# The Stories Our Data Tells
## How DTS Helps Save Lives
### A 45-Minute Presentation for DTS Internal Staff

---

# PRESENTATION OVERVIEW

**Presenter:** Ben, Application Engineer  
**Audience:** DTS engineering and internal staff  
**Duration:** 45 minutes  
**Goal:** Inspire pride in DTS's mission, show real-world impact, inform future engineering decisions

**Key Themes:**
1. Every data channel represents a human life
2. Good data enables good engineering decisions
3. DTS equipment is part of a global life-saving mission
4. The work isn't done - new challenges await

---

# SLIDE-BY-SLIDE SCRIPT AND SPEAKER NOTES

---

## SLIDE 1: Title Slide
**Title:** The Stories Our Data Tells  
**Subtitle:** How DTS Helps Save Lives

### Speaker Notes:
> *[Walk to center stage, pause, make eye contact with audience]*
> 
> Good morning everyone. I'm Ben, and I've spent the last [X] years as a field application engineer, which means I get to see something most of you don't - I get to see what happens to our equipment after it leaves this building.
> 
> Today I want to share some stories with you. Not technical specifications or product roadmaps - stories. Because behind every data channel we design, every product we ship, every calibration we perform... there's a human story.
> 
> Let me start with a number.

---

## SLIDE 2: The Number That Matters
**Visual:** Large "117,000" in center  
**Subtitle:** Lives saved every year in the U.S. alone

### Speaker Notes:
> One hundred seventeen thousand.
> 
> That's how many people are alive today, this year, who would have died on American roads if we still had 1970s vehicle safety.
> 
> In 1970, the fatality rate was 4.7 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Today it's about 1.1. Same roads. More cars. More miles. But 77% fewer deaths per mile driven.
> 
> *[Pause]*
> 
> That didn't happen by accident. It happened because of data. Data that came from instrumentation. Instrumentation that companies like DTS build.
> 
> Every accelerometer we ship, every data acquisition system we calibrate, every channel of data we help capture - it's part of this.

---

## SLIDE 3: A Crashed Car is Gone Forever
**Visual:** Photo of crashed test vehicle  
**Quote:** "A crashed car is destroyed in milliseconds. The data is what remains."

### Speaker Notes:
> Here's something I tell customers all the time: A crashed car is gone forever. In about 150 milliseconds, a $50,000 test vehicle becomes scrap metal.
> 
> But the data? The data lives on. The data gets analyzed, debated, published. The data drives regulation. The data changes designs. The data saves the next generation of occupants.
> 
> That's what we do. We're not just building data acquisition systems. We're building the memory of every crash test ever run.
> 
> Let me show you what I mean with three stories from the field.

---

## SLIDE 4: Part 1 - The Headlines
**Visual:** Section divider  
**Title:** PART 1: The Data Behind the Headlines

### Speaker Notes:
> You've all seen safety recalls in the news. You've seen crash test ratings. You've maybe heard about the airbag crisis or the Ford Explorer rollovers.
> 
> What you might not know is that behind every one of those headlines, there's data. Specific data. Data channels that revealed what was happening. Data that DTS equipment helped capture.
> 
> Let me take you behind three headlines.

---

## SLIDE 5: Story 1 - The Airbag That Killed
**Visual:** Newspaper headline - "Airbag Kills Child in Minor Crash"  
**Subtitle:** 1990s Airbag Crisis

### Speaker Notes:
> *[Pause for effect]*
> 
> 1996. A mother is driving her 6-year-old daughter to school. They're rear-ended at maybe 15 miles per hour. A minor fender-bender.
> 
> The airbag deploys. The child, sitting in the front seat, is killed instantly.
> 
> This wasn't a freak accident. Between 1990 and 1997, airbags killed over 175 people - mostly children and small adults. The very safety device designed to save them was killing them.
> 
> The question everyone was asking: Why?

---

## SLIDE 6: What the Data Revealed
**Visual:** Data trace showing airbag deployment force - high spike  
**Annotation:** Peak inflation force, deployment timing

### Speaker Notes:
> Here's what the data showed.
> 
> *[Point to trace]*
> 
> This is an airbag deployment trace. Look at that spike. Early airbags were designed for one scenario: an unbelted 50th percentile male in a 30 mph crash. They inflated with explosive force - about 200 mph.
> 
> But who was actually getting hit by these airbags? Children. Small women. People sitting too close to the steering wheel.
> 
> The data from out-of-position testing - using accelerometers like ours in small female dummies and child dummies - showed neck loads that were off the charts. Loads that would kill.
> 
> This data drove everything that came next.

