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Corina Sandu, PI and Lab Director

Corina Sandu

Education

  • Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering
    Dec. 2000, The University of Iowa, Iowa City
    Thesis: “Tracked Vehicle Modeling”
    Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey S. Freeman
  • M.S. in Mechanical Engineering 
    Aug. 1995, The University of Iowa, Iowa City
    Thesis: “Design of an Experiment to Determine the Relation between the Accelerator Pedal Position and the Throttle Angle”
    Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey S. Freeman
  • Engineer Diploma in Mechanics
    June 1991, University “Politehnica” of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
    Thesis: “Design of a 5.25 in. floppy disk drive”, Advisor: Dr. Eugen Grecu 

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Honors and Awards

  • 2023 FISITA Medal
  • 2022 EAEC-MVT Keynote Lecture, Timisoara, Romania
  • 2022 ISTVS Best Student Paper Award, Sept. 2022, Harbin, China
  • 2020 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Service, Virginia Tech, College of Eng., April 2020
  • Certificate of Recognition for 15 years of Service at Virginia Tech, April 2019
  • 2019 SAE Forest R. McFarland Award
  • 2018 ASME Certificate of Appreciation as Chair of the Design Engineering Division (DED)
  • Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow (elected Nov. 27, 2017)
  • 2017 SAE International Longtime Member Service Appreciation Certificate – 20 years
  • 2017 Certificate of Appreciation for serving in the SAE International’s Publications’ Board
  • 2017 SAE Certificate of Appreciation in Recognition of Outstanding Service in the SAE Engineering Meetings Board (EMB) as member-at -large
  • SAE Fellow (elected Oct. 12, 2017)
  • 2017 ISTVS Best Paper Award
  • 2017 CAR Keynote Lecture, Pitesti, Romania
  • Virginia Tech Teacher of the Week, April 17-23, 2017 (from CIDER)
  • 2016 CONAT Keynote Lecture, Brasov, Romania
  • 2016 IMSD Keynote Lecture, Montreal, Canada
  • 2015 ISTVS Collaborative Small Research Award
  • 2015 ASME VDC Appreciation Certificate for Service as 17th AVT Session Organizer
  • Two 2014 ISTVS Best Paper Awards
  • 2014 ASME DED Appreciation Award for Outstanding Service as 2nd DFD Conf. Chair
  • 2014 ASME DED Appreciation Award for Outstanding Service as 16th AVT Conf. Co-Chair
  • 2014 ASME VDC Appreciation Certificate for Service as 16th AVT Session Organizer
  • Certificate of Recognition for 10 years of Service at Virginia Tech, April 2014
  • 2013 ISTVS Best Poster Award
  • ASME DED Appreciation Award for Valued Services as 2012-2013 VDC Chair
  • 2013 ASME VDC Appreciation Certificate for Service as 15th AVT Session Organizer
  • 2013 SAE Rodica Baranescu Award for Technical and Leadership Excellence in Commercial Vehicles Engineering
  • 2013 SAE Forest R. McFarland Award
  • 2012 ASME DED Appreciation Award for Outstanding Service as 14th AVT Conf. Chair
  • 2012 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Service, Virginia Tech, College of Eng., April 2012
  • 2012 SAE International Longtime Member Service Appreciation Certificate – 15 years
  • 2012 CIFAVT Keynote Lecture, Chengdu, China 
  • ASME Fellow (elected Dec. 2011)
  • ISTVS Certificate of Appreciation as the Conf. Chair of the 17th Int. Conf. of the ISTVS, 2011
  • ASME DED Appreciation Award for Valued Services as 2010-2011 VDC Chair
  • 2011 ASME DED Appreciation Award for Outstanding Service as 13th AVTT Conf. Chair
  • 2010 ISTVS Best Paper Award
  • 2010 ASME DED Appreciation Award for Outstanding Service as 12th AVTT Conf. Chair
  • 2009 ASME VDC AVTT Conference Best Paper Award
  • 2009 ASME DED Appreciation Award for Outstanding Service as 11th AVTT Conf. Chair
  • 2008 ASME DED Appreciation Award for Outstanding Service as 10th AVTT Conf. Chair
  • 2008 ASME VDC Appreciation Certificate for Service as 10th AVTT Session Organizer
  • 2007 SAE Engineering Meetings Board Outstanding Oral Presentation Award
  • 2007 SAE International Longtime Member Service Award – 10 years
  • 2007 ASME VDC Appreciation Award for Outstanding Service as 9th AVTT Program Chair
  • 2007 SAE Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award
  • Dean’s List of instructors with teaching evaluations above 3.60 (out of 4), Fall “04, Fall “05
  • 2003 Professional Eng. Publishing Award from the Proc. of the IMechE Part K – J. of Multi-body Dynamics
  • Graduate Merit Fellowship; The University of Iowa, Iowa City 1996
  • Merit Fellowship (for students in top 0.5% at the Bucharest Polytechnic Institute),1990,1991
  • Second Prize; Senior students scientific papers competition, Bucharest, 1991

