Kyle Ott

Mr. Kyle Ott is currently the group supervisor for the Human Performance and Biomechanics group at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory where he leads a diverse group of engineers and scientists and oversees world class testing facilities. Kyle’s group focuses on pioneering research in the mechanical structure and function of living systems with the goal of creating previously unimaginable capabilities, realize new missions in extreme environments, and enabling humanity to thrive. Kyle’s current research areas include non-invasive sensing devices for health applications, development of biofidelic surrogates used to assess human injury over a range of threats, and the study of the forces biological systems exert on their environment.

Mr. Kyle Ott received his B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The Ohio State University in 2004 and 2005 respectively. His dissertation focused on the simulation of real world pedestrian impacts experimentally and computationally in order to validate a novel head injury prediction algorithm used by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA). Before coming to APL, Kyle worked for Toyota Technical Center in Saline, MI where he worked on modeling and experimental testing related to pedestrian protection and internal safety.

Education History

• BSME, Mechanical Engineering, Ohio State
• MS, Mechanical Engineering, Ohio State

Work Experience

Senior Professional Staff, JHU Applied Physics Laboratory

Publications

Ott, K., Drewry, D., Luongo, M., Andrist, J., Armiger, R., Titus, J. and Demetropoulos, C., 2020. Comparison of Human Surrogate Responses in Underbody Blast Loading Conditions. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 142(9).

Loftis KL, Barnes DR, Sherman DC, Rupp JD, Ott KA, Voo LM, Demetropoulos CK (2019) Whole Body Vertical Loading Verification of Calcaneus Fracture Injury Probability. Royal British Legion Centre of Blast Injury Studies Blast Injury Conference, Imperial College, London, England, July 11-12, 2019.

Constantine K Demetropoulos (corresponding), Kyle A Ott, Christopher J Dooley, Nathanael P Kuo, Leah M Strohsnitter, Joseph R Andrist, Mary E Luongo, David G Drewry, III, Andrew C Merkle, Jonathan D Rupp, Lauren Wood Zaseck, Anne Bonifas, Carl S Miller, Nichole Ritchie Orton, Matthew P Reed, Hollie A Pietsch,”Influence of Seating Environment on PMHS Response in Physically Simulated Underbody Blast Exposure,” 8th World Congress of Biomechanics, Dublin, Ireland 2018

Morgana M. Trexler, Alexis C. Wickwire, Quang T. Luong, Vanessa D. Alphonse, Kyle A. Ott, JiangYue Zhang, Jessica E. Dymond, Timothy P. Harrigan, and Catherine M. Carneal “Warfighter Protection: From Benchtop to Battlefield,” Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Volume 34, Number 3 (October 2018)

Zaseck LW, Bonifas AC, Miller CS, Orton NR, Reed MP, Demetropoulos CK, Ott KA, Dooley CJ, Kuo NP, Strohsnitter LM, Andrist JR, Luongo ME, Drewry DG, Merkle AC, Rupp JD. Kinematic and biomechanical response of post-mortem human subjects in various pre-impact postures to high-rate vertical loading conditions. World Congress of Biomechanics, Dublin, Ireland, July 8 – June 12, 2018.

Demetropoulos CK, Ott KA, Dooley CJ, Kuo NP, Strohsnitter LM, Andrist JR, Luongo ME, Drewry DG, Merkle AC, Rupp JD, Zaseck LW, Bonifas AC, Miller CS, Orton NR, Reed MP. Influence of Seating Environment on PMHS Response in Physically Simulated Underbody Blast Exposure. World Congress of Biomechanics, Dublin, Ireland, July 8 – June 12, 2018

Voo, L., Bar-Kochba, E., Ott, K., Metzger, T., Luongo, M., Drewry, D., Bilodeau, S., Angelos, M., Merkle, A., “Developing Injury Assessment Reference Curve for WIAMan Foot Injury Prediction Capability” WCB2018 Presentation. Dublin, Ireland July 8-12, 2018

