Background
Mr. Chris Phan holds a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on mechanical design from California State University, Fullerton (CSUF). His graduate project thesis focused on improving crash safety structures in passenger vehicles. Through the research he conducted at CSUF, he gained extensive knowledge of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) crash tests and standards, modern vehicle safety features, along with experience of finite element analysis to simulate crashes.
Mr. Phan has performed accident reconstructions and engineering analyses on hundreds of collisions involving passenger vehicles, pedestrians, commercial heavy vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles, and rollovers. His engineering focus includes vehicle and site inspections utilizing laser measurements, drone surveys, event data recorder access and interpretation, crash testing, re-enactments, visibility studies, traffic signal analysis, vehicle dynamics, rollover dynamics, mechanical failure analysis, and design evaluation.
Education and Certifications
- Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Design, M.S.: CSU Fullerton
- Public Health Sciences, B.S.: UC Irvine
- Crash Data Retrieval Technician
- SAE Accident Reconstruction Certification
- Part 107 UAS Remote Pilot Certification
Publications
- Phan, C., Meza Buendia, S., Nguyen, B., Fatzinger, E. et al. (2023) “Electric Motorcycle Acceleration, Braking, and Regenerative Coast-Down Deceleration Testing and Analysis”, SAE Technical Paper 2023-01-0631, 2023.