Harold J. "Bud" Mertz is considered to be the driving force in the creation of theHybrid IIIcrash test dummy, the standard dummy used today. Working withGeneral Motors in the late 1960s, Mertz designed and built the dummy which is today the only recognized test device in bothNorth America andEurope for restraint devices which protect against frontal collisions.[citation needed]
Mertz earned hisbachelor's degree inaeronautical engineering atWayne State University, and took a course onfluid dynamics under the tutelage ofLawrence Patrick, who was at the time using himself as aguinea pig in investigating the effects of car crashes onhumans. Patrick offered Mertz an opportunity to work as his research assistant, and Mertz accepted.[citation needed]
Mertz went on to do his graduate studies at Wayne State, and worked withcadavers in crash testing studies too violent to use live volunteers. He completed hisPh.D. with adissertation onwhiplash-type injuries in 1967, In 1969, he was hired as a senior researcher at GM.[citation needed]
Mertz retired from General Motors in 2005, and lives with his wife inHarper Woods, Michigan.[citation needed]