Guest Profile

Dr. Stephen Ridella

Dr. Stephen Ridella is Director of the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). His office is responsible for the investigation, inspection and testing necessary to identify and correct safety-related defects in motor vehicles and equipment. ODI also oversees and manages all motor vehicle and equipment recalls from notification through completion. In addition to this position, in his 14 years at NHTSA, Stephen has been Division Chief of Human Injury Research as well as the Director of the Office of Vehicle Crashworthiness Research.

Prior to joining NHTSA, Stephen held industry engineering and management positions at the General Motors Research Labs doing crash injury research, EASi Engineering coordinating projects in occupant simulation and TRW Automotive (now ZF) conducting vehicle safety and restraint systems design and performance. He has published extensively on safety issues including crash data analysis, vehicle and occupant crash simulation techniques, and impact injury research throughout his career.

Stephen holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Microbiology and Bioengineering respectively from the University of Michigan. He also holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Wayne State University in Detroit and a PhD in Machine and Vehicle Systems from the Department of Mechanics and Maritime Sciences at Chalmers Technological University in Gothenburg, Sweden.