work focuses on making complex human body modeling and simulation workflows more efficient, intuitive, and accessible to engineers and researchers.

Ananthu Nath Suresh Kumar is a Master's thesis student at PSW Automotive Engineering, conducting occupant safety research in collaboration with AUDI, with a focus on Submarining behavior and the application of ATDs and Human Body Models for vehicle safety assessment. He is currently pursuing Master's degree in International Automotive Engineering at Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt (THI). Previously, he worked as a Student Research Assistant at the CARISSMA Research Institute and contributed to the international research community as a second author at the 10th BETA CAE Before Reality International Conference, presenting research on ATDs and Human Body Models.

Stefano Tomassi is a PhD candidate at Politecnico di Torino (Italy). His research activity focuses on the application of Human Body Models to vehicle passive safety. He holds a Master's degree in Automotive Engineering from Politecnico di Torino; he developed his Master's thesis in collaboration with the University of Stuttgart (Germany), where he worked on the safety evaluation of cyclists through Anthropometric Test Devices and Human Body Models.

Christoph Vieler has been serving as Head of Functional Development for Occupant Protection Front at Volkswagen AG since August 2024. In this role, Christoph Vieler is responsible for both virtual design and testing approvals. A particular focus of the position is the further development and application of human body models. Prior to this role, Christoph Vieler held various leadership positions at Volkswagen AG, including roles in virtual functional validation and testing operations. Christoph Vieler studied Mechanical Engineering with a specialization in Aerospace Engineering at the Technical University of Braunschweig and graduated in 1998 with a degree in Engineering (Dipl.-Ing.).