---

## SLIDE 7: The Engineering Response
**Visual:** Diagram of multi-stage airbag system  
**Bullet points:** Depowered bags, dual-stage inflators, occupant classification, suppression systems

### Speaker Notes:
> The engineering response was comprehensive:
> 
> First, immediate depowering - reducing inflation force by 20-35%. This happened in 1998.
> 
> Then, dual-stage inflators that could vary deployment force based on crash severity.
> 
> Then, occupant classification systems - weight sensors in seats that detect if a child or small adult is present.
> 
> Then, suppression systems that turn off the airbag entirely for rear-facing child seats.
> 
> Every single one of these solutions required new testing. New test protocols. New instrumentation. New data channels.
> 
> *[Pause]*
> 
> And it worked. Airbag-related fatalities dropped from over 50 per year to near zero.

---

## SLIDE 8: The DTS Connection
**Visual:** Photo of CRABI infant dummy or small female dummy with DTS instrumentation  
**Caption:** DTS accelerometers in out-of-position testing

### Speaker Notes:
> Where does DTS fit in?
> 
> Out-of-position testing requires precise measurements in very small packages. The forces on a child dummy's neck. The acceleration of an infant's head. The chest deflection of a 5th percentile female.
> 
> These measurements need to be accurate, repeatable, and small enough to fit in small dummies without affecting their biofidelity.
> 
> That's what we do. Our accelerometers are in the CRABI infant dummy. Our data acquisition systems capture the millisecond-by-millisecond record of what happens when an airbag meets an out-of-position occupant.
> 
> Without that data, there's no depowering. There's no dual-stage inflator. There's no occupant classification. And there are more dead children.

---

## SLIDE 9: Story 2 - The Luxury Car That Failed
**Visual:** IIHS Small Overlap test photo - crumpled luxury vehicle  
**Subtitle:** The 2012 Small Overlap Shock

### Speaker Notes:
> Let's move to story two. This one might surprise you.
> 
> 2012. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduces a new test: the small overlap frontal crash. Twenty-five percent overlap, rigid barrier, 40 miles per hour.
> 
> The industry assumed their vehicles would do fine. After all, they'd been acing the moderate overlap test for years. Mercedes, BMW, Audi - surely they'd pass.
> 
> *[Pause]*
> 
> They didn't.

---

## SLIDE 10: The Results
**Visual:** Table showing 2012 small overlap results  
- BMW 5-Series: Marginal
- Mercedes C-Class: Marginal
- Audi A4: Marginal
- Lexus ES: Poor

### Speaker Notes:
> Look at this list. BMW 5-Series - Marginal. Mercedes C-Class - Marginal. Audi A4 - Marginal. Lexus ES - Poor.
> 
> These are some of the most expensive, most prestigious vehicles on the road. And they failed a crash test.
> 
> Only 3 of 13 midsize cars earned "Good" in the first round of testing.
> 
> This was a wake-up call for the entire industry.

---

## SLIDE 11: What the Data Showed
**Visual:** Comparison - good structure vs. poor structure (intrusion data)  
**Annotation:** Firewall intrusion, footwell collapse, steering column displacement

### Speaker Notes:
> What did the data show?
> 
> *[Point to comparison]*
> 
> On the left: a vehicle with good small overlap performance. The crash structure engages, absorbs energy, and the occupant compartment stays intact.
> 
> On the right: a vehicle that failed. See how the structure bypasses the main longitudinal rails? The wheel gets pushed back. The firewall collapses. The footwell crushes. The steering column displaces into the occupant.
> 
> The dummies - instrumented with accelerometers and load cells - told the story. Head injury numbers through the roof. Leg loads exceeding injury thresholds. Feet trapped in crushed footwells.
> 
> This wasn't visible from looking at the car. You had to see the data.

---

## SLIDE 12: The Industry Response
**Visual:** Before/after structural diagrams showing redesigned front end  
**Caption:** Structural redesigns across the industry

### Speaker Notes:
> The industry response was massive. And fast.
> 
> Within two years, automakers fundamentally redesigned their front structures. They added small overlap-specific load paths. They extended the bumper beam. They reinforced the A-pillar. They changed the wheel well geometry.
> 
> By 2015, most vehicles were earning "Good" ratings. But it required a complete rethink of frontal crash structure.
> 
> And every one of those redesigned vehicles was validated with crash testing. With instrumented dummies. With data channels.

