Experts Guide for the Media

Farhad Ansari

UIC Distinguished Professor and Christopher B. and Susan S. Burke Professor of Civil Engineering

Biography

Farhad Ansari. (Photo: Jenny Fontaine/UIC)

Farhad Ansari is a specialist in structural safety assessment and forensic analysis of bridges, buildings, dams and tunnels. With more than 30 years of experience, he has investigated the condition of existing structures and led post-collapse analyses of major infrastructure failures, including the 2018 Morandi Bridge collapse in Genoa, Italy, and the 2021 Surfside condominium collapse in Florida. His findings have been published in leading structural engineering journals.

At UIC, he leads research that combines telecommunications, advanced software and fiber-optic technology to develop monitoring systems for new and aging infrastructure. He established fiber-optic sensor networks on New York City’s Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges to monitor structural safety and crack growth, and he oversaw fiber-optic monitoring of stay cables during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Ansari has also worked with transportation agencies nationwide, including the Illinois, New Jersey, Georgia and Oregon departments of transportation, as well as Caltrans, to improve bridge monitoring and safety.