Farhad Ansari
Professor and head of civil engineering
Biography
Farhad Ansari (Photo: Jenny Fontaine)
A collapsing bridge is a potent reminder of our aging infrastructure.
Farhad Ansari is the Christopher B. and Susan S. Burke Professor of civil engineering and a UIC Distinguished Professor. He is a specialist in monitoring the structural status of bridges, dams, buildings, and tunnels.
Ansari is leading a research effort at UIC that incorporates telecommunications, sophisticated software and fiber optic technology to create monitoring systems for new and aging infrastructure. He helped assess the health of the Brooklyn Bridge and designed a monitoring system for a new bridge in China.
Ansari has worked with several state agencies in monitoring highway bridges, including IDOT, NJDOT, and Caltrans on tracking trucks on their highways by installing Bridge Weigh-in-Motion systems.
Ansari uses the latest technology to make monitoring fast, accurate and very affordable. He brings unique capabilities as a structural engineer with expertise in fiber optic sensors.
Ansari served as president of ISHMII, the International Society for Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure (2009-2014), a global organization of civil structural health monitoring. He is currently editor-in-chief of the journal of civil structural Health Monitoring which is published by Springer.
Subject areas:
- Structural engineering
- Structural health monitoring
- Smart sensors
- Nondestructive testing