---

## SLIDE 13: Story 3 - The Sport That Was Killing Its Players
**Visual:** Vintage football photo - leather helmets  
**Subtitle:** Football's Deadly Secret

### Speaker Notes:
> Let's step outside automotive for our third story.
> 
> In the 1960s and early 1970s, American football was killing its players. Not occasionally - regularly. An average of 32 players died each year from head and neck injuries.
> 
> Thirty-two funerals. Every year. High school kids. College students. Professional athletes. All dead from a sport.
> 
> Helmets existed. They just didn't work.

---

## SLIDE 14: The NOCSAE Solution
**Visual:** Drop tower test equipment  
**Caption:** NOCSAE drop test - the standard that changed everything

### Speaker Notes:
> In 1969, the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment - NOCSAE - was formed. Their mission: create a helmet standard that would actually prevent deaths.
> 
> They developed the drop test. A helmeted headform dropped from 60 inches onto various anvils. The headform instrumented with accelerometers.
> 
> The metric they chose: Severity Index. An integral of acceleration over time, raised to the 2.5 power. If SI exceeded 1200, the helmet failed.
> 
> It was simple. It was repeatable. And it worked.

---

## SLIDE 15: The Results
**Visual:** Graph showing football fatalities before and after NOCSAE  
- 1970: ~32 deaths/year
- 1980: ~8 deaths/year
- 2020: ~3 deaths/year

### Speaker Notes:
> *[Point to graph]*
> 
> Look at this curve.
> 
> Pre-NOCSAE: 32 deaths per year.
> 
> After the standard was mandated in 1980: deaths dropped to single digits.
> 
> Today: typically 3 or fewer deaths per year from head/neck trauma in football.
> 
> That's a 90% reduction. Not from rule changes. Not from better coaching. From better helmets - helmets validated with instrumented testing.

---

## SLIDE 16: The DTS Connection
**Visual:** Linear impactor test setup / helmet testing equipment  
**Caption:** Modern helmet testing - now including rotational metrics

### Speaker Notes:
> DTS instrumentation is used in helmet testing facilities around the world.
> 
> Our accelerometers are in the headforms. Our data acquisition systems capture the impact data. Our calibration standards ensure that a test run in Kansas gives the same result as a test run in Virginia.
> 
> And the science keeps advancing. The original drop test measured linear acceleration. Today, we're adding rotational acceleration - because we now understand that concussions are caused by brain rotation, not just linear impact.
> 
> That means new sensors. New data channels. New measurement techniques. The same DTS capabilities that serve automotive are now serving sports safety.

---

## SLIDE 17: Part 2 - Surprising Applications
**Visual:** Section divider  
**Title:** PART 2: Customers You Didn't Know You Had

### Speaker Notes:
> Those three stories - airbags, small overlap, football helmets - are the obvious ones. Automotive and sports. The things you'd expect.
> 
> But DTS equipment shows up in places you might not expect. Let me give you a quick tour of some surprising applications.

---

## SLIDE 18: Military - The WIAMan Dummy
**Visual:** WIAMan dummy in military vehicle  
**Caption:** Protecting soldiers from IED underbody blast

### Speaker Notes:
> The military has a problem. IEDs - improvised explosive devices - are killing soldiers by sending blast forces up through vehicle floors.
> 
> Traditional crash test dummies weren't designed for this. They measure horizontal impact, not vertical blast.
> 
> So the Army developed WIAMan - the Warrior Injury Assessment Manikin. A dummy specifically designed for underbody blast assessment.
> 
> *[Pause]*
> 
> DTS was a key partner in developing WIAMan's instrumentation. Our accelerometers measure the lumbar spine loads that determine whether a soldier's back is broken. Our data acquisition systems capture the blast event.
> 
> This isn't automotive. But it's the same mission: use data to save lives.

---

## SLIDE 19: Space - Astronaut Protection
**Visual:** Space capsule splashdown or astronaut seat testing  
**Caption:** Crew return vehicle impact testing

### Speaker Notes:
> When a space capsule returns to Earth, it hits the water - or land - hard. Potentially 15g or more of deceleration.
> 
> How do you know if the astronauts will survive? You test. With instrumented dummies. With accelerometers. With data acquisition systems.
> 
> DTS equipment has been used to validate crew seating in multiple space programs. The same measurement principles that protect car occupants protect astronauts returning from orbit.

