Melina Makris PhD dissertation: Car passengers Ride Comfort

Melina, doctoral student in Design & Human Factors (Industrial and Materials Science) at Chalmers University of Technology, will on 16 April at 13:00 present her thesis entitled Beyond the Seat: Exploring Passengers’ Ride Comfort in Cars. Physical, Psychological and Functional Comfort Dimensions and Influencing Factors.

Her research explores how car passengers perceive ride comfort, including aspects such as sitting posture and seat belt fit, from both an ergonomics and safety perspective. A central contribution is the identification of relationships between comfort perceptions and the factors that influence them. Melina’s work is carried out in close collaboration with partners including Volvo Cars and Autoliv, and the work is financed by FFI.

Date: 16 April 2026, 13:00–16:00
Location: Virtual Development Laboratory (VDL), Chalmers Tvärgata 4, Gothenburg, or via Teams.

Main supervisor: Prof. Anna-Lisa Osvalder, Chalmers

Co-supervisors: Dr. Katarina Bohman, Volvo Cars; Dr. Mikael Johansson, Chalmers

Examiner: Prof. MariAnne Karlsson, Chalmers

Opponent: Prof. Peter Vink, TU Delft

Grading committee: Prof. Mikael Forsman, KTH; Docent Maria Krafft, Trafikverket; Prof. Jan Andersson, VTI

Suppleant: Docent Denis Coehlo, Jönköping University

The thesis is available here.

Cake will be served after the defence. If you would like to join, please register by 7 April via the poll: https://choodle.portal.chalmers.se/oTU7Fkw9fVe5Fghg

Welcome to attend this important milestone and take part in research advancing passenger comfort and safety in future mobility.