Magnus Gens
{{short description|Swedish engineer}}
{{use dmy|date=February 2025}}
{{use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix =
| name =
| honorific_suffix =
| image =
| image_size =
| image_upright =
| landscape =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| other_names =
| siglum =
| pronounce =
| citizenship =
| nationality =
| fields = {{hlist|Safety engineering|IT engineering{{sfn|Marquis|2022|loc=¶3}}}}
| workplaces =
| patrons =
| alma_mater = KTH Royal Institute of Technology
| thesis_title = Moose Crash Test Dummy
| thesis_url = https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:673368/FULLTEXT01.pdf
| thesis_year = 2001
| academic_advisors =
| known_for = Building a crash test dummy moose
| awards = Ig Nobel Prize (2022)
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| parents =
| father =
| mother =
| relatives =
| signature =
| signature_type =
| signature_alt =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
Magnus Gens is a Swedish engineer known for his development of a moose crash test dummy in his 2001 master's thesis. In 2022, the thesis earned him the Ig Nobel Prize for safety engineering, which honors unusual but important research.
Thesis
In 1994, Gens began working on his master's thesis for the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm which involved the creation of a crash test dummy to emulate an automobile collision with a moose in order to improve safety in vehicles.{{multiref2|For the start date, see {{harvnb|Gens|2001|p=2}}.|For everything else, see {{harvnb|Hartley|2024|loc=¶7}}.}} During the process, he worked alongside the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute ({{langx|sv|Statens väg- och transportforskningsinstitut}}, VTI) and the auto manufacturer Saab.{{sfn|Gummeson|2022|loc=¶4}} Gens also consulted with a veterinarian and the Kolmården Zoo in order to become acquainted with the animal's physical characteristics.{{sfn|Gens|2001|pp=2–3}} The vehicle crash tests were performed on two relatively-new Saab 9-5s and one older Volvo 245 at the Saab facility in Trollhättan.{{sfn|Gens|2001|pp=3, 27–28}}{{sfn|Ouellette|2022|loc=§ Safety Engineering Prize}}
In 2001, Gens published his master's thesis, Moose Crash Test Dummy, with the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute.{{sfn|Gummeson|2022|loc=¶4}} The moose itself was built using 116 rubber plates which were fastened together with steel tubes and wiring.{{multiref|{{harvnb|Hartley|2024|loc=¶7}}.|{{harvnb|Gummeson|2022|loc=¶4}}.|{{harvnb|Gens|2001|p=3}}.}} The thesis provided data on how moose hit vehicles and the dummy is designed to be hit several times before a replacement is necessary.{{sfn|Ouellette|2022|loc=§ Safety Engineering Prize}} Prior to publication, VTI had been asked to provide horse and camel analogs for testing and similar testing for kangaroo–vehicle collisions had begun in Australia.{{sfn|Gens|2001|p=29}}{{sfn|Hartley|2024}}
=Use in auto safety=
{{external media
| float =
| width =
| caption = Volvo V70 crash at {{cvt|70|kph}} using Gens's model{{sfn|Marquis|2022}}
| headerimage= File:YouTube 2024.svg
| title = Elk/Moose Crash Test - Volvo V70 Estate (70 Km/h)
| video1 = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98ZK_kknP9U
}}
Gens's thesis has been the basis of tests in several countries. Moose crash test dummies based on his design have been in a large number of automobile safety tests in Sweden and Spain.{{multiref2|For testing in Sweden, see {{harvnb|Halford|2022|loc=¶6}}.|For Spain, see {{harvnb|Gummeson|2022|loc=¶13}}.}} Saab's participation in the study helped to start its reputation as a "moose-proof vehicle manufacturer".{{sfn|Hartley|2024|loc=¶8}} In 2008, the television show MythBusters obtained Gens's permission to use a modified version of his model in testing a moose auto collision theory in the episode "Alaska Special".{{sfn|MythBusters|2008|loc=15:45–16:14}}
Award
File:10 Trillion Zimbabwean Dollars (cropped).jpg banknote.]]
