Kristen! Swim, Bike, Run! H+A Associate, Kristen E. Lipscomb, PhD, takes the gold in The Best of the West Triathlon in Foster, OR

When she’s not occupied analyzing the biomechanics of injury, conducting research on gait and spine biomechanics, guest lecturing in Forensic Engineering and Biomechanics, or caring for Trevor and Juniper, her four- and one-year old kids, H+A Biomechanical Engineer, Kristen Lipscomb, PhD, can sometimes be found racing triathlon. This September, Kristen took gold at the Best In The West Triathlon Festival in Foster, OR.

Gold in this case, as first Overall Female, comes in the form of a handmade horseshoe trophy and a home baked pie, apt rewards for this Western-themed rollick of a fun and energetic weekend. 

The Best In the West Triathlon Festival is the creation of Blair Bronson who, as a senior in need of an internship idea in Public Health Promotion and Behavior at OSU in 2011, decided to create something different from the "normal" public health path. He wanted to launch a business that would have a direct positive impact on the community and promote the active, healthy lifestyle that he—and now, his wife, Staci—embodies. 

The Best in the West Triathlon Festival is a fetching mix of all-ages athleticism and entertainment with a post-race BBQ, mixed team relays, games, camping, cold beer and cider, and giant cookies made from scratch.

Centered in Lewis Creek County Park, the races take athletes from back country roads to dense forests along Foster Lake and the Santiam River, through glorious views with total immersion in gorgeous Pacific Northwest nature. You can read more about the Festival, other races, and how to get involved as an athlete or volunteer here: https://www.bestinthewesttriathlon.com

As for Kristen, she has always been an athlete: in high school, she was involved in Soccer and Track & Field; in college, she played Ultimate Frisbee; and while earning her PhD, she got into running to stay fit and active, which eventually led to her first triathlon in 2013. In addition to shorter distance triathlons, and undeterred by a history of several sports injuries, Kristen has also completed an Ironman. If you know what that is, you’ll know enough to be impressed.  If you’re not quite sure what’s entailed, look it up and prepare to be inspired. Kristen enjoys training and racing triathlon and running events along with her husband, Ryan.

 Kristen’s Best in the West Olympic distance race involved a 0.9-mile swim, a 25-mile bike ride and a 6.2-mile run. And when it was all over, there was the victor Kristen, fit, healthy, smiling, and completely satisfied at the finish line.

At H+A, Kristen consults in the areas of injury biomechanics, orthopaedics, fall biomechanics and motor vehicle collision reconstruction. She is a Fully Accredited Traffic Accident Reconstructionist.

SING J SING! Former H+A Associate Rocks Monmouth Music in the Park with the Celtic Band, Coming Up Threes

Former H+A Associate, Jeremy Bauer, Plays his Irish Whistle with Coming Up Threes

When he is not running the Boston Marathon among the top 4% of finishers, or operating his own Seattle-based consulting company, Bauer Forensics, LLC, Dr. Jeremy J. Bauer, former Associate at Hayes+Associates, Inc, can be found playing the penny whistle, banjo, and bodhran in the kick-arse Celtic band Coming Up Threes.

https://comingupthrees.bandcamp.com

Coming Up Threes is a high-energy Celtic-influenced band which formed in Portland, OR in early 2012. In addition to Jeremy Bauer on whistles, banjo, bodhran, percussion and vocals, the band features Bill Tollner on guitar and lead vocals; Naoyuki Ochiai on fiddle and vocals; Charlie Norris on bass; and David Fender on drums.  

The band’s website explains it this way: “Coming Up Threes plays much of the traditional Irish pub repertoire, filtered through rock and roll, Americana and country sensibilities, to give many of these tunes a fresh, new sound. The music tactfully varies from melodic, orchestral instrumentals to stylized acapella arrangements, mixed with up-tempo, fist raising Celtic pub tunes.”

“The band regularly performs at summer concert series, pubs and festivals around the Pacific Northwest and has become a fan favorite at the Galway Bay Celtic Music Festival in Ocean Shores, WA each October.”

We recently caught the band rocking the town of Monmouth, home of Western Oregon University, 20 miles north of Corvallis.  In a fast-paced, humor-filled two-hour super gig, the band nailed tunes from Dirty Old Town to I’ll Tell Me Ma, laying down reels and jigs as if they’d just got off the boat from Dublin. 