Affiliation with Professional Societies

  • American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
    • ASME Fellows Review Committee member, 07/23-06/26
    • Design Engineering Division (DED) Executive Committee:
      • Past Chair and Nominating Committee Chair 07/18-06/19
      • Chair, 07/17-06/18
      • Vice-Chair and Treasurer, 07/16-06/17
      • Technical Committees Executive, 07/14-06/16
      • Secretary, 07/13-06/14
      • Honors and Awards Nominations Committee member, 01/13-02/13
      • Nominating Committee; Chair 07/18-07/19; member 11/11-04/12
    • Multibody Systems and Nonlinear Dynamics (MSND) Technical Committee of DED:
      • Paper Competition Committee member, 2011, 2016, 2018
      • Member, 07/11-07/17
    • Vehicle Design Committee (VDC) of DED:
      • Chair, 08/10-09/13
      • Vice-Chair, 02/07-08/10
      • Member, 07/04-present
    • Dynamic Systems and Controls Division (DSCD):
      • Transportation Committee of DSCD member, 11/03-present
      • Member, 11/03-present
    • ASME Fellow since 12/11
      • Member since 1997
  • Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
    • SAE Committee on Publications Ethics, 07/19-present
    • SAE Fellows Committee
      • Chair, 12/20-04/22
      • Member, 11/18-11/20
    • SAE Publications Board (PUBs) member, 01/17-10/17
    • SAE Engineering Meetings Board (EMB) member-at-large, 01/16-10/17
      • Member on the EMB Membership Committee, 01/17-10/17
    • Vehicle Dynamics Standards Committee member, 04/12-09/13
      • Tire Test (for Tire Model Parameterization) Task Force member, 04/12-09/13
    • Women Engineers Committee member, 06/08-present
    • Ground Vehicle Reliability Committee member, 08/06-10/17
      • Terrain Modeling Task Force member, 06/08-04/13
    • Chassis Design and Vehicle Dynamics (CDVD) Committee (before merging with Braking and Steering Committee in 2014 it was named Chassis and Suspension Committee)
      • Chair, 2014 and 2015
      • Vice-Chair, 11/05-02/14
      • Member, 12/04-present
    • COMVEC Activity Committee member, 07-present
    • SAE Fellow since 10/17
    • Member, 09/02-present
    • Associate member, 1997-2002
  • International Society for Terrain-Vehicle Systems (ISTVS)
    • President of ISTVS, 08/20-present
    • 1st Vice-President of ISTVS, 09/17-08/20
    • 2nd Vice-President of ISTVS, 09/14-09/17
    • Education in Terramechanics Working Group leader, 09/12-present
    • ISTVS Standards Working Group member, 10/09-present
    • Planetary Surface Rovers Working Group member, 05/07-present
    • Member, 10/02-present
  • FISITA
    • Intelligent Safety Working Group corresponding member, 03/19-2020
    • Education Committee member, 09/20-present
  • Institute for Systems and Technologies of Information, Control and Communication (ISTICC)
    • Member, 05/17-present
  • Society of Automotive Engineers of Romania (SIAR)
    • Member, 01/17-present
  • International Multibody Systems Dynamics (IMSD)
    • Member of the International Steering Committee (ISC), 03/16-present
  • United States Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM)
    • Member, 03/15 – present
  • The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)
    • Member, 06/07-present
  • National Association of Professional Women (NAPW)
    • Member, 01/11-present
  • Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) at MTU
    • Member 11/99-05/03