In 2022, Gens was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize, an award for "research that makes people laugh, but also think", in safety engineering.{{multiref2|For the description of the award, see {{harvnb|Gummeson|2022|loc=¶3}}, {{harvnb|Amos|2022|loc=¶3}}, and {{harvnb|Marquis|2022|loc=¶2}}.|For the award being given for safety engineering, see {{harvnb|Marquis|2022|loc=¶3}}.|For his being given the award, see {{harvnb|Hartley|2024|loc=¶8}}.}} The cash prize was a ten trillion Zimbabwean dollar banknote.{{multiref|{{harvnb|Collins|2022|loc=¶2}}.|{{harvnb|Marquis|2022|loc=¶2}}.|{{harvnb|Amos|2022|loc=¶19}}.}}
Although initially frustrated that his work did not receive much traction at publication, he has expressed hope that renewed attention to the paper will bring more attention to automobile accidents involving wildlife.{{sfn|Gummeson|2022|loc=¶5, ¶12}} As a result of the award, Gens was offered an open invitation to lecture at Harvard University.{{sfn|Gummeson|2022|loc=¶15}}
See also
- Moose test – an automobile evasion test
- Deer–vehicle collisions
- Wildlife crossing
- Roadkill
- Epidemiology of motor vehicle collisions
References
=Citations=
{{reflist}}
=Sources=
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
- {{cite web |last=Amos |first=Jonathan |title=Swedish moose crash-test dummy wins spoof Ig Nobel prize |website=BBC |date=30 September 2022 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62915382 |access-date=4 February 2025}}
- {{cite web |last=Collins |first=Richard |title=Moose crash test dummy could save lives |website=Irish Examiner |date=29 September 2022 |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/outdoors/arid-40969484.html |access-date=4 February 2025}}
- {{cite thesis |last=Gens |first=Magnus |date=2001 |title=Moose Crash Test Dummy |url=https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:673368/FULLTEXT01.pdf |work=VTI Särtryck |degree=Master's |location=Linköping, Sweden |publisher=Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute |access-date=4 February 2025}}
- {{cite web |last=Gummeson |first=Christer |date=2022 |title=Moose mannequin a belated success |url=https://www.kth.se/en/om/nyheter/centrala-nyheter/algkrock-docka-gor-sen-succe-1.1193919 |website=KTH Royal Institute of Technology News Archive |publisher=KTH Royal Institute of Technology |location=Stockholm |access-date=4 February 2025 }}
- {{cite web |last=Halford |first=Bethany |title=2022 Ig Nobel Prizes |website=Chemical & Engineering News |publisher=American Chemical Society |date=16 September 2022 |url=https://cen.acs.org/people/awards/2022-Ig-Nobel-Prizes/100/i33 |access-date=4 February 2025}}
- {{cite web |last=Hartley |first=Sophie |title=Carmakers give up on software that avoids kangaroos |website=Ars Technica |date=2 April 2024 |url=https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/04/hazard-identification-software-cant-make-sense-of-kangaroos/ |access-date=4 February 2025}}
- {{cite web |last=Marquis |first=Erin |title=Moose Crash Test Dummy Takes Home an Ig Noble Award in Safety Technology |website=Jalopnik |date=16 September 2022 |url=https://jalopnik.com/moose-crash-test-dummy-takes-home-an-ig-noble-award-in-1849546013 |access-date=4 February 2025}}
- {{cite web |last=Ouellette |first=Jennifer |author-link=Jennifer Ouellette |title=Here are the winners of the 2022 Ig Nobel Prizes |website=Ars Technica |date=15 September 2022 |url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/09/maya-ritual-enemas-and-constipated-scorpions-the-2022-ig-nobel-prize-winners/ |access-date=4 February 2025}}
- {{cite AV media |work=MythBusters |date=2008 |title=Alaska Special |type=Television show |publisher=Discovery Channel |ref= {{sfnref|MythBusters|2008}} }}
{{refend}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gens, Magnus}}