The band has played the Monmouth Music in the Park series for several summers and remarked between songs how much they enjoy seeing the kids grow from babes in arms to joyful dancers. The whole park rocked in a foot-tapping, head bobbing, hand-clapping sing-along, and eight line dancers turned the show into a ceili, to the band’s delight.

Reflecting on the event the following day, Jeremy beamed: “What a fun night! Music, and just performing, is such an incredible treat for me,” he said.  “The relationship between band and crowd is one of my absolute favorite things.  EVERYONE is out for the same reason: to relax, enjoy life, family, friends and community.  The best!”

Bauer Forensics, LLC, www.bauerforensics.com provides expert witness services in the areas of injury biomechanics, products liability, orthopaedics, shooting reconstruction, visibility analysis, premises liability, collision/accident reconstruction, forensic photography, drone imaging, laser scanning and slip, trip and fall reconstruction.

Hayes+Associates, Inc, www.hayesassoc.com is an 11 person, Corvallis-based expert witness and consulting firm that focuses on forensic injury biomechanics related to vehicle collisions, premises safety, slips and falls, products liability, worker safety, sports and recreation, patent litigation and criminal matters.

H+A is Hiring: Mechanical Engineering Associate

Dynamic consulting firm in Oregon seeks a highly–motivated engineer for a national litigation practice focused on injury biomechanics. The successful candidate will support a portfolio of cases involving injuries from motor vehicle collisions, falls, workplace incidents, defective products, sports activities and criminal matters. Our goal is to attract, mentor and keep a bright, high-achieving professional who aspires to a successful career as a testifying expert in injury biomechanics.

Responsibilities

• Collaborative review of case facts, injuries and witness testimony

• Engineering analyses using both fundamental physics and software for modeling motor vehicle collisions, human body dynamics and 3-D reconstruction of scenes

• Compare force predictions to injury thresholds and form opinions on injury causation

• Manage cases and case portfolios with strict deadlines and budget controls

• Produce reports and trial exhibits that are accurate, compelling and understandable

• Publish papers in technical journals and present findings at conferences

• Over time, develop a client base, take shared testimony cases and then serve as sole testifying expert

Qualifications

• MS or PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering or closely related field

• Outstanding academic record in advanced engineering mechanics

• Exceptional abilities in both written and oral English

• Demonstrated success at modeling complex engineering systems

• Biomechanics experience a plus, but not required; additional training available

• Qualification as an Engineer in Training and then certification as a Professional Engineer

Salary, Benefits and Application

• Minimum Salary of $80,000 for MS level candidates. More senior candidates can expect salary commensurate with education, training and experience.

• Career advancement opportunities include Senior Associate and Partner status.

• Full medical/dental/vision benefits and SEP retirement plan

• To learn more about H+A, visit: https://www.hayesassoc.com/

• To apply, please email or mail your resume and cover letter (include the names and contact information for three references) to:

Melissa Maloney
Hayes+Associates, Inc.
2390 NW Kings Blvd.
Corvallis, OR 97330
Email: mam@hayesassoc.com

 (Click for a PDF of this announcement)

Hayes+Associates Sponsors JDRF Community One Walk To Help Find a Cure for Type 1 Diabetes

On Saturday, May 11, over 350 walkers of all ages gathered at the Crystal Lake Sports Field in Corvallis, OR for the 3rd Annual Walk for Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) to raise awareness and research funds to help create a world without type 1 diabetes.

 For the third consecutive year, Hayes+Associates, Inc., was one of the primary local sponsors of the event.  In addition, several H+A staff members were involved in the Community One Walk. Christine Snow, PhD, Professor Emeritus at Oregon State University and current Administrator at H+A, chaired the Walk and H+A Engineering Associates, Kristen Lipscomb and Matt Soicher, both served on the Planning Committee.

 The 5K walk blew past its $60,000 fundraising goal to gather pledges of over $75,000. Since its inception three years ago, the Corvallis Walk for T1D has raised over $225,000 for JDRF.

 JDRF, founded in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, is a global organization whose mission is to fund research to cure, prevent, and treat type 1 diabetes, a grave disease that affects millions of people of all ages, worldwide.  To date, the organization has funded more than $2 billion in research.

 “Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that strikes children and adults suddenly,” the JDRF website explains. “It has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle—and it's serious and stressful to manage as it requires daily insulin injections to survive. There is nothing you can do to prevent T1D and there is currently no cure.”  The JDRF tagline is, “Let’s turn type one into type none.”

