Michael Sayers

Dr. Sayers worked as a senior research scientist at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. In his time there, Sayers conducted research projects that resulted in written standards for using existing equipment to measure road roughness in a manner that that was repeatable, reproducible, and stable with time. He created a standard roughness scale that came to be known as the "International Roughness Index" (IRI) in 1986. IRI is now used as a standard road condition indicator in the United States and other countries.

In 2012, he was awarded the Technical Achievement Award of the Road Profile Users' Group (RPUG) for his work in developing standard methods for measuring and evaluating road toughness.

He co-founded Mechanical Simulation Corporation (in 1996) to provide vehicle simulation software based on his programs. The company's primary products – CarSim, TruckSim and BikeSim – are based on Dr. Sayers' concepts.

Dr. Sayers earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from M.I.T., and his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan. He has authored or co-authored over 80 papers and technical reports.