Habitat Engineering & Forensics
446 - 17th Street, Suite 300
Oakland, CA  94612

Tel.  (510) 8 9 1- 0 3 0 0
Habitat Engineering Forensics - Civil Structural Engineering Construction Damage Investigations Failure Analysis Consulting Expert Witness Testimony Fari Barzegar PhD PE Forensic Engineer
  •  Civil/Structural Engineering & Construction
  •  Consulting, Design & Damage Investigations
  •  Defects, Accidents & Failure Analysis
  •  Repair, Remediation & Seismic Retrofit
  •  Insurance/Legal Support & Expert Witness Services
Fari Barzegar, Ph.D., P.E., CPEng

Dr. Barzegar is the founding principal engineer at Habitat Engineering & Forensics. He is a registered professional
engineer with over 25-years of experience in engineering consulting, structural analysis/design, construction project
management, university education and research. He specializes
in the following areas:

  •   Civil/Structural Engineering, Construction & Forensics; Engineering Mechanics
  •    Expert Consulting & Witness; Third-Party & Peer Reviews; Litigation Support
  •    Insurance Claims: Analysis & Preparation
  •   Building Design & Construction; Attachments to Buildings
  •   Seismic Resistant Design & Retrofit; Performance-Based & Dynamic Analysis
  •   Structural Evaluation & Rehabilitation; Historic Structures
  •    Condition/Vulnerability/Damage Assessment & Failure/Collapse Analysis:   
                      Buildings, Bridges, Industrial Structures, Process Structures, Offshore Platforms,  
                      Transmission Towers, Cooling Towers, Stacks & Chimneys, Elevated Equipment, Pipe
                      Racks & Pipe Bridges, Crane Booms, Nuclear & LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas)
                      Containment & Storage/Pressure Vessels, Water/Wastewater Treatment Tanks, Grain &  
                      Granular Material Silos, Conveyors, Conduits & Pipelines, Tunneling & underground
                      Mining Operations, Seals & Stoppings in Coal Mines, Foundations, Earth Retaining
                      Structures, Slabs & Pavements
  •   Due Diligence & Forensic Investigations; Instrumentation & Monitoring
  •    Analysis of Damage Caused by Vibration (equipment, pile driving, demolition,  
                      etc), Impact, Blast, Wind, Earthquake, Fire, Hurricane & Flood  
  •    Construction/Installation Defects, Accidents & Disputes; Errors & Omissions
  •    Code Compliance; Standard of Care; OSHA Standards
  •   Building/Construction Product Evaluation: Structural Components/Materials,  
                      Cementitious Products (Precast Concrete, Terrazzo, Repair Materials), FRP
                      Composites, Steel, Wood, CMU & Brick Masonry; Destructive/Non-Destructive Testing
  •   Root Cause & Failure Analysis     
  •   Finite Element (linear & nonlinear) Stress, Thermal, Fracture & Plasticity     
                      Analysis; Product Design & Liability Issues
  •    Intellectual Property & Patent Infringement
  •    Slip, Trip & Fall Accidents; Personal Injuries

Dr. Barzegar's experience in Forensic Investigations & Damage Assessments, and Failure Analysis as
Expert Consultant & Witness includes facilities affected by natural (earthquake, wind & flood) and man-made
(vibrations, impact & explosion) hazards, construction defects/accidents, collapse analysis, and repair and
remediation design. Amongst other projects, Dr. Barzegar has investigated buildings, bridges, industrial installations,
foundations & retaining walls, excessive floor vibrations, damage to concrete & steel grain silos, failure of water
storage tanks and underground water conduits, distress in slabs and pavements, concrete mix design and
placement, defective concrete & terrazzo, flood and vibration damage to historic buildings, structures affected by
wind, fire and explosion, blast in coal mines and in chemical plants, pile driving damage to adjacent buildings, water
intrusion problems, failures and injuries during construction, demolition damage, construction contracts & disputes,
and slip, trip & fall cases. Dr. Barzegar has been retained by the construction, mining, manufacturing and technology
industries, insurance companies, legal counsel for plaintiff and defense, other organizations and individuals.

Dr. Barzegar further consults on dynamic, blast, and seismic analysis & design of structures and installations
incorporating computer-based three-dimensional modeling, nonlinear pushover and performance-based studies
(SEMI Code, ASCE, FEMA & ATC Guidelines) and finite element stress analysis. Dr. Barzegar's structural
engineering design experience includes concrete, steel, wood and masonry buildings, and adobe construction. He
has also served as "structural engineer of record" for several custom-designed wood-frame residential buildings,
additions, seismic retrofitting, and tenant improvements to commercial buildings.