 Other Corvallis Community One Walk sponsors were: Hellig Misfeldt & Armstrong, PacificSource Health Plans, The Adams & Montgomery Family, Samaritan Health Services, the Hennessy Family, Schupp-Plemmons-Cook Wealth Management Group, Gaia Landscapes, North Point Dental Group, and Live Well Studio.

 If you missed the 2019 Community One Walk and would still like to make a tax deductible donation, you may visit the JDRF website donation page at (https://www2.jdrf.org/site/Donation2?idb=687849806&df_id=19973&19973.donation=form1&FR_ID=7678&mfc_pref=T&PROXY_ID=7678&PROXY_TYPE=21) or call the JDRF Oregon/SW Washington chapter at 503-643-1995.

Predicting Osteoporotic Spine Fracture Risk: Hayes+Associates CEO 1985 publication ranked number 23 of 100 most influential publications on spinal fractures since 1953

Hayes+Associates CEO Wilson C. “Toby” Hayes, Ph.D. was recognized in the March 2019 Journal of Spine Surgery as a co-author of one of the 100 most influential spine fracture publications in over half a century of spine fracture research. Hayes led the research team and co-authored the paper Prediction of Vertebral Body Compressive Fracture Using Quantitative Computed-Tomography  when he was Director of the Orthopedic Biomechanics Laboratory at Harvard’s Beth Israel Hospital. The research helped set the stage for using radiographic imaging to assess risk and prevent fractures of the osteoporotic spine.

 In the paper, the authors showed that there were strong correlations between a widely used clinical method for imaging the spine (CT) and both the density and strength of the bone in human cadaveric vertebrae. The results set the stage for later studies that demonstrated similar strong associations between other radiographic imaging methods and fractures seen clinically in living patients. Diagnostic methods based on this early work and subsequent research by others are now used routinely in the prediction, diagnosis and treatment of spinal fractures, including those resulting from osteoporosis.  

 The lead author, Robert J. McBroom, MD, was at the time a research fellow in the Beth Israel laboratory. He is now a practicing orthopedic surgeon in Mississauga, ON, Canada. Additional co-authors were W. T. Edwards, R. P. Goldberg and Augustus A. White III, MD (then the Chairman of Orthopedics at Beth Israel and currently the Ellen and Melvin Gordon Distinguished Professor of Medical Education at Harvard Medical School).

 The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Maurice E. Mueller Endowed Professorship of Orthopedic Biomechanics at Harvard Medical School (Dr. Hayes) and by the Angus Foundation, Wellesley Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Dr. McBroom).

 Hayes+Associates, Inc. (http://www.hayesassoc.com) is an expert witness and consulting firm, based in Corvallis, OR.  The company brings more than 75 years of collective experience in academic research, university teaching and forensic testimony to practice areas that include vehicle collisions, premises safety, slips and falls, products liability, worker safety, sports and recreation, patent litigation and criminal matters.

RUN J RUN! Former H+A Consultant Runs Boston Marathon for 5th Time

Jeremy J. Bauer, Ph.D., high-fives spectators in the “Scream Tunnel” near Wellesley College between miles 12-13 of the 2019 Boston Marathon.

Dr. Jeremy J. Bauer, former Associate at the Corvallis consulting firm, Hayes+Associates, Inc. has within the last 20 months, not only started his own consulting company, Bauer Forensics, LLC, and moved to Seattle, but has earlier this week run the Boston Marathon for the 5th time, setting a personal best time for the 26.2 mile course of 2 hours and 48 minutes, among the top 4% of finishers.

Dr. Bauer ran his first Boston Marathon in 2013, the year of the bombings along the finishing stretch.  “My experience in 2013 bonded me forever to Boston and the towns all along the route. This year, as always, the crowds were deafening, the community support was incredible, and my legs were screaming ‘enough!’ after Heartbreak Hill. I can’t wait to do it again!”

The Boston Marathon, the world’s oldest marathon, is one of the most prestigious long-distance running races in the world and was first held in 1897.  The 2019 Boston Marathon was the 123rd edition of the event, and included 26,737 finishers (26,632 runners, 60 wheelchair participants, and 45 handcycle participants).

Bauer Forensics, LLC www.bauerforensics.com provides expert witness services in the areas of injury biomechanics, products liability, orthopaedics, shooting reconstruction, visibility analysis, premises liability, collision/accident reconstruction, forensic photography, drone imaging, laser scanning and slip, trip and fall reconstruction.