Editorial Boards

Reviewer for Funding Agencies

  • Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems (MITACS), Canada
  • National Research Foundation (NRF), South Africa
  • Automotive Research Center (ARC), Army Research Center of Excellence
  • Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
  • South Carolina Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research and Institutional Development Awards (EPSCoR/IdeA) for Research Education Awards Program (REAP)
  • National Astronautic and Space Administration (NASA and NASA GRFP)
  • National Science Foundation (NSF and NSF GRFP)
  • Indiana 21 Century Fund

Peer Review Boards and Committees

  • International Advisory Board of Automobile Engineering, SRMIST, Department of Automobile Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chennai, India, since Feb. 2022.
  • Member on the Selection Committee for the Specialized Committees of the National Certification Council for Titles, Diplomas, and University Certificates (Consiliul Naţional de Atestare a Titlurilor, Diplomelor si Certificatelor Universitare, CNATDCU in Romanian) for 2020-2024, Romania, May 2020.
  • Partner Universities Representative on the Executive Committee of the Automotive Research Center (ARC), May 2012 – May 2013.
  • Member of the Evaluation Committee of Strategic Project POSDRU/5.1/S/2, “The Doctoral Degree in Schools of Excellence”, funded by the European Fund, Romania, July-Sept. 2011.
  • Served as external reviewer for promotion and tenure purposes in eight occasions, both nationally and internationally.

Reviewer for Publishers (Books & Proposals)

  • SAE Books (technical editor, since 2020)
  • John Wiley & Sons Limited (since 2014)
  • Cengage (since 2012)
  • Bentham (since 2009)
  • Springer (since 2007)
  • Elsevier Science and Technology Books (since 2006)