---

## SLIDE 20: Theme Parks - Roller Coaster Safety
**Visual:** Roller coaster or theme park ride  
**Caption:** Acceleration limits for amusement rides

### Speaker Notes:
> Here's one you might not expect: theme parks.
> 
> Roller coasters are designed to create excitement through acceleration. But there are limits - exceed them, and you injure guests.
> 
> ASTM standards specify acceleration limits for amusement rides. And how do you verify that a new roller coaster meets those limits? You instrument it. You measure the g-forces. You capture the data.
> 
> Some theme parks use DTS equipment for this. Same accelerometers. Same data acquisition. Different application.

---

## SLIDE 21: Medical Devices - Implant Testing
**Visual:** Medical device impact testing or spinal implant  
**Caption:** Validating devices that go inside human bodies

### Speaker Notes:
> Medical devices like spinal implants or joint replacements experience repeated loading inside the body. Drop something? An impact load.
> 
> Device manufacturers need to know: will this implant survive real-world conditions?
> 
> Impact testing of medical devices uses the same principles as crash testing. Controlled impacts. Measured forces. Data analysis. Some of that testing uses DTS equipment.

---

## SLIDE 22: The Common Thread
**Visual:** Graphic showing diverse applications connected to "PRECISE MEASUREMENT"  
**Caption:** Different industries. Same mission.

### Speaker Notes:
> Automotive. Sports. Military. Space. Theme parks. Medical devices.
> 
> What do they all have in common?
> 
> They all need precise measurement of dynamic events. Events that happen in milliseconds. Events that determine whether someone lives or dies, walks or doesn't, returns from space or doesn't.
> 
> That's what DTS does. We provide the measurement capability that enables safety engineering across all these fields.

---

## SLIDE 23: Part 3 - Engineering Impact
**Visual:** Section divider  
**Title:** PART 3: Good Data Enables Good Decisions

### Speaker Notes:
> Let me shift gears and talk directly to the engineers in the room.
> 
> Everything I've shown you - the airbag fixes, the structural redesigns, the helmet improvements - all of it depends on one thing: good data.
> 
> Bad data leads to bad decisions. And in safety engineering, bad decisions cost lives.
> 
> Let me show you what I mean.

---

## SLIDE 24: What Good Data Looks Like
**Visual:** Clean data trace with proper characteristics  
**Annotations:** Pre-trigger baseline, appropriate filter, clear signal, no saturation

### Speaker Notes:
> Here's what good data looks like.
> 
> *[Point to features]*
> 
> Clean pre-trigger baseline - the sensor was working before the event.
> 
> Appropriate filtering - CFC 1000 for head acceleration, removing noise without distorting the signal.
> 
> Clear signal - you can see exactly what happened, when it happened.
> 
> No saturation - the sensor range was appropriate for the event.
> 
> This is data you can trust. Data that can drive engineering decisions.

---

## SLIDE 25: What Bad Data Looks Like
**Visual:** Problematic data traces  
**Examples:** Saturated signal, excessive noise, zero shift, cable artifact

### Speaker Notes:
> And here's what bad data looks like.
> 
> *[Point to examples]*
> 
> Saturated signal - the accelerometer was overranged. We don't know what the actual peak was. Could have been 100g. Could have been 500g. We don't know.
> 
> Excessive noise - either electrical interference or mechanical resonance. The real signal is buried in garbage.
> 
> Zero shift - the sensor's baseline moved after impact. Every measurement after this point is wrong.
> 
> Cable artifact - that spike isn't acceleration, it's the cable being yanked.
> 
> *[Pause]*
> 
> You cannot make good engineering decisions with bad data. If a customer makes a vehicle safer based on bad data, they might be making it more dangerous.

---

## SLIDE 26: Why This Matters for Your Work
**Visual:** Product development cycle with "DATA QUALITY" highlighted  
**Caption:** Your decisions affect every test run with our equipment

### Speaker Notes:
> Here's why this matters for everyone in this room.
> 
> Every design decision you make - sensor selection, cable design, data acquisition architecture, software algorithms, calibration procedures - affects the quality of data our customers collect.
> 
> When you choose a sensor range, you're deciding whether customers will saturate.
> 
> When you design a mounting system, you're determining whether they'll get resonance artifacts.
> 
> When you write calibration procedures, you're setting the accuracy baseline for every test.
> 
> These aren't abstract technical decisions. They're decisions that determine whether an engineer at GM or Toyota or BMW can trust the data. And trust the conclusions they draw from it.

---

## SLIDE 27: The Ripple Effect
**Visual:** Diagram showing DTS product → Customer test → Vehicle design → Road safety  
**Caption:** Your work affects millions

### Speaker Notes:
> Let me paint the picture.
> 
> You design a product. That product goes to a customer. The customer runs a test. The test generates data. That data influences a design decision. That design goes into a vehicle. That vehicle is manufactured a million times. Those million vehicles protect millions of occupants.
> 
> The ripple effect of your work is enormous. You might never see it. You might never know about it. But it's there.
> 
> Every calibration. Every design review. Every manufacturing check. They all matter.

