Center for Applied Biomechanics, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
Dr. Robert Salzar has over 35 years’ experience in the field of engineering mechanics, with the last 24 years focusing on injury biomechanics. After a two-year post-doctoral NRC appointment with the NASA-Glenn Research Center researching advanced aerospace composite materials, Dr. Salzar won appointment as an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at the City University of New York, focusing on advanced materials for aerospace and structural applications. His present appointment as Associate Research Professor at the Center for Applied Biomechanics at the University of Virginia has centered on the cause and prevention of both automotive and high-loading rate military injuries, with studies ranging from the investigation of lower extremity and pelvis/spine injuries as a result of under-vehicle blasts, to the development of physiological injury risk curves for the optimization of weight-optimized ballistic body armor. Dr. Salzar’s contribution to the study of head and brain injuries has included the effects of blast and blunt trauma on the head as it relates to TBI, as well as the evaluation, development, and final selection of helmet-mounted accelerometers for the Department of Defense. In addition to developing an operational blast brain criterion using living surrogates for the Department of Homeland Security, the most recent brain study involved the quantification of cavitation pressures on the human brain for DARPA. Dr. Salzar currently has over 75 refereed journal articles and over 100 conference publications in the fields of biomechanics and applied mechanics.
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
10:30 AM – 11:45 AM PT