Dr. Amber Rath Stern specializes in the fields of biomechanical analysis and mechanical engineering. She also has extensive experience in computational modeling, mechanical testing, inquiry and analysis of national motor vehicle injury and vehicle crash databases, and experimental design. Prior to joining ESi, Dr. Stern conducted research concerning eye injury mechanics and the biomechanics of bone as an Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. As a Research Engineer at Southwest Research Institute and a Graduate Assistant at Virginia Tech and Wake Forest's Center for Injury Biomechanics, she conducted a wide range of research in the fields of human injury tolerance, crash testing, and injury causation. While a Postdoctoral Fellow at the world-renowned Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Dr. Stern developed bioreactors and studied how cells and tissues respond to applied mechanical loads.
At ESi, Dr. Stern applies her expertise to a wide range of investigative scenarios, including accident reconstruction, slips, trips, and falls, product liability claims, workers’ compensation claims, premises liability claims, injury causation, and motor vehicle injury analysis, including restraints, ejection, and occupant kinematics. Dr. Stern has also been involved in the development and validation phases of several consumer and commercial products, and continues to collaborate with several universities on research funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Stern has received numerous national and international honors and awards, including the American Society of Biomechanics' Young Scientist Post-Doctoral Award and the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research Young Investigator Award. She regularly publishes in scientific journals and presents at conferences, with well over 100 articles, abstracts, and presentations to her name. Dr. Stern is an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and also serves as a reviewer for several international journals and conferences.
Areas of Expertise
Professional Associations
Publications
- Comparative Lumbar Spine Acceleration Data During Daily and Dynamic Activities, Tasks of Daily Driving, and Low Speed Lateral Vehicle Impacts, Biomedical Sciences Instrumentation, January 2019
- A Parametric Study of an Adaptive Load-Limiting Restraint System with Weight Sensing Considerations, Enhanced Safety of Vehicle, January 2019
- Head Acceleration Measurements During Vehicle Driving Tasks and Lateral Impacts Relative to Head Accelerations During Daily and Dynamic Activities, Biomedical Sciences Instrumentation, January 2019
- Methods of Accident Reconstruction: Biomechanical and Human Factors Considerations, ASME, January 2015
- Numerical Modeling of Paintball Impact Ocular Trauma: Identification of Progressive Injury Mechanisms, Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, January 2011
- Severe Upper Extremity Injuries in Frontal Automobile Crashes The Effects of Depowered Airbags, The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, January 2005