Dr. Barzegar has served on the faculty of the Structural Engineering Department, School of Civil & Environmental
Engineering at the University of New South Wales (Sydney-Australia), and the Civil Engineering Department at
Louisiana State University. Prior to founding Habitat Engineering & Forensics, he also held positions at Zolman
Construction & Development, Struct-Tech Group (design/build firm), Rutherford & Chekene Consulting Engineers,
and Exponent Failure Analysis Associates, in San Francisco Bay Area.

Dr. Barzegar's
Publications have appeared in various professional journals. He has served as a reviewer for a
number of technical journals.

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D. (Civil/Structural Engineering), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1987

  • M.S. (Civil/Structural Engineering), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1983

  • B.S. (Civil Engineering, with High Honors), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1981


CREDENTIALS AND PROFESSIONAL HONORS

  • Registered Professional Engineer (Civil), State of California, (Registration # C61998)

  • Charter Member, Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers

  • Chartered Professional Engineer, The Institution of Engineers, Australia (Registration #1044611)

  • Licensed California General Building Contractor, (Registration B, 846888)

  • Member:  American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Structural Engineers Association of Northern
    California, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, The American Concrete Institute (ACI),  American
    Institute of Steel Construction, International Code Council, Forensic Expert Witness Association, California
    Preservation Foundation, Oakland Heritage Alliance, Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society, The
    Institution of Engineers-Australia

  • Interviewed by "Press & Sun-Bulletin" on failure of a concrete container at Bringhamton-Johnson City Joint   
         Sewage Treatment Plant, New York (June 2011)

  • Interviewed by "The Star Ledger" on planned Bayonne bridge modifications in New Jersey (December 2010)

  • Interviewed by NPR (National Public Radio), Pacifica Radio, Bloomberg & CNN News for expertise on failure   
    investigations and San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge closure (October 2009)

  • Interviewed by "Chicago Tribune" on a collapsed porch in a Chicago apartment building (July 2003)

  • Epert Reviewer for Complaints Filed against Licensed Engineers: California Board for Professional
         Engineers & Land Surveyors

  • Associate Member: Joint ACI-ASCE Committee 352 on Joints and Connections in Monolithic Concrete
    Structures; Joint ACI-ASCE Committee 447 on Finite Element Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Structures


  • Associate Editor: Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE (Committee on Concrete and Masonry Structures),
    October 1991- May 1992

  • Reviewer: technical articles for the Journal of Structural Engineering (ASCE), the Structural Journal of the
    American Concrete Institute, and International Journal of Structural Engineering and Mechanics

  • Reviewed the manuscripts of two texts on Finite Element Structural Analysis, and Fundamentals of the Finite
    Element Method, for West Educational Publishing

  • Chair: Technical session on “Structural Shapes”, Third International Conference on Composites in     
    Infrastructure, San Francisco, California (2002)

  • Cited in Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, 3rd Edition (1996-97)

  • Principal Investigator on several research grants from U.S. National Science Foundation, Louisiana State
    University Council on Research, Louisiana Transportation Research Center & Federal Highway
    Administration, Australian Research Council, and the College of Engineering at the University of New South
    Wales

  • Supervised five doctoral dissertations and eight masters theses/reports (Louisiana State Univ. &  the Univ. of
    New South Wales)

  • Coordinator of Post-Graduate Research, School of Civil Engineering, and a member of the Higher Degree
    Committee, College of Engineering, University of New South Wales (Australia), 1994-95

  • Halliburton Education Foundation Faculty Development Grant, College of Engineering, Louisiana State
    University, 1987

  • Scholarship for graduate studies, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    (1981-86)

  • Dean's List for academic excellence (1979-81)

  • Construction Management” course, Cal State East Bay SBDC, Oakland, CA, 2006

  • “Systems Analysis and Design” computer course, Ohlone College, Fremont, CA, 2001

  • “Spread-Sheets and Data Bases” computer course, TAEF College, Sydney- Australia, 1996


                             Complete Professional C.V. Available Upon Request
Habitat Engineering Forensics - Civil Structural Engineering Construction Damage Investigations Failure Analysis Consulting Expert Witness Testimony Fari Barzegar PhD PE Forensic Engineer