Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, The Ohio State University, 2022
  • M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, 2010
  • B.S.E., Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2005
Additional Education & Training
  • Honda R&D Americas A-License, High-Performance Driving, 2018
Professional Affiliations
  • SAE International — Professional Member

Evan Lowe, Ph.D., is a Managing Engineer in Exponent's Vehicle Engineering Practice with 20+ years of experience in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and automated vehicle (AV) development, vehicle dynamics, and high-fidelity simulation. He specializes in ADAS/AV testing and validation, emergency obstacle-avoidance analysis, and regulatory and standards compliance assessments under FMVSS and ISO 26262 — helping OEMs, Tier One suppliers, and technology clients translate complex vehicle requirements into validated, defensible engineering solutions. Leveraging his testing, simulation, and regulatory analysis background, Dr. Lowe supports clients in the development of safety cases and engineering analyses that require rigorous, defensible technical assessment of ADAS/AV system performance.

Dr. Lowe has supported ADAS and AV programs across the full validation spectrum — from Model-, Software-, Hardware-, Driver-, and Vehicle-in-the-Loop (MIL/SIL/HIL/DIL/VIL) simulation to full-scale physical vehicle testing.  His work spans system architecture guidance, test-scenario development, and co-simulation using MATLAB/Simulink, CarSim, Virtual Test Drive (VTD), and ROS2, along with fault and fail-safe analysis aligned to ISO 26262 and FMVSS compliance testing for OEM and Tier One vehicle development programs.

He has addressed challenges including obstacle avoidance, sensor fusion, and perception validation for OEM, Tier One, and startup technology clients, and has conducted electronic stability control (ESC) and all-wheel-drive (AWD) development and testing across extreme temperature environments, with simulation-to-track correlation research supporting regulatory test compliance.

Dr. Lowe has translated this testing and simulation experience into patented and patent-pending methodologies for assessing AV obstacle avoidance capabilities, combining simulation and proving-ground testing with a regulatory test-scoring framework that supports pre-compliance testing, technical due diligence, and expert analysis of ADAS/AV system performance.

Before joining Exponent, Dr. Lowe held technical product, applications engineering, and business development roles at Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence and Cadence Design Systems, growing Virtual Test Drive (VTD/VTDx) simulation engagements for OEM and Tier One clients across North America. He also conducted research on vehicle dynamics and stability control through simulation at Honda R&D Americas. He earned a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from The Ohio State University, with a dissertation on autonomous vehicle emergency obstacle avoidance; an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University; and a B.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering (Cum Laude) from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Lowe has authored peer-reviewed research on AV emergency maneuvers and obstacle-avoidance capability assessments and has presented at academic and industry conferences. He also volunteers as a curriculum developer and instructor for introductory software development courses for elementary and middle school students.