Oct. 7, 2003
Building a Safer Future at the Virginia Campus
By Matt
Lindsay
GW and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)/National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) National Crash Analysis Center hosted more
than 250 guests from government, industry and academia on GWs Virginia
Campus Sept. 10, in celebration of the centers 10th anniversary
and the ceremonial groundbreaking of a new building for GWs Transportation
Research Institute (TRI). The new building will feature a full-scale indoor
crash test facility, a first for a facility based at a university campus.
Representatives from FHWA, NHTSA two federal groups who partner
with and help fund the National Crash Analysis Center (NCAC) and
GW highlighted the positive contribution the NCAC has already made and
will continue to make to automobile safety.
NCAC research and technology makes automobile travel on our roads
and highways a daily activity for many Americans a whole
lot safer, said GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg. This
venture demonstrates GWs commitment to be an institution that does
more than analyze a problem we help solve problems.
FHWA Deputy Administrator J. Richard Capka noted that while automobile
accidents are the leading cause of death for all Americans age 2 to 33,
research and technology have helped save additional lives. The work
were doing at the National Crash Analysis Center has led to better
decisions about roadside hardware standards and improved highway safety,
said Capka.
Crumpled cars previously used in crash tests, 3-D computer simulations
and child safety models introduced guests to some of the NCACs areas
of research and advancements in auto safety developed at the center. The
NCAC has helped to improve car safety belts, roadside hardware and computer
simulation of crashes.
The main attraction inside the new TRI building will be the full-scale
indoor crash test facility, which will be operated by the NCAC. The 80,000
square-foot building is slated to open in 2005.
The new facility will allow us to run the high-quality tests with
sophisticated instrumentation that is required for advanced safety research,
but without enormous costs, said Nabih E. Bedewi, director of the
NCAC and professor of engineering and applied science. Along with
the help of our partners in government, industry and academia, this new
facility will allow us to continue to conduct groundbreaking research
to help solve the total safety problem.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
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Related Link
Archive:
Virginia Campus Has a New Place to Crash
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