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Walter D. Pilkey
Frederick Tracy Morse Professor
Telephone: (434) 924-3291
Office: MEC 334
Walt Pilkey is the Frederick Tracy Morse Professor of Mechanical Engineering. He is also a Professor of Neurosurgery. He has been at the University of Virginia for about 30 years and is the Director of the University's Impact Biomechanics Program.
Dr. Pilkey's research interests are in computational structural mechanics, optimization, and injury biomechanics. He teaches courses in solid and structural mechanics.
After a rather lengthy tour in Afghanistan to assist in setting up a School of Engineering at Kabul University, Dr. Pilkey worked at the IIT Research Institute in Chicago. He then joined the Aerospace Engineering Department of the University of Virginia. His research has been in the development of the methodology to uncouple longitudinal structural analyses from cross-sectional analyses. Also, he has been investgating the technology for the determination of the limiting performance of mechanical systems subject to impact loading.
The centerpiece of the Impact Biomechanics Program is a high-speed impact sled, which is located in the University of Virginia's Automobile Safety Laboratory. A variety of experimental impact injury studies are performed there. Complementary finite element and multibody modeling of human injuries and crashing vehicles are an integral part of this research.
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