Reviewer of Journals

  • African J. of Agricultural Research (AJAR; since April 2013)
  • Ain Shams Engineering J. (since Oct. 2011)
  • AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics (JGCD; since June 2009)
  • American Institute of Aeronautics and Aerospace (AIAA) J. (since Nov. 2004)
  • Archive of Mechanical Engineering (since Oct. 2012)
  • ASME Applied Mechanics Reviews (since Feb. 2012)
  • ASME J. of Computational and Nonlinear Dynamics (JCND; since July 2009)
  • ASME J. of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control (JDMSC; since Feb. 2004)
  • ASME J. of Mechanical Design (JMD; since May 2005)
  • ASME J. of Vibrations and Acoustics (JVACEK; since March 2008)
  • Biosystems Engineering (since July 2009)
  • British J. of Applied Science and Technology (since April 2012)
  • Canadian Biosystems Engineering (since May 2009)
  • Computers and Structures (since Nov. 2006)
  • Engineering Computations. Int. J. for Computer-Aided Eng. And Software (since Sept. 2014)
  • European J. of Mechanics (since Dec. 2010)
  • Heliyon (since Mar. 2020)
  • IEEE Trans. on Intelligent Transportation Systems (since Aug. 2004)
  • IEEE Trans. on Mechatronics (since Sept. 2008)
  • IEEE Trans. on Robotics (since July 2007)
  • Int. J. for Numerical Methods in Engineering (since Sept. 2012)
  • Int. J. of Heavy Vehicle Systems (since May 2014)
  • Int. J. of Mechanical Sciences (IJMS, Elsevier; since Feb. 2012)
  • Int. J. of Mechanical Systems Science and Engineering (IJMSS; since April 2009)
  • Int. J. of Non-Linear Mechanics (since Oct. 2012)
  • Int. J. of Vehicle Mechanics and Mobility (since April 2006)
  • Int. J. of Vehicle Systems Modelling and Testing (IJVSMT; since April 2006)
  • Inverse Problems in Science and Engineering J. (since Feb. 2010)
  • J. of Agricultural Engineering (since Feb. 2020)
  • J. of Applied Mechanics (JAM, ASME; since July 2012)
  • J. of Communications in Nonlin. Sci. and Numerical Simulation (CNSNS; since July 2006)
  • J. of Engineering Mechanics (since Dec. 2014)
  • J. of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures (JIMSS; since July 2011)
  • J. of Sound and Vibration (JSV; since July 2011)
  • J. of Transportation Engineering (since March 2015)
  • J. of Vehicle Design (JVD; since 2009)
  • J. of Vehicle System Dynamics (JVSD; since Feb. 2004)
  • J. of Vibration and Control (JVC; since Oct. 2008)
  • J. of Terramechanics (since Nov. 2004)
  • Mathematical and Computational Modeling (since July 2011)
  • Mathematical Problems in Engineering (since May 2015)
  • Meccanica (since Nov. 2018)
  • Mechanics Based Design of Structures and Machines; an Int. J. (since July 2005)
  • Mechanisms and Machine Theory (since Sept. 2014)
  • Multibody System Dynamics (MSD; since June 2004)
  • Ocean Engineering (since Aug. 2015)
  • Open Physics (since Feb. 2020)
  • Proc. of the IMechE, Part C, J. of Mechanical Engineering Science (since Sept. 2019)
  • Proc. of the IMechE, Part D, J. of Automobile Engineering (since July 2012)
  • Proc. of the IMechE, Part I, J. of Systems and Control Engineering (since Oct. 2010)
  • Proc. of the IMechE, Part K, J. of Multibody Dynamics (since Feb. 2020)
  • SAE Int. J. of Commercial Vehicles (since May 2015)
  • Sensors (since Aug. 2015)
  • Shock and Vibration (since Dec. 2010)
  • Simulation: Transactions of the Society for Modeling and Simulation Int. (since March 2011)
  • Soil & Tillage Research (since April 2018)
  • The Aeronautical J. (since Oct. 2014)
  • Tire Science and Technology J. (since Dec. 2014)