---

## SLIDE 28: Closing - The Human Element
**Visual:** Section divider  
**Title:** CLOSING: Remember the Why

### Speaker Notes:
> I want to close by bringing us back to the human element.
> 
> It's easy to get lost in specifications. Sample rates. Filter classes. Calibration tolerances. These things matter - I've just told you why they matter.
> 
> But let's not forget why we care about those specifications.

---

## SLIDE 29: The Real Customers
**Visual:** Collage of real people - families, children, commuters  
**Caption:** These are the people we protect

### Speaker Notes:
> These are our real customers.
> 
> Not the test lab. Not the automotive OEM. Not the government regulator.
> 
> The real customers are the people who will sit in the vehicles that get designed using our data. The children who ride in car seats validated with our instrumentation. The soldiers protected by armor tested with our equipment. The athletes wearing helmets certified with our measurement systems.
> 
> They don't know our name. They don't know what DTS is. But their lives depend on us doing our jobs well.

---

## SLIDE 30: The Work Isn't Done
**Visual:** Emerging challenges - EVs, autonomous vehicles, pedestrian safety  
**Caption:** New challenges require new solutions

### Speaker Notes:
> And the work isn't done.
> 
> Electric vehicles have different crash characteristics - battery integrity, high-voltage safety.
> 
> Autonomous vehicles need validation of active safety systems in ways we're still figuring out.
> 
> Pedestrian and cyclist fatalities are rising even as occupant fatalities fall - new protection challenges.
> 
> Military threats evolve constantly.
> 
> Sports science is discovering new mechanisms of brain injury.
> 
> Every one of these challenges will require new testing. New instrumentation. New data. New solutions from companies like DTS.

---

## SLIDE 31: Final Thought
**Visual:** Simple text on dark background  
**Quote:** "Every channel of data tells a story. Make sure it's accurate enough to save a life."

### Speaker Notes:
> I'll leave you with this.
> 
> Every channel of data tells a story. A story about what happened in a crash test. A story about forces and accelerations and human tolerance. A story that will be read by engineers making decisions about vehicle design.
> 
> Make sure those stories are accurate. Make sure they're reliable. Make sure they're precise.
> 
> Because somewhere, someday, a vehicle designed using data from our equipment will be in a crash. And the person inside will either walk away or they won't.
> 
> That's the story our data tells. Let's make sure we're telling it right.
> 
> Thank you.

---

## SLIDE 32: Questions
**Visual:** "Questions?" with contact information  
**Caption:** Ben [Last Name], Application Engineer

### Speaker Notes:
> I'm happy to take questions. And if you want to hear more stories from the field - the weird tests, the challenging customers, the equipment that survived things it shouldn't have - come find me. I've got plenty more.
> 
> *[Open for Q&A]*

---

# APPENDIX: ADDITIONAL TALKING POINTS

## If Asked About Specific Products
- Reference SLICE systems for in-dummy acquisition
- Mention TDAS for vehicle-level data
- Discuss calibration services and traceability

## If Asked About Competition
- Focus on DTS advantages: reliability, size, support
- Don't disparage competitors - redirect to customer mission

## If Asked About Future Technology
- Discuss emerging measurement needs (rotational brain injury, EV testing)
- Mention R&D initiatives if appropriate
- Emphasize continuous improvement

## Backup Stories (if time permits)
1. The test where the camera caught fire but DTS equipment kept recording
2. The customer who found a design flaw 2 weeks before production
3. The dummy that was dropped (accidentally) and the data that was recovered

---

# TIMING GUIDE

| Section | Duration | Cumulative |
|---------|----------|------------|
| Opening (Slides 1-3) | 5 min | 5 min |
| Part 1 - Headlines (Slides 4-16) | 15 min | 20 min |
| Part 2 - Surprising Applications (Slides 17-22) | 8 min | 28 min |
| Part 3 - Engineering Impact (Slides 23-27) | 10 min | 38 min |
| Closing (Slides 28-32) | 5 min | 43 min |
| Q&A Buffer | 2 min | 45 min |

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# EQUIPMENT/MATERIALS NEEDED

1. Projector/screen
2. Clicker/remote
3. (Optional) Physical sensor or dummy component to show
4. (Optional) Short video clips of crash tests
5. Water for speaker

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*End of Script and Speaker Notes*
