Biography:

 

Vivian Chung, P.Eng, is a biomedical engineer whose research focuses on automotive injuries, helmet technologies, and intraoperative surgical technologies. Vivian oversees the Bioengineering Lab and Makerspace at the Centre for Aging SMART at Vancouver Coastal Health, and also conducts research with Dr. Peter Cripton’s team at the University of British Columbia’s Orthopaedic and Injury Biomechanics Group.

Vivian is currently investigating sex-based biomechanical differences that can influence female safety in automotive crashes with Dr. Cripton. Collaborating with Toyota, her work explores how pregnancy affects seatbelt fit through OpenMRI imaging. To better understand female-specific crash mechanics, she is also investigating the geometry and material properties of female breast tissue through a collaboration with Autoliv – the world’s largest supplier of seatbelts and airbags. Beyond the automotive world, Vivian also works with Dr. Chris Napier at Simon Fraser University’s Run Lab to investigate how advanced footwears perform under female-specific running biomechanics.

Vivian completed her MASc as an Engineers-in-Scrubs fellow at UBC in 2016, and now consults on a wide range of academic and industry research projects. Her past work include a patented helmet technology targeting high rates of spinal cord injuries in mountain biking, the development of various orthopaedic surgical devices, and the development of a low-cost bi-lateral X-ray imaging system to detect early signs of implant loosening in total knee arthroplasty patients.