Tia L. Orton
Position: Senior Forensic Engineer
Expertise: Vehicle Crashworthiness Analysis, Vehicular Collision Reconstruction, Biomechanical Analysis, Mechanical Failure Analysis, Workplace Safety, Industrial Incidents
Qualifications: Bach. Eng. (Mech. Eng.)
Tia Orton, a United States citizen and Californian native, joined Delta-V Experts in October 2006. Ms Orton has 12 years of experience in the field of forensic engineering with a specialty in vehicular collision reconstruction, crashworthiness and safety. While Ms Orton began her career at General Motors in Detroit, Michigan, she opted for a profession in the field of independent transportation safety research in order to make a bigger societal impact.
Ms Orton’s major specialisation has concerned the application of the physical and engineering sciences to safety in many areas ranging from transport through to occupational health and safety in the workplace. Ms Orton has conducted extensive work in road safety, crashworthiness (cars, trains, buses, trucks and other mobile equipment), occupational health and safety, accident and incident investigation, analysis and mitigation for injury prevention. Ms Orton was formerly employed by Safety Analysis and Forensic Engineering (SAFE), a leading U.S. automotive safety research firm. Her work at SAFE included extensive analysis, testing and research related to severe vehicle collisions, particularly rollovers. Ms Orton’s detailed research on one of the largest cases in history involving Ford Motor Company led to her testimony at a U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation.
Subsequently, Ms Orton spent 3 years working with several leading biomedical and biomechanical firms in order to gain a better understanding of the human component of an impact. Her work in the biomedical/biomechanical field involved detailed technical analysis of injuries sustained in a myriad of environments requiring advanced knowledge of injury mechanisms and injury tolerance data.
Ms Orton’s experience combined with her enthusiasm has allowed her to achieve her goal of reducing human casualties through various DVE projects and investigations. Specifically, she has carried out in-depth investigations and vehicle safety-related projects for the State Coroner of Victoria, BHP Billiton, Anglo American, Victoria Police, VicRoads, Victorian Parliament, Victorian Motorcycle Advisory Council and the Department of Sustainability and Energy. Projects have included vehicle, heavy vehicle and forklift safety, vehicle rollover and transport and construction industry safety. She has also been a key participant in various large-scale vehicular crash testing programs at the Australian Army Proving Grounds and at a BHP-funded test facility in South Africa.
Ms Orton’s work has been published extensively with numerous technical publications as well as a book chapter on expert evidence involving traffic accident investigation, analysis and reconstruction. She has made presentations at numerous conferences and seminars, both nationally and at international forums and has been invited as a guest lecturer at several Australian Universities.
Key Areas
- Collision Reconstruction
- Safety Engineering
- rollover-protection-systems
- Product Liability
