People
Luke E. Riexinger, Ph.D.
Luke Riexinger is the PI of the SAFETY IMPACT Lab and an Assistant Research Professor in the Center for Injury Biomechanics at Virginia Tech. He received his PhD from the Virginia Tech – Wake Forest School for Biomedical Engineering and Science in 2021. His research focuses on using current crash data to understand the future challenges of crash and injury prevention.
Current Graduate Research Engineers
Raymond Crump
My name is Eugene 'Ray' Crump IV and I am a 2nd year Master's Student in the SAFETY IMPACT Lab. I graduated in May 2022 from Virginia Tech with a Bachelors in Engineering Science and Mechanics with a focus in biomechanics. I was named a GEM Fellow in 2022 by Virginia Tech and the National GEM Consortium. My research focuses on human factors in bicycle crashes.
Email: cray2@vt.edu
Linkedin: @eugene-crump-iv
See Ray's work here.
L. Garrett Bangert
My name is L. Garrett Bangert and I am a second-year PhD student in the SAFETY IMPACT lab and in the Collins Lab. I am co-advised by both Dr. Luke Riexinger and Dr. Caitlin Collins. I graduated from Purdue University with my bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering in 2018 and am now studying biomedical engineering at Virginia Tech. My research is about modeling bone fractures in vehicle crash events. I am interested in rock climbing, outdoors activities, jiu jitsu, and gardening outside of my work.
Email: blaurence@vt.edu
Linkedin: @garrett-bangert
See Garrett's work here.
Katelyn Kleinschmidt
I am a 2nd year Masters student in the SAFETY IMPACT lab. I received my undergraduate degree in 2020 here at Virginia Tech in Mechanical Engineering. Go hokies! After graduation I worked at General Motors in their rotational program. I worked in Safety Vehicle Performance, Vehicle Safety CAE, Active Safety, and Engineering Analysis. I decided to put my industry work on pause and come back to school to further my education in an area that I enjoy. My research focuses on driver’s behaviors in intersections using real-world data to build a model to predict potential unintended outcomes that could come from a vehicle equipped with IADAS systems.
Email: kakl24@vt.edu
Linkedin: @katelyn-kleinschmidt
See Katelyn's work here.
Current Undergraduate Interns
- Abigail Kleinschmidt (2023-Present)
- Katrina Peralta (2022- Present)
- Ed Shangin (2022-Present)
- Kyle Casazza (2022-Present)
- Stephanie Bandy (2021-Present)
- Teddy Bird (2021-Present)
Lab Alumni
Gradute Student Alumni
- Morgan Dean, Ph.D. Linkedin
- Max Bareiss, Ph.D. Linkedin
- Samantha H. Haus, Ph.D. Linkedin, Dissertation
- Colin P. Smith Linkedin
Intern Alumni
- Michael Wilson (2022)
- Leah Solomon (2022)
- Michael Daanen (2022)
- Teddy Lubash (2022)
- Kyle Brown (2021-2023)
- Nikhil Pradeep (2021-2023)
- Allie Huszcza (2021-2022)
- Timothy Vaughan (2021-2022)
- Justin Laiti (2021-2022)
- Christopher Forgash (2021)
- Jack Arbolino (2020-2022)
- Ali Haynes (2020-2022)
- Jordan Moon (2020-2021)
- Joseph-Brandon Gopiao (2020-2021)
- Andrew Galloway (2020-2021)
- Brady Siegel (2019-2021)
In Memorium
Dr. H. Clay Gabler
Dr. H. Clay Gabler was the Samuel Herrick Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics at Virginia Tech. Clay established himself as an expert in crash analysis while working at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). After completing his PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in 1998 from Princeton University, he began the SAFETY IMPACT Lab at Rowan University. In 2005, Clay relocated the lab to Virginia Tech.
Over the 22 years leading the lab, Clay dedicated his time investigating challenges in transportation safety. Clay received numerous honors including becoming a Fellow to the Society of Automotive Engineers and receiving the Award of Merit from the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine. Even with all of his accomplishments, Clay was most proud of his students.
Contact Information
Dr. Luke E. Riexinger
445 Kelly Hall
325 Stanger St. MC 0194
Blacksburg, VA 24061
riexinger@vt.edu
Faculty Webpage