Conference Highlights

General Session Speakers

Aditya Belwadi

Dr. Aditya Belwadi, Research Scientist at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, will present: Overview of Pediatric Biomechanics – Now and Next. This presentation will include the latest research with anthropometric test devices (crash test dummies) and computer models of pediatric subjects. Dr. Belwadi will also cover the role of design for safety in autonomous vehicles.

Julie Mansfield

Dr. Julie Mansfield, Research Engineer in Biomechanics Research at The Ohio State University, will answer the question – what happens when a rear-facing child is involve in a rear impact crash? Dr. Mansfield’s presentation, How Rear-facing CRS Work in Rear-impact Crashes, will investigate both field data and crash test of this scenario, as well as how to communicate the science effectively to caregivers who ask about rear impact crashes.

Alan Korn

Alan Korn, JD, will review what child passenger safety technicians and instructors need to think about while planning and conducting child occupant protection programs in his talk, Protecting Yourself and Your Organization from Liability. Mr. Korn is a nationally recognized expert on the government’s role in child injury prevention and liability issues associated with community-based safety programs, and former director and general counsel for Safe Kids USA.

Denise Donaldson

Denise Donaldson, owner of Safe Ride News Publications, and the publisher of the Safe Ride News newsletter, the LATCH Manual, and the School Bus Safety Handbook, will provide an update on all things technical on tethering, including in pickups in the general session, Tethering: Getting from Point A to Point B. Ms. Donaldson will also present two workshop sessions on the new LATCH manual.

Jase Herring and Mike Guidry

Jase Herring and Mike Guidry will co-present an Overview of the CORE/Operation Kids Programs, which are training programs for law enforcement officers who are not Child Passenger Safety Technicians to familiarize them with the Texas child passenger law, common car seat misuses, and local resources for referrals to caregivers needing assistance with child passenger safety.

Lunch Speakers

Terry Smith

Tuesday, July 30

Hear Terry tell the compelling story of his journey from small town police officer to child passenger safety advocate for life.

Maggi Gunnels

Wednesday, July 31

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Region 6 Administrator, Maggi Gunnels, will share the NHTSA perspective on child passenger safety and the certified technician program’s importance to traffic safety.

Conference Emcee

Bob Wall

Child Passenger Safety Hall-of-Famer, Bob Wall, is this year’s conference Emcee. Bob hails from Fairfax County, Virginia, but is no stranger to Texas and is known throughout the country for his storehouse of knowledge and wisdom, historical and current, in the child passenger safety field, in addition to his Texas-size warm personality.