UWindsor International Crashworthiness Symposium

Monday, April 11, 2016

Automotive engineers from around the world will gather on April 11 at UWindsor’s International Crashworthiness Symposium to discuss the design of lighter-weight vehicles and innovations that improve fuel efficiency and vehicle safety.

The symposium also sets the stage for UWindsor to solidify the Cooperation Agreement on Novel Lightweight Technologies for Improved Crash Safety, along with the University of Waterloo and the German Aerospace Centre. The new partnership will see Canadian academics and German industry experts working together to find new ways of using lightweight materials for crash safety.

“The focus of the agreement is about collaborating and developing novel ways to dissipate energy in a crash, for the protection of people within vehicles,” said Dr. Bill Altenhof, professor of mechanical, automotive and materials engineering and an organizer of the symposium. “We are trying to think outside the box and apply innovative techniques to re-work traditional designs to bring vehicle structural crashworthiness to a new level of performance.”

Academic and industry experts will speak on various topics between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. in room 1100 at the Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation (CEI). The formal exchange of the cooperation agreement will take place at 12:30 p.m. in room 1100 with representatives from Germany and Waterloo. A Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) sponsored connecter event will follow at 5 p.m. in the main lobby of CEI. 

“When you are in a severe accident, your life, and many of those close to you, will change forever. With the economic burden of automobile crashes in North America in the billions of dollars per year, any contribution we can make has the potential to save so many lives and millions of dollars,” Altenhof said.

Registration is mandatory for the free event. For more information, please contact:

Dr. Bill Altenhof
(519) 253-3000
Extension: 
2619