Miguel Perez, Ph.D.

Lab

Division of Data and Analytics

Watch this short video about the lab. All BEAM videos available here.

Research Areas

• Biomechanics
• Dynamics and control
• Transportation safety

Research Interests

Dr. Perez is interested in a variety of efforts that help to improve the safety and convenience our transportation systems. Some of his previous projects have touched on areas including driver distraction, human modeling, collision avoidance systems, infotainment systems, and driver performance in test track and naturalistic environments. In the safety area, he currently leads several efforts related to naturalistic driving study design and analysis, data standardization, data preparation, data mining, and data analysis.

In addition, Dr. Perez is involved in efforts to increase the accessibility and suitability of the built infrastructure for individuals with disabilities and the study of temporary disability (e.g., imposed by surgical interventions) in the context of driving safety.

Dr. Perez’s background is in human factors and biomechanics, and he particularly enjoys applying statistics and novel models and approaches to find solutions and information within data. In addition to his BEAM appointment, Dr. Perez serves as a Research Scientist within the Division of Data and Analytics at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.

Education

• Virginia Tech: Ph.D., Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2005
• Virginia Tech: M.S., Industrial and Systems Engineering, 1999
• University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez: B.S., Industrial Engineering, 1997
  

Awards, Honors, and Service

• Golden Pen Award (contract award over $5M), recognized by Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, Virginia Tech, May 2019, May 2021, May 2022, May 2023
• Leader in teaching, recognized by Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, Virginia Tech, May 2021
• Liviu Librescu Faculty Prize for research and educational achievement, recognized by Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, Virginia Tech, May 2021
• Scholar of the Week – Office of the Vice President for Research, Virginia Tech: 2013
• National Research Council – Ford Foundation Fellow: 1999-2002

Selected Publications

Perez, M.A., Sudweeks, J., Sears, E., Huang, W., Guo, F., Valente, J.*, 2022: Differences in frequency of occurrence, event characteristics, and pre-impact vehicle kinematics between crashes, near-crashes, and single vehicle conflicts in a large-scale naturalistic driving study. Traffic Injury Prevention.

Badger, A.E.*, Samuel, L.T., Tegge, A.N., Metrey, M.*, Tuttle, J.R., Perez, M.A., Apel, P.J., 2022: Patients who undergo rotator cuff repair can safely return to driving at 2 weeks postoperatively. The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, 104(18), 1639.

Perez, M.A., Sears, S., Valente, J.T.*, Huang, W.*, Sudweeks, J., 2021: Factors modifying the likelihood of speeding behaviors based on naturalistic driving data. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 159.

Noble, A.*, Miles, M., Perez, M.A., Guo, F., Klauer, S., 2021: Evaluating driver eye glance behavior and secondary task engagement while using driving automation systems, Accident Analysis and Prevention, 151.

Valente, J.*, Perez, M.A., 2020: Emergency response to vehicle collisions: feedback from emergency medical service providers, Safety, 6(4), 48.

Antin, J.F., Wotring, B., Glaser, D., Perez, M.A., 2020: Investigating lane change behaviors and difficulties for senior drivers using naturalistic driving data, Journal of Safety Research, 74, 81-87.

Thompson Orfield, N.J., Badger, A.E.*, Tegge, A.N., Davoodi, M., Perez, M.A., Apel, P.J., 2020: Modeled WALANT does not impair driving fitness: an experimental on-road noninferiority study, The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, 102(18), 1616-1622.

Dingus, T.A., Owens, J.M., Guo, F., Fang, Y., Perez, M.A., McClafferty, J., Buchanan-King, M., & Fitch, G.M. (2019).  The prevalence of and crash risk associated with primarily cognitive secondary tasks, Safety Science 119, 98-105.

Antin, J.F., Lee, S., Perez, M.A., Dingus, T.A., Hankey, J.M., & Brach, A. (2019).  Second strategic highway research program naturalistic driving study methods, Safety Science 119, 2-10.

Liu. S., Perez, M.A., Lau, N. (2018). The Impact of Sleep Disorders on Driving Safety Findings from the SHRP 2 Naturalistic Driving Study, Sleep 41, 4:11.