Recent Professional Meetings, Panels, and Workshops

  • 2023
    • Scientific Committee member 16th European-African Regional Conf. of ISTVS, Oct. 11-13, 2023, Lublin, Poland
    • Symposium Co-organizer, “Symposium 7: Aadvances in Off-Road, Agriculture, Military, and Commercial Ground Vehicle Design and Testing”, The 25th Int. Conf. on AVT, ASME IDETC-CIE, Aug. 20-23, 2023, Boston, MA, USA.
    • Scientific Committee member, ECCOMAS Thematic Conf.  Multibody Dynamics 2023 to be held in Lisbon, Portugal July 24-28, 2023, Lisbon, Portugal
  • 2022
    • Conf. Honorary Committee member, Conf. Scientific and Technical Committee member, and Session Organizer, Terrain Vehicles Section, EAEC – MVT 2022, The 17th European Automotive Congress and The 32nd SIAR International Congress of Automotive and Transport Engineering, Oct. 26-28, 2022, Timisoara, Romania.
    • Session Chair, Technical Session 3: Mobility and NRMM, Part 1, The 2022 ISTVS Americas Symposium, Oct. 5-7, 2022, Montreal, Canada
    • Program Committee member, The 11th Asia-Pacific International Conf. of the ISTVS, Sept. 26-28, 2022, Harbin, China.
    • Symposium Co-organizer and Session Chair, “Symposium MSNDC-09 Optimization, Sensitivity Analysis, and Uncertainty Quantification in Dynamic Systems”, The 18th Int. Conf. on Multibody Systems, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Control (MSNDC), ASME IDETC, Aug. 14-17, 2022, St. Louis, MS, USA
    • Symposium Co-organizer and Session Chair, “Symposium 2: Advances in Tire Design, Tire Dynamics, and Tire-terrain Interaction”, The 24th Int. Conf. on AVT, ASME IDETC, Aug. 14-17, 2022, St. Louis, MS, USA
    • Scientific Committee member, UTAM Symposium “Optimal Design and Control of Multibody Systems – Adjoint Methods, Alternatives, and Beyond“, Technical University of Hamburg, July, 18-20, 2022, Hamburg, Germany.
  • 2021
    • Scientific Committee member, The ISTVS 20th Int. and 9th Americas Conf., Sept. 25-29, 2021, Montreal, Canada, online due to Covid-19.
    • Session Chair for “Session 2-2-D Modeling and Simulation”, The ISTVS 20th Int. and 9th Americas Conf., Sept. 25-29, 2021, Montreal, Canada, online due to Covid-19.
    • Session Chair for “St. Christopher Lecture”, The ISTVS 20th Int. and 9th Americas Conf., Sept. 25-29, 2021, Montreal, Canada, online due to Covid-19.
    • International Scientific Committee member, The International Conference on Machine Design 2021 (MD2021), Sept. 9-10, 2021, Porto, Portugal.
    • Symposium Co-organizer and Session Chair, “Symposium 2: Advances in Tire Design, Tire Dynamics, and Tire-terrain Interaction”, The 23rd Int. Conf. on AVT, ASME IDETC, Aug. 17-20, online due to Covid-19.
    • Symposium Co-organizer for Tire/Wheel Technology panel session at COMVEC™ Technology Connection, Hyatt Regency O’Hare, Sept. 14-16, 2021, hybrid due to Covid-19.
  • 2020
    • Scientific Committee member, The ISTVS 20th Int. and 9th Americas Conf., Sept. 20-23, 2020, Montreal, Canada (postponed due to Covid-19).
    • International Program Committee member, VEHITS 2019, 5th International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems, 2-4 May, 2020, Prague, Czech Republic.
    • Scientific Committee member, The 19th Int. Conference on Applied Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering, organized by the Military Technical College, Cairo, Egypt, April 7-9, 2020, Cairo, Egypt.
    • Joint International Steering Committee (JISC) member, The 6th Joint Int. Conference on Multibody Dynamics (IMSD 2020) and the 10th Asian Conference on Multibody Dynamics (ACMD 2020), Nov. 1-5, 2020, New Delhi, India, (postponed due to Covid-19).
    • Session Co-Organizer and Co-Chair, “Optimization, Sensitivity Analysis, and Parameter Identification”, The 6th Joint Int. Conference on Multibody Dynamics (IMSD 2020) and the 10th Asian Conference on Multibody Dynamics (ACMD 2020), Nov. 1-5, 2020, New Delhi, India, (postponed due to Covid-19).
    • Symposium Co-organizer and Session Chair, “Symposium 2: Advances in Tire Design, Tire Dynamics, and Tire-terrain Interaction”, The 22nd Int. Conf. on AVT, ASME IDETC, Aug. 17-19, 2020, online due to Covid-19.
  • 2019
    • Session Chair, two sessions on “Road Vehicle and Environment”, The 30th SIAR International Congress of Automotive and Transport Engineering, Science And Management of Motor Vehicles and Transport, SMAT 2019, Oct. 23-25, Craiova, Romania.
    • Scientific Committee member, The 15th European-African Regional Conference of the ISTVS, Sept. 9-11, 2019, Prague, Czech Republic.
    • Session Chair, “Land Locomotion, off-road, and military vehicles operation, mud, snow, and ice, and bionics engineering to terramechanics”, The 15th European-African Regional Conference of the ISTVS, Sept. 9-11, 2019, Prague, Czech Republic.
    • Symposium Co-organizer and Session Chair for two of its sessions, “Symposium 1: Advances in Ground Vehicles Dynamics and Controls”, The 21st Int. Conf. on AVT, ASME IDETC, Aug. 18-21, 2019, Anaheim, CA, USA.
    • Symposium Co-organizer and Session Chair, “Symposium 2: Advances in Tire Design, Tire Dynamics, and Tire-terrain Interaction”, The 21st Int. Conf. on AVT, ASME IDETC, Aug. 18-21, 2019, Anaheim, CA, USA.
  • 2018
    • Program Committee member, The Joint 10th Asia-Pacific Conference of ISTVS and 39th Annual Meeting of Japanese Society for Terramechanics, July 11-13, 2018, Kyoto, Japan.
    • Session Co-organizer, “Dynamics of Vehicles”, The 5th Joint Int. Conf. on Multibody Dynamics (IMSD 2018), June 24-28, 2018, Lisbon, Portugal.
    • Session Chair, Session 1 and Session 3 of “Dynamics of Vehicles”, The 5th Joint Int. Conf. on Multibody Dynamics (IMSD 2018), June 24-28, 2018, Lisbon, Portugal.
    • International Program Committee Member, The 4th Int. Conf. on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems, VEHITS, March 16-18, 2018, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal.

