Biomechanics Injury Research 2015-2020

The Biomechanics Injury Research 2015-2020 Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract is a multi-award contract issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to support advanced research in vehicle and occupant safety. The primary objective of this contract vehicle is to expand scientific understanding of human injury biomechanics through experimental, computational, and analytical methods. Specifically, the contract focuses on investigating human injury tolerance, performance of anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs), computational dummy and human models, and human response to crash loading.

The contract has awarded multiple task orders to research institutions including the University of Michigan, Virginia Tech, Medical College of Wisconsin, and the University of Virginia, with contract values typically ranging from $50,000 to $2.2 million. Key research areas include developing computational human models for different age groups, studying occupant dynamics during crash scenarios, investigating child and elderly occupant safety, testing wheelchair restraint systems, and modifying crash test dummies for more accurate performance assessment. These task orders consistently utilize cost no-fee and cost plus fixed fee pricing mechanisms, with periods of performance ranging from approximately one to five years. None of the task orders employed small business set-aside designations, and most research is conducted at university research centers located across the United States, primarily supporting NHTSA's mission of improving vehicle and highway safety through scientific research.