Toyota Crash Safety Experience

• Main Author: Watson, Skylar
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Hope College Digital Commons 2016
• Subjects: Tundra
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/curcp_15/106

There are many paths that one can follow when graduating with a mechanical engineering degree, my interests and passions have drawn me towards the automotive field. As an intern at Toyota Motor Corporation, I was able to be involved with the testing and crash safety elements of many production vehicles. During this time I assisted crash safety engineers working on the Tundra, Sienna and Sequoia programs. Through this process I gained familiarity with the regulations and ratings systems set forth by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). A major focus of my work was to analyze crash safety test results and compare them to predicted component behaviors. Herein I discuss Out Of Position (OOP) injury margin testing, knee air bag reaction surface testing, and analysis of various test modes in preparation for vehicle hand over.