Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Bioengineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2013
  • B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Central Florida, 2007
Licenses & Certifications
  • Northwestern University Center for Public Safety, Traffic Crash Reconstruction for Engineers
Professional Honors
  • National Science Foundation IGERT Fellow
  • Georgia Tech Bioengineering Best Student Publication Award
  • National Tau Beta Pi Campbell Scholar
Professional Affiliations
  • Society of Automotive Engineers—SAE
  • American Society of Biomechanics—ASB
  • Biomedical Engineering Society - BMES

Dr. Sharpe is an expert in the field of biomechanics, including human movement, occupant kinematics, injury mechanics, and injury tolerance and consults on automotive, recreational, law enforcement, and workplace incidents. She is also a certified tribometrist and consults on premises liability issues related to slip, trip and fall events. Dr. Sharpe has extensive testing experience and has led a variety of research and case investigations which include the application of full scale-automotive crash testing, sled testing, airbag investigations, driving demonstrations, motorcycle-operator testing, human locomotion, movement, and fall evaluations, and component-level testing involving anthropomorphic test devices (crash test dummies). Further, she has coordinated and conducted large-scale human participant testing to investigate the relationship of product use on human loading and fatigue.

Dr. Sharpe has experience tracking kinematics using motion capture systems or inertial measurement units (IMUs) and collecting and analyzing electromyography (EMG) recordings. She also has utilized 3D scanning techniques and 3D printing to capture and represent relevant geometries and has developed automated and semi-automated feature detection algorithms. During forensic inspections, Dr. Sharpe has utilized digital microscopy and ultraviolet (UV) light for identification of biological and non-biological materials.

Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Sharpe completed a National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) fellowship where she focused on Neuroengineering. Her research projects included investigation of electrical stimulation and force production in muscle, neuronal activity using micro-electrode arrays, and alcohol's effect on task performance. She also served as a Graduate Research Assistant at the Georgia Institute of Technology's Complex Rheology and Biomechanics (CRAB) Lab. Her research involved analysis and integration of the physics of complex substrates during animal movement to understand locomotion neuromechanics on a variety of terrains. Dr. Sharpe has additionally conducted research in the Robotics and Autonomous Controls Laboratory at the University of Central Florida and in the Laboratory for Neuroengineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.