Biography:

Dr. Southward is the Research Director of the Virginia Institute for Performance Engineering and Research (VIPER), which provides research and advanced vehicle and driver testing services for motorsports, automotive, and military customers.  Dr. Southward is also an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech, where he is the founding director of the Performance Engineering Research Lab (PERL) at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) located in Danville, Virginia.  Dr. Southward has over fifteen years of industrial experience with research and development of high performance control systems and innovative technology solutions for a commercial and military, air- and ground-based vehicles.  Dr. Southward has authored fifteen Journal publications, thirty-four conference publications, thirteen US patents and over forty worldwide patents on topics including: active noise and vibration control (ANVC), isolation control, semi-active suspension control, high-performance sensing, magneto-rheological fluid control, and 8-post vehicle testing.  He is currently a member of the ASME, IEEE, and SAE.

Experience:

• VIPER:  Research Director for the chassis/suspension and driver development business unit
• Virginia Tech:  Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, pioneering distributed learning at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research
• Lord Corporation:  Staff Engineer, active noise and vibration control systems, high-performance sensing applications

Notables:

Southward, S. C., and Boggs, C. M., “Comparison of the performance of 7-post and 8-post dynamic shaker rigs for vehicle dynamic studies,” SAE Motorsports Conference, n. 08MSEC-0053, December, 2008

Boggs, C. M., Southward, S. C., and Ahmadian, M., “Application of System Identification for Efficient Suspension Turning in High-Performance Vehicles: 8-Post Rig Study,” SAE World Congress, n. 09AC-0127, December, 2008

Song, X., Ahmadian, M., and Southward, S. C., “Analysis and Strategy for Superharmonics with Semiactive Suspension Control Systems,” ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement & Control, Vol. 129, No. 6, November, 2007, pp. 795-803

Rastgaar, M. A., Ahmadian, M., and Southward, S. C., “Application of Orthogonal Eigenstructure Control in Vehicles,” SPIE Smart Structures and Materials, March, 2008

Southward, S. C., “Real-Time Parameter ID Using Polynomial Chaos Expansions,” ASME Int. Mech. Eng. Congress and Expo., IMECE2007-43745, Nov., 2007

Ziegenmeyer, J., and Southward, S. C., “Real-Time Open-Loop Estimation of Disturbance Inputs to a Quarter-Car Model,” ASME Int. Mech. Eng. Congress and Expo., IMECE2007-43769, Nov. 2007

Andersen, E. R., Sandu, C., and Southward, S. C., “Multibody Dynamics Modeling and System Identification of a Quarter-Car Test Rig with McPherson Strut Suspension,” SAE COMVEC, 07CV-54, October, 2007

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