James K. Sprague, Ph.D., P.E.

Sr. Vice President

Dr. Sprague is an engineer based in Packer Engineering's Ann Arbor, Michigan, office. He addresses mechanical engineering issues related to machine design, as well as product design and development. He has performed dynamics and kinematics analyses of rigid body systems, including modeling and numerical simulation. These analyses include vehicle dynamics and tire mechanics involving passenger cars, light to heavy-duty trucks, and racing vehicles.

Dr. Sprague has extensive experience with passenger vehicles, including accident reconstruction, testing and analysis of vehicles, systems and components, ergonomics of vehicle interiors, and dynamics of gears and power trains. He has expertise in the areas of instrumentation, the design of experiments, and analysis of data. Dr. Sprague addresses issues related to the biomechanics of human movement, locomotion, mobility, and balance. An area of research includes gerontological biomechanics: analysis of special motion and force production requirements for performance of tasks by the elderly.

Dr. Sprague's prior work experience includes consulting as a Managing Engineer with Exponent Inc. in the areas of mechanical engineering, vehicular accident reconstruction and biomechanics. He also spent six years with the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company designing racing tires and performing vehicle and tire modeling. Dr. Sprague has previously worked for Mechanical Dynamics, Inc. where he was involved in the design and implementation of advanced mathematical tire models for use with ADAMS dynamic modeling software.

Dr. Sprague is a licensed professional engineer in the States of Michigan (No. 041636), Ohio (No. 68998), Illinois (No. 062-057700), and South Carolina (No. 23489).