Phillip Whitley, Ph.D., received the 2018 John Paul Stapp Award for his 35 years of experience in developing requirements and protective means for humans in the extreme environments of sustained acceleration, pilot ejection, helicopter crashes, and aircraft vibration, including the assessment of injury risk and severity.
Whitley’s developments of advanced manikins, comprehensive biodynamic models, and spine and neck injury criteria have helped predict and mitigate injuries during aircraft operations. The award was presented during AsMA Honors Night Ceremonies, May 10, 2018, at the Hilton Anatole Hotel, in Dallas, TX.
The award is named after Colonel John Paul Stapp (1910-1999), M.D., Ph.D., who was an American career U.S. Air Force officer, flight surgeon, physician, biophysicist, and pioneer in studying the effects of acceleration and deceleration forces on humans. He was a colleague and contemporary of Chuck Yeager, and became known as “the fastest man on earth” subjecting himself to sled and aircraft tests to better understand the acceleration tolerance of humans.
“CFDRC is proud to have the caliber of award winning researchers such as Dr. Whitley,” Sameer Singhal, president and CEO, CFD Research Corporation said. “The work he and his team are doing in the area of aircrew safety and injury prevention has a direct impact on the well-being of our nation’s warfighters as recognized by the AsMA and in the spirit of Colonel Stapp.”
Dr. Whitley was born and raised in North Carolina and attended North Carolina State University, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Biochemistry. He received his Ph.D. in Bioengineering, with minors in both Electrical and Computer Engineering, from Clemson University in 1983. He has worked at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in Warminster, PA, in a variety of positions. He held the position of professor at multiple universities in the Neurosurgery Department as well as Biomedical and Electrical Computer Engineering departments. In 2009 he took his current position as Manager of Soldier Protection Programs at CFD Research Corporation.
A Fellow of AsMA, Dr. Whitley is a Past President of the Life Science and Biomedical Engineering Branch (LSBEB) and a recipient of both the Professional Excellence Award in 2008 and the A. Howard Hasbrook Award for safety, survivability, and crashworthiness. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE. He has published several peer-review articles and book chapters, and made dozens of presentations including many at AsMA meetings.
