H. Clay Gabler III, an associate professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering at Virginia Tech, has won the SAE International's Lloyd L. Withrow Distinguished Speaker Award.
Gabler was one of 13 engineers and academics honored during this year’s SAE International World Congress. Established in 1984, the award recognizes individuals who are three-time or more recipients of the association’s Oral Presentation Award.
The award honors presentations by Gabler, including a 2007 speech at a SAE event, where he discussed “black boxes” in automobiles. The devices, designed to record data in the event of a crash, can provide clues on the operation of safety air bags in a real-world environment versus the lab. The recording devices are in an estimated 60 million to 70 million cars, including those whose owners don’t know about the boxes, Gabler said. “We know how advanced air bags work in a lab, but not on the highway,” he said.
Gabler is the assistant head of the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences and a member of the Center of Injury Biomechanics. Previously, he served as a research program manager at the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
He has published more than 90 technical papers, covering vehicle crashworthiness, injury biomechanics, roadside safety, and crash epidemiology and compatibility. Previous honors include the SAE Ralph H. Isbrandt Award, the SAE Ralph R. Teetor Award, a Dwight D. Eisenhower Fellowship, Princeton’s Luigi Crocco Prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
He earned his doctorate in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University.
The award is named for the late Lloyd L. Withrow, former head of General Motors Research Laboratories Fuels and Lubricants. It is funded through the SAE Foundation. In addition to supporting the awards, recognition and scholarship programs of SAE International, the SAE Foundation develops and funds programs and incentives that foster student interest in engineering, scientific and technical education.