Dr. Farhad Ansari is a professor and Head of the Department of Civil and Materials Engineering at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Prior to his current position, he was a professor of civil engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

He received all of his degrees - B.S., M.S., and PhD - in structural engineering, from the University of Illinois, the University of Colorado, and the University of Illinois at Chicago, respectively.

Dr. Ansari’s technical areas of interest include the broad discipline of structural engineering, with emphasis in Civil Structural Health Monitoring, smart sensors, and non-destructive testing. His current research topics include: integrated fibre-optic sensors for the condition monitoring of structures including bridges, dams and tunnels; fibre-optic acoustic emission sensors for the real-time monitoring of corrosion and fracture; image processing techniques for the characterization of microstructure in concrete; the development of MEMS-based sensors for civil structural systems; optical-fibre-distributed sensors for the post-seismic monitoring of damaged structures; monitoring the states of repaired and strengthened structures; and the development of weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems.

Dr. Ansari has authored numerous journal articles, books, and patents in his discipline, and has served as editor and guest editor for several international journals.

He received the prestigious NOVA Award from the Construction Innovation Forum in 1997 for his development of a fast-track concrete repair method for highway pavements. He received the best paper award from the ASCE journal of Composites in Construction. He has served on several national and international panels to promote and review the application of new technologies for civil engineering structures, including NSERC research networks, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the US National Science Foundation and Federal Highway Administration, the Mario Bolo Institute in Italy, and the State Key Laboratory Research Institute for Structures at Tong Ji University in China.