Senior Engineer, Mechanical
Emphasis: Mechanical Engineering, Biomechanics, Vehicle Accident Reconstruction
Dr. Stolworthy understands the mechanical performance of biological tissue (e.g., how the body moves and breaks) and applies this in the analysis of injury-causing events and the design of biomechanical devices. He has served as an expert witness on hundreds of cases involving vehicle accidents (including front, rear, and side-collisions; roll-overs, occupant ejections; and motorcycle crashes); slips, trips, and falls; projectiles and falling objects; workplace accidents; medical devices and consumer product failures; and other injury-causing events. He has designed, built, and programmed devices for the treatment and research/evaluation of diagnosed injuries/conditions. Dr. Stolworthy has taught engineering principles of statics, mechanics, materials, and dynamics; designed and built patented technology for a robotic foot-orthotic device; created a robotic spinal-motion simulator, researched exoskeleton designs and emerging technologies, and published research regarding spine biomechanics; tested and designed orthopedic medical devices; and pioneered the large-animal alpaca model for studying human low back pain. Dr. Stolworthy regularly works with other engineers, medical doctors, veterinarians, and clinicians of various disciplines, as he continues with research, design, and development of new conservative- and surgical-treatment technologies; he has publications in top biomechanics journals and presented at various conferences addressing basic and applied biomechanics and orthopedics; he is a member of several professional organizations and also serves as a technical reviewer for multiple biomechanics journals. Dr. Stolworthy is also a certified walkway safety auditor and is the Director of Operations of a Walkway Management Group franchise in Las Vegas, consulting on floor safety, cleaning, and treatment solutions.
Dr. Stolworthy received bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University and was a postdoctoral researcher at Vanderbilt University. In addition to his professional and educational experience, Dr. Stolworthy has years of personal experience with rigid medical equipment (e.g., wheelchairs, orthotic braces, and crutches/canes/walkers), physical rehabilitation, and physical and occupational therapy, due to his personal experience with learning to walk again with chronic paralysis. Dr. Stolworthy continues applying and growing his knowledge of human biomechanics and mechanical engineering principles as he provides consulting services for medical device design and offers expert testimony for injury causation, vehicle accident reconstruction, product design, and mechanical failure analysis.
