Dr. Ann Mallory wins the 2021 J. Cordell Breed Award for Women Leaders

Dr. Ann Mallory, adjunct assistant professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering, has been awarded the 2021 J. Cordell Breed Award for Women Leaders by the Society of Automotive Engineers.

The award was established in 1999 by the SAE Women Engineers Committee is designed to recognize women active in all sectors of the mobility industry who have achieved the best balance of life both professionally and personally.

Mallory has been at The Ohio State University since 2008. She received her PhD in 2014 and became an adjunct assistant professor in 2017. She also works at the Transportation Research Center Inc. (TRC) as a research scientist where she is assigned on contract to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Vehicle Research and Test Center.

“I have been standing on the shoulders of giants throughout my career: I have benefited from the work of experts in my field, including colleagues at Ohio State and TRC, relying on their work and learning from them how to be a better engineer and researcher,” Mallory said. “This recognition feels like a reminder that all of that help is a debt that needs to be repaid and that I have a responsibility to support others in their research and their careers.”

Mallory worked for many years in biomechanics research at Biodynamics Engineering Inc. and at TRC before deciding to return to school to pursue a part-time PhD in 2008. She already had undergraduate and masters’ degrees in Systems Design Engineering and Biomedical Engineering from the University of Waterloo and the University of Southern California respectively.

“My interests and work have always been more aligned with Mechanical Engineering.  Since I was already collaborating with colleagues at Ohio State, the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering was a natural fit,” She said. “To be candid, a part-time PhD was challenging. I had a full-time job and a family and there were some semesters when I forgot what had motivated me to begin.  But apart from running out of hours in the day, I really enjoyed my mechanical engineering course work, I have never felt as smart as the week I took my mechanical engineering qualifying exams, and I felt very lucky to work on a project that I was passionate about!”

As a doctoral student, Mallory worked with Jim Schmiedeler, who is now at Notre Dame, and Rebecca Dupaix, a professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering, on research focused on ultrasound imaging methods to track brain motion during experimental testing using postmortem human subjects.

Mallory’s current research is still focused on motor vehicle crash safety with projects focused on protection of pedestrians and older occupants in motor vehicle crashes, predictive modeling of crash and injury outcomes in the future, quantification of disability in crashes, and motorcycle helmet safety.

She is also continuing her doctoral work in collaboration with Dr. Yun Seok Kang of Ohio State’s Injury Biomechanics Research Laboratory and ME doctoral candidate Angela Tesny using the ultrasound imaging techniques developed a decade ago to evaluate subdural hematoma injury risk.

Mallory pointed out the close ties that TRC and Ohio State engineering faculty have always had.

“In addition to research collaborations, there is a long history of TRC engineers studying or working as engineering faculty at Ohio State and of Ohio State engineers coming to TRC to work after graduation. Currently, TRC has research under way in all areas of mobility research, including automated and connected mobility, aerodynamics and aeroacoustics, simulation, vehicle dynamics and electrification, and biomechanics,” she said. “I’d be happy to talk more with anyone interested in hearing more about potential opportunities for collaborative work or employment openings at TRC!”