Voo, L., Metzger, T., Dooley, C., Ott, K., Clark, J., Andrist, J., Bilodeau, S., Angelos, M., Merkle, A., “Generating Human Injury Probability Curves for the Upper Cervical Spine under UBB Loading” WCB2018 Presentation. Dublin, Ireland July 8-12, 2018

Kyle Ott, Robert Armiger, Eyal Bar-Kochba, Mark Angelos,”Development of an Anthropomorphic Test Device for Under Body Blast Assessment,” SAFE Conference, Reno, NV, 2017

K. Ott, C. Dooley, L. Strohsnitter, A. Iwaskiw, J. Andrist, R. Armiger, A. Merkle, “Whole Body Testing Spinal Response,” NATO HFM Symposium 2016, Imperial College, London, 2016

K. Ott, C. Dooley, L. Strohsnitter, A. Iwaskiw, J. Andrist, R. Armiger, A. Merkle, “PMHS Testing Lower Extremity Response Corridors,” NATO HFM Symposium 2016, Imperial College, London, 2016

Voo, L. M., Ott, K. A., Dooley, C. J., Merkle, A. C. Head-Neck Relative Posture Affects Fracture Outcome of the Basilar Skull and Upper Cervical Spine Under Helmeted Head Crown Impact. SB3C 2015. June 17-20, 2015,Snowbird Resort, Utah, USA.

Nathanael P. Kuo, Christopher J. Dooley, Constantine K. Demetropoulos, Kyle A. Ott, Andrew C. Merkle, “Comparison of Computed Tomography Imaging Measurements to Created Injuries Under UBB Loading Conditions,” SB3C 2016, Poster Presentation, Washington, D.C.

Liming Voo, Kyle Ott, Chris Dooley, Andrew Merkle, “Quantify Fractures at Head-neck Junction in Helmet-protected Blunt Impact,” NATO HFM Symposium 2016, Imperial College, London, 2016

K. Ott, C. Dooley, A. Wickwire, A. Iwaskiw, A. Merkle, R. Armiger; Initial Characterization of the Human Response to Vertical Accelerative Loading. WCB2014 Presentation. Boston, MA. July 5, 2014.

Golman AJ, Ott KA, Armiger RS, Harrigan TP, Carneal CM, Merkle AC. Parametric Finite Element Analysis of Surrogate Response During Vertical Accelerative Loading. World Congress of Biomechanics. Poster. Boston, MA. July 5, 2014.

Golman AJ, Ott KA, Armiger RS, Harrigan TP, Carneal CM, Merkle AC. Pelvis Response Effects on Whole Body Under-Body Blast Simulations. Workshop on Numerical Analysis of Human and Surrogate Response to Accelerative Loading. Aberdeen, MD. January 8, 2014.

L. Voo, K. Ott, C. Dooley, A. Merkle; Quantify Fractures at Head-Neck Junction in Helmet-Protected Blunt Impact. World Congress of Biomechanics. Presentation. Boston, MA. July 5, 2014.

Armiger, R. S., Otake, Y., Iwaskiw, A. S., Wickwire, A. C., Ott, K. A., Voo, L. M., Armand, M., and Merkle, A. C. Biomechanical Response of Blast Loading to the Head Using 2D-3D Cineradiographic Registration. Mechanics of Biological Systems and Materials, Volume 4, pp. 127-134. Springer International Publishing, 2014.

Ott, Kyle A., Armiger, R. S., Wickwire, A. C., Iwaskiw, A. S., and Merkle, A. C. Determination of Simple Shear Material Properties of the Brain at High Strain Rates. Dynamic Behavior of Materials, Volume 1, pp. 139-147. Springer New York, 2013.

Ott, K., Voo, L., Merkle, A. C., Iwaskiw, A., Wickwire, A., Wester, B., and Armiger, R. Experimental determination of pressure wave transmission to the brain during head-neck blast tests. Proceedings of the ASME 2013 Summer Bioengineering Conference SBC2013. 2013.

