Mechanical engineering student wins best paper award at Stapp Car Crash Conference

Mechanical engineering Ph.D. student Anil Kalra won first place in the John W. Melvin Best Student Paper Competition at the 59th Stapp Car Crash Conference in New Orleans. Kalra's paper, "Characterization of Human Rib Biomechanical Responses due to Three-Point Bending," was co-authored with graduate students Tal Saif, Ming Shen, assistant professors Xin Jin and Feng Zhu, research associate Paul Begeman and professor King H. Yang. The paper details the effects of car crashes on human ribs. The award comes with a $1500 cash prize.

Dr. John Cavanaugh, interim chair of the biomedical engineering department, served as chair of the conference, which focuses on impact biomechanics, human injury tolerance, and related fields that advance the knowledge of land-vehicle crash injury protection. "It was wonderful to see Wayne State student research recognized at this conference," said Cavanaugh