Hayes+Associates, Inc. www.hayesassoc.com is an 11 person, Corvallis-based expert witness and consulting firm that focuses on forensic injury biomechanics related to vehicle collisions, premises safety, slips and falls, products liability, worker safety, sports and recreation, patent litigation and criminal matters.

When asked what it has been like to separate from an 18 year colleague, H+A founder, Toby Hayes said, “We miss him...both his infectious enthusiasm and his great skill at conveying complex information in courtroom settings. Thankfully, we continue to work together, referring cases and collaborating, in ways that sometimes seem like he never left.”

H+A Associate to publish shooting-incident case study

Erik D. Power, M.S., P.E., senior associate at Hayes+Associates, Inc., will publish a case report, “Reconstruction of a shooting incident to determine position of shooter and timing of each shot fired,” in an upcoming issue of Annals of Forensic Research and Analysis. Power’s report is based on a 2013 case in which reconstruction and analysis from H+A’s team helped to demonstrate that deputy’s decision to fire four pistol shots at a vehicle driven by a suspect was justifiable in his own defense.

Detailing analysis conducted in the matter of Seeley v. Linn County by Power, H+A associate Jeremy Bauer, Ph.D., and H+A president Wilson C. Hayes, Ph.D., the case report presents the engineering analysis and findings related to the disputed event: An altercation between a law enforcement officer and the driver of a 1991 Pontiac Grand Am who was attempting to flee a rural Oregon residence by car. The central question was whether the suspect, Jesse Seeley of Albany, had aggressively driven directly at Deputy David Francis as the officer fired four shots with a 9-mm Glock semi-automatic handgun. Power writes that, “based on the physical evidence (location of the driver’s bullet wounds, bullet holes in the car, and cartridge casings at the scene), standard shooting incident reconstruction techniques were used to determine the position of the shooter with respect to the vehicle when each shot was fired. In addition, based on the vehicle’s acceleration, the laws of physics were used to determine the speed of the vehicle and the temporal sequence of the shots fired.”

When Deputy Francis approached the car and Seeley drove toward him, the deputy pulled the pistol and shouted for him to stop. As Seeley accelerated sharply, scattering gravel, Deputy Francis fired first through the car’s windshield, barely stepping aside as the car passed him. Seeley was struck twice in the torso and died minutes later. As Power concluded, “The science-based analysis of the event contributed to the outcome at trial by proving that the car was being aggressively driven directly at the law enforcement individual when the driver was shot.”

After H+A’s analysis was presented in trial testimony by Dr. Hayes, the Linn County jury found Deputy Francis’ actions justified in a $1 million wrongful death lawsuit brought by Seeley’s family, who alleged that Seeley was merely trying to leave the rural Brownsville driveway as Deputy Francis was on scene investigating an unrelated report of a prowler.  See complete story on the Seeley v. Linn County case on our news page: "H+A team helps convince jury of deputy's version in $1 million wrongful death suit."

H+A engineer appointed to UP advisory board

Kristen E. Lipscomb, Ph.D., an associate at Hayes + Associates, Inc., has been appointed to a newly formed industry advisory board established at the University of Portland on behalf of students enrolled in a recently-established master’s degree program in biomedical engineering.

The BME board will meet twice annually. Its membership of approximately 10 advisors consists of industry experts, along with UP faculty. The master’s degree in BME, which has been available for about four years at UP, is a one-year (12-month) program with hands-on experience and an internship requirement. Students are enrolled in small classes of 10 to 15 with a focus on preparation for work in the industry; the program is not thesis based. 

The mission of the new advisory board is to provide strategic-level advice to the M-BME Program Faculty at the University of Portland. The board’s goals are to serve as a liaison to the public and private sectors of the industry, advise students on planning and establishing priorities, support the development of summer employment and placement of graduates, discuss the program with students and provide counsel/advice to the department, and increase support for the school.

Founded in 1901, the University of Portland hosts about 4,250 students and offers more than 40 undergraduate programs, 18 graduate programs and 230 minors. The school of engineering has four undergraduate programs (civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and computer science), and two graduate programs, in biomedical engineering and engineering.

Dr. Lipscomb was invited to join the BME board by a former fellow graduate student, Jennifer Symons, Ph.D, who is an assistant professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering at UP.

An associate at H+A since 2014, Dr. Lipscomb completed her B.S. in mechanical engineering at University of Delaware in 2006, an M.S. in biomedical engineering in 2008 at the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at the University of California-Davis in 2014.