Daniel Williams

Dan Williams has worked for 30+ years in engineering and planning positions of increasing responsibility in passenger car suspension and commercial vehicle steering business units.  He began working for a joint venture between Moog and Lotus to develop passenger car active suspension systems.  That business was purchased by TRW, and Dan has managed the development and launch of chassis control systems in North America and Europe.  TRW was recently purchased by ZF, and Dan is currently Director of ADAS, Autonomy, and Integrated Vehicle Control Systems for the ZF Commercial Vehicle Technology.  He has published over 90 papers and patents on various vehicle control systems and has served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Purdue University teaching vehicle dynamics. 

Dan received the B.S. (1985) and M.S. (1987) degrees in engineering from the University of Illinois; his thesis topic was optimal control of racing vehicles.  He received the M.B.A. (1990) degree from the Florida Institute of Technology and then received his Ph.D. (1995) in Mechanical Engineering from Florida Tech.  His dissertation compared practical and theoretically optimal active automotive suspension systems.  He later completed his M.A. (2008) in History from Purdue University writing a thesis on the effect of the Morrill Act on Engineering. 

He is a registered Professional Engineer and a member of Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and FarmHouse Fraternity. Dan chaired the SAE committee developing standards for active safety systems, and sits on the SAE Truck and Bus Council.  He is a SAE Fellow, received the SAE Lloyd L. Withrow Distinguished Speaker Award and the Florida Tech Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award.  Dan delivered the 2012 SAE Buckendale Lecture on “Multi-Axle Vehicle Dynamics,” and the 2016 ASME Milliken Lecture on "Active Suspension."