Justin Schorr, collision reconstruction engineer at DJS Associates and adjunct professor of Civil Engineering at The George Washington University, presents a seminar entitled “Ambivalent Automation” as part of the C2SMART Distinguished Speaker Series.
Abstract
Recent crashes involving vehicles while they were operating in an automated mode have brought further confusion to the already cloudy landscape of driverless cars. Overreactions and disinformation pervade the media narrative on the topic, complicating matters even further. As a result, there is a need for a philosophical and physics-based framework by which automated collision events can be analyzed and understood. This research explores a multi-disciplinary approach in an attempt to bridge the gap between the theoretical, social, and physical aspects of automated vehicle collisions. Approaching the problem with foundations in both automated vehicle research and development, as well as physics-based collision reconstruction, provides unique opportunities for the emergence of new understandings through the marriage of the unbounded optimism and adventure of the research world with the hardened practicality of the real world.
Bio
Dr. Justin P. Schorr earned his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University in 2008 and earned his Master’s (2010) and Doctorate (2015) degrees (Civil Engineering focused in Transportation) from The George Washington University in Washington, DC. Dr. Schorr has also completed specialized training in Collision Reconstruction from the Northwestern University Center for Public Safety, Event Data Recorders (EDR), and he is a certified drone pilot licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Dr. Schorr’s most valuable training, however, comes from a lifetime of education provided by his father and grandfather – both of whom are Collision Reconstruction Engineering Professionals. Currently, Dr. Schorr serves as an adjunct professor of Civil Engineering at The George Washington University and is employed full time at DJS Associates (A forensic consulting firm in the Philadelphia, PA area) as a collision reconstruction engineer.
Prior to joining DJS full time in 2015, Dr. Schorr was an active member of the academic research community publishing four peer-reviewed journal articles and eight refereed conference papers in the field of transportation safety and driver behavior. While still at GW, Dr. Schorr provided one on one presentations at the request of Mr. Ed Gillespie (former Gubernatorial Candidate in Virginia), Major John Bell (Delegate 87th District, Virginia), David Birtwistle (CEO Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance), and Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (10th District, Virginia) and was intimately involved in giving back to the community as he delivered Keynote Addresses in 2013, 2014, and 2015 at GW’s Science and Technology Engineering Day and in 2013 for Schools Without Walls.
Dr. Schorr’s specialties are focused mainly in three areas: traffic and transportation engineering, applied mathematics, and intelligent systems engineering. Specific to collision reconstruction and intelligent vehicles, Dr. Schorr is well trained in traffic engineering and highway safety, highway design, intelligent transportation and control systems, vehicle dynamics, real world crash investigation and analysis, and crash test analysis – and has offered courses at GW such as Sustainable Urban Dynamics, Intelligent Transportation Systems, Highway Design, and Transportation Engineering.
Event Details:
Thursday, April 19 at 11 a.m.
6 Metrotech Center, 4th Floor
