Chiara Silvestri Dobrovolny

Chiara Silvestri Dobrovolny’s presentation at the ATLAS Center Symposium Series at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) was well attended by 30 researchers and staff.

Dr. Silvestri Dobrovolny presenting on roadway safety at UMTRI

Chiara with her host Dan Blower from UMTRI

Hosting dinner at the downtown Ann Arbor restaurant Grizzly Peak with UMTRI researchers and Chiara and husband Scott

Chiara received a bundle of Michigan’s winter weather

Dan Blower and Lidia Kostyniuk, ATLAS Research Coordinator, made sure Chiara was able to experience pushing the infamous cube near the diag of the University of Michigan Central Campus

What would a visit to Ann Arbor be like without going to a U-M game at the Big House? Looking a bit sparse in the crowd… (Chiara and husband Scott)

Event Flyer

As part of the ATLAS Center Symposium Series, please join TTI researcher and collaborator, Chiara Silvestri Dobrovolny, PhD, for her presentation:

Roadside Safety: Design and Full-Scale Crash Testing of Roadside Barriers to Enhance Safety-Applications and Results

Wednesday, November 19th
11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
McCormick Conference Room
Lunch Provided (RSVP: Beth Jakubowski - [email protected])

She will show practical examples on how engineering structural skills are applied to design and evaluate roadside (but not only) appurtenances through computer simulations and full-scale crash testing.

Event Flyer

Biography:

Dr. Silvestri Dobrovolny is an Associate Research Scientist at the Roadside Safety and Physical Security Division at TTI. She holds a Laurea in Aerospace Engineering from Politecnico of Milan, Italy, and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). She conducted her dissertation in LS-DYNA nonlinear finite element model simulation of impacts of the human lower limb for investigation of fracture mechanism during car crash events. In 2012 she started her research position at TTI and she has served since then as investigator on studies sponsored by FHWA and various state agencies. Dr. Silvestri Dobrovolny specialized in the field of structures with an emphasis on occupant protection and highway safety.

Dr. Silvestri Dobrovolny has extensive experience in applied research dealing with the design, analysis, testing, and evaluation of highway safety appurtenances, and is well familiar with the impact performance guidelines presented in MASH. She has made contributions to the evaluation of a number of roadside safety devices, including guardrails, median barriers, guardrail/bridge rail transitions, guardrail end treatments and breakaway sign supports, and has developed guidelines for their use. She has co-authored more than 30 publications in this field and is currently serving as a member of Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committee AFB20, “Roadside Safety Design”. Her active research includes finite element methods applied to different fields, from impact and structural mechanics to biomechanical applications. Dr. Silvestri Dobrovolny also has a wide range of experience in the development, validation, and use of computer simulation in the design, analysis, and evaluation of highway safety appurtenances and roadside geometric features. Her research accomplishments include suggestion of selection, placement, crashworthy analysis and policy definition with regards to roadside barrier installation.