The heavy truck industry has been slow to adopt many advances in safety and technology that are currently considered standard equipment in passenger vehicles. This webinar will provide an update for…
Erik Anderson is an automotive engineer with nearly twenty years of professional experience, fourteen of which was working directly for automotive manufacturers. He has direct design and testing experience in vehicle structures, crashworthiness, and closure systems engineering. Erik applies his expertise to expert witness investigations pertaining to vehicle crashworthiness, crash reconstruction, vehicle systems performance, and exterior/interior upper body mechanisms.
Upon completion of his degree in Mechanical Engineering, Erik worked for 8 years with Nissan. There, he held positions in Body Design, Closures Design, and Crash Safety. As a Crash Safety engineer, he was responsible for ensuring achievement of dynamic safety targets, both on a component basis and as complete vehicle performance. This included work in both the virtual design phase by simulation analysis, as well as overseeing and analyzing physical crash testing. Erik performed design/test work on sedans, pickup trucks, crossovers, and cargo vehicles throughout the entire development lifecycle and into mass production.
Continuing his automotive career, Erik then worked at Honda Research & Development for 6 years, where he was responsible for closures design engineering as a design team chief. At Honda, Erik led a team of design engineers in developing all aspects of minivan slide doors. He also served as design chief for minor-model updates on pickup truck door and tailgate closures. Erik has expertise in all elements of upper body design, including structures, dynamic and static crash safety, sealing, NVH, power-door systems, latches, and exterior/interior components, among others.
Erik earned his Engineering degree from the University of Michigan, one of the nation's most respected programs. Throughout his career, he has accumulated a multitude of patents for key innovations in upper body design. His education and deep industry experience designing and testing vehicles qualify Erik to investigate a broad range of vehicle topics.
Provide technical investigations, crashworthiness and engineering, and accident reconstruction analysis.
Motor Vehicle Design, Development and Testing: from requirements, concept through validation field-testing of complete vehicles, including manufacturing. Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA) for products & process, DVP&R development, as well as writing trouble shooting and service procedures. Testing pre-production and production vehicles in extreme environments at or above rated capabilities. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) and other regulatory requirement compliance.
Motor Vehicle System Design, Development and Testing: body structure; closures structure; door hinges; door checkers; water sealing components; door handles; slide door rails & rollers; glass; window regulator; NVH components; door latches; exterior trim; power-slide door; crash beams; pinch detection; side impact; out of position airbag deployment; static door retention; electrical; head impact; roof crush; anti-corrosion; wind noise; and closures kinematics.
Motor Vehicle Failures: structural; air bag; seat belt; seat retention; steering; brakes; suspension; fatigue durability; power-slide door operation and pinch detection; water leak; wind noise; corrosion; latch operation; side impact injury; crash beams; window regulator operation and anti-pinch; door slam; head impact; roof crush, and door retention.
Motor Vehicle Repair: diagnosis and/or repair of suspension and steering systems, conventional and anti-lock brake systems, closures, window regulators, water sealing, door latches, power slide door, fuel system, primary and supplemental restraint systems, lighting/ electrical, interior/exterior components and systems, interaction of dealers and manufacturers, and safety recall repairs. Proper use of service repair tools and equipment, repair procedures and shop operations.
Manufacturing Process and Equipment: extrusion; molding; pneumatic and DC powered tools, hand tools, torque verification means and methods, fit and finish control, statistical process control (SPC), stamping, body-in-white (BIW) structure assembly, adhesives; welding (TIG/MIG/RSW), machining, roll forming, mistake and error proofing, poka-yoke, kaizen activities, operator protection means and methods, and operator ergonomics.
Vehicle Accident Reconstruction: inspection of damaged vehicle and components. Site inspection. Review of police report, witness statements, scene photos and other documents. Computational recreation of the accident using facts and scientifically accepted methodology to determine how the accident occurred, including elements within the accident. All to determine cause(s) of the accident, including the resulting severity.
Associate
2018 to presentProvide technical investigations, analysis, reports and testimony toward the resolution of commercial and personal injury litigation involving vehicle collisions, vehicle crashworthiness and engineering issues, mechanical defects and malfunctions, and vehicle repair issues for passenger cars, light trucks, SUVs and medium trucks.
Senior Engineer
2012 to 2018Engineering design and team leadership for closure systems throughout product development cycle and production.
Senior Project Engineer - Safety Engineering
2004 to 2012Engineering design and test of automotive programs for North American models throughout product development cycle and production launch. Highlights include:
Senior Project Engineer – Body/Door Design Engineering
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2004
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) 1991-2005, 2018-present
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), 2018-present
National Association of Fire Investigators (NAFI), 2019-present
Michigan SAE Mini-baja racing team
German Minor
v. 05/13/22
The heavy truck industry has been slow to adopt many advances in safety and technology that are currently considered standard equipment in passenger vehicles. This webinar will provide an update for…