Zhang, J., Merkle A. C., Carneal C. M., Armiger R. S., Kraft R. H., Ward E. E., Ott K. A., Wickwire A.C., Dooley C .J., Harrigan T. P., Roberts J. C. (2013). Effects of Torso-Borne Mass and Loading Severity on Early Response of the Lumbar Spine under High-Rate Vertical Loading. International Research Council on Biomechanics of Injury. Gothenburg, Sweden: 111-123.

Merkle, A. C., Armiger, R., Ott, K., Wickwire, A., Iwaskiw, A., Voo, L., and Carneal, C. “Characterizing Brain Mechanics during a Two-Phase Response to Dynamic Overpressure Loading.” [Abstract]. 40th International Workshop on Human Subjects for Biomechanical Research, 2012.

K.A. Ott, R.S. Armiger, A.C. Wickwire, C. M. Carneal, M. Trexler, A.M. Lennon, J. Zhang, A. C. Merkle,“Method for Obtaining Simple Shear Material Properties of the Intervertebral Disc under High Strain Rates,“ Rocky Mountain Bioengineering Symposium (RMBS), Blacksburg, VA, March 22-24, 2012

Ott, K., Wiechel, J., Guenther, D., Stammen, J. et al., “Assessment of the Simulated Injury Monitor (SIMon) in Analyzing Head Injuries in Pedestrian Crashes,” SAE Int. J. Passeng. Cars – Mech. Syst. 5(1):2012, doi: 10.4271/2012-01-0569.

K.A. Ott, R.A. Armiger, A.C. Wickwire, A.S. Iwaskiw, A.C. Merkle, “Determination of Simple Shear Material Properties of the Brain at High Strain Rates”, Proceedings of the SEM International Conference & Exposition on Experimental and Applied Mechanics June 11-12, 2012 Costa Mesa, California USA

A.S. Iwaskiw, R.S. Armiger, K.A. Ott, A.C. Wickwire, A.C. Merkle, “Response of Individual Thoracolumbar Spine Ligaments Under High-Rate Deformation,“ Rocky Mountain Bioengineering Symposium (RMBS), Blacksburg, VA, March 22-24, 2012

X.G. Tan, Ravi Kannan, Andrzej J. Przekwas, Kyle A. Ott, Timothy P. Harrigan, Jack C. Roberts, Andrew C. Merkle, “An Enhanced Articulated Human Body Model under C4 Blast Loadings“, IMECE2012-89067, IMECE 2012.

X. G. Tan, Andrzej J. Przekwas, Gregory Rule, Kaushik Iyer, Kyle Ott and Andrew Merkle “Modeling articulated human body dynamics under a representative blast loading.” ASME 2011 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2011.

A Merkle, K Carneal, A Wickwire, K Ott, C Freitas, S Tankard,“Evaluation of Threat Conditions and Suspension Pad Configurations in Determining Potential for Behind Helmet Blunt Trauma,“ PASS 2010.

Merkle, A.C., Ott, K.A., Harrigan, T. “Investigating Organ Level Response during Full Scale Helicopter Impacts using a Human Torso Surrogate,” Aircraft Survivability Symposium 2010, November 2-5, 2010, Event #1940, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA

SG Lee, JF Wiechel, DR Morr, KA Ott, and DA Guenther, “Response of Neck Muscles to Rear Impact in the Presence of Bracing,” SAE 2006-01-2369, presented at the 2006 Digital Human Modeling for Design and Engineering Conference and Exhibition,Lyon, France, July 4-6, 2006.

Ott, K.A., Steinhilb, A.R. U.S. Patent 8,136,870, 2012.

Steinhilb, A.R., Ott, K.A., Koenen, J. U.S. Pub US2010/0314518 A1. 2012.

Professional Organizations

ASME (2010 – Present)