Current Service to Virginia Tech

  • VT Budgeting and Planning Committee member
  • Campus Security Authority
  • Virginia Tech liaison with the Automotive Research Center (ARC)

Current Service to the College of Engineering (COE)

  • COE Graduate Curriculum Committee member
  • ME representative to COE Diversity & Inclusivity Committee

Current Service to the Mechanical Engineering Department

  • Honorifics Committee member
  • Faculty advisor of ISTVS at VT student chapter
  • Faculty advisor of ASME Student Organization
  • VT ME-TUD Administrative Committee member
  • Graduate Program Committee Chair
  • Graduate Admissions Committee Chair
  • Strategic Planning Committee member
  • Administrative Committee member
  • Associate Department Head for Graduate Studies
  • Promotion and Tenure Committee member
  • ME department faculty mentor

International Activity

  • Long-Term Visiting Scholar
    • Univ. of Compiégne, Sorbonne Universities, Compiègne, France, Oct. 1-31, 2017, visit for the EVE project
    • ITAINNOVA, Zaragoza, Spain, June 23-July 22, 2015, visit for the EVE project
  • Long-Term Faculty, Post-doctoral, or Doctoral Visitors Hosted or Co-hosted
    • Prof. Chen Liang, School of Automotive and Traffic Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, China, Aug. 7, 2018 — Aug. 6, 2019.
    • Dr. Daniel Dopico Dopico, Univ. of La Coruña, Coruña, Spain, June 11, 2018 — Sept. 10, 2018.
    • Mr. Jose Luis Boeno Lopez, Univ. Institute of Automobile Research, Madrid, Spain, Oct. 23 – Dec. 23, 2017.
    • Mr. Jose Luis Boeno Lopez, Univ. Institute of Automobile Research, Madrid, Spain, March 1 – July 1, 2016.
    • Dr. Qing Li, South China Agricultural University, China, Dec. 8, 2014 – March 10, 2016
    • Dr. Shawky Abd El-Hameed Hegazy, Faculty Military Technical College, Cairo, Egypt, June- Nov. 2009
    • Dr. Baolin Hou, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China, Aug. ’03-July ‘04
    • Mr. Tao Wu, China Helicopter R&D Institute, China, Aug. 2003 – July 2004
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