Siavash Zamiran
  • News
  • Projects
  • Lectures
  • Awards
  • Album
  • Publications
  • About
    • About
    • Organization
    • Career Coaching

Next Step; Interview with ASCE Civil Engineering Magazine

2/16/2020

 
Picture
Next Step; Interview with ASCE Civil Engineering Magazine, December 2019

IT WOULD BE EASY TO ASSUME that Siavash Zamiran, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE, doesn’t get much sleep. Zamiran, who was presented with the ASCE Edmund Friedman Young Engineer Award in 2019, works full time as a geotechnical engineer for St. Louis-based Marino Engineering Associates Inc. (MEA), teaches geotechnical engineering on an adjunct basis at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T), and serves as the chair of the Sustainability Committee for the St. Louis Section. But he says his enthusiasm, optimism, organizational skills, and devotion to self-improvement keep him going. By continuing to teach in the subjects in which he practices, he maintains up-to-date knowledge and skills. And by reading, networking, and listening to podcasts, he has learned how to manage his time and tasks to achieve a rewarding balance of work, school, and life.

- You have just been promoted from project engineer to senior project engineer at mea and taken on a new adjunct professorship. How are you managing all the responsibilities of both?

What helps is that the courses I teach are in the areas in which I work. There is a saying that if you want to learn something perfectly, teach it. When I had the opportunity to teach geotechnical engineering, I took it so that I could better learn and understand all the rules, formulas, and principles. On a daily basis, I use those same principles in my consulting, analysis, and design.

- How did the opportunity at Missouri S&T present itself?

I am very involved in civil engineering organizations, especially ASCE. My ASCE experiences have helped me to increase my network and connect to other professionals in my area. Also, being in contact with my coworkers who practice in other specialties and with professors in other areas of academics helped.

- How does your job as a senior project engineer differ from that of a project engineer?


When I was a project engineer, I was involved almost entirely in the technical parts of the work—the design and analysis. Now that I am a senior project engineer, I have more responsibilities for project management, relationships with clients, and supervising staff.

The good thing about working for a small-sized company, which mea is, is that it gives me the opportunity to be involved not just in my own work but also other disciplines and areas, including business development, marketing, and client relationships.

- What are the chief skills and abilities that you developed in your previous positions that help you in these new positions?

Being in a more senior position and managing projects and relationships require lots of ‘softer’ skills in parallel with the technical skills. And you really don’t learn those softer skills in school. So I try to increase those skills myself. I read and study about project management, time management, selforganization, and other nontechnical topics. This is useful not only for my work but also for other parts of my life.

Also, when I was working on my dissertation, I had to start something from scratch, come up with the idea, do the research, collect the information, conduct the analysis, develop a procedure, and create an output of my study. Finally, I had to put all that together into a two-hundred-page dissertation and defend it in front of committee members. I worked on it for two years, and it taught me how to handle a long-term, multiple-part project from start to finish. That was a very helpful, practical experience.

- What personal traits or characteristics do you believe help you in these new positions?

I am generally enthusiastic and optimistic about things. And I am consistent about what I want and pursuing it. There is a compound-effect rule that says if you want to reach a goal, you have to be consistent in doing small steps each day, and those steps will compound and accumulate until you reach that result. So, you might not see big results in the short term, but in the long term, you will. It’s all about persistence.

I also try not to fear rejection. That gives me the ability to take risks and seek opportunities and adventures; fear can be a barrier to all that. So, for example, when I wanted to apply for a research position to pursue my ph.d., I got rejected a couple of times, but that didn’t discourage me. If you interview with one professor, you have a low probability of success. But if you interview with one hundred, you can get rejected ninety-nine times and still succeed that one time.

- What technical skills helped you achieve these positions?


The skills I gained from courses in the principles of geotechnical engineering, like soil mechanics, foundations, and the strengths of materials. I have a fair understanding of them, and as I said, when I teach them, that improves my own knowledge.

I am also developing my skills in specific computer programs related to my area. Those programs and computational skills are not taught in traditional school curricula, so I have learned about those programs and how to do specialized analyses on my own.

- How have nontechnical skills helped you in your achievements?

The softer skills sound easy because they are not technical, but it’s hard to learn them and use them in practice. And once you learn them, it’s very easy to use them just for a short period of time and then forget them. But when I keep myself updated and read about them on a day-to-day basis, that improves my learning curve and keeps me motivated.

I have a list of books and articles to read, and of course magazine articles are more motivating because you can read and finish them quicker. There is also something called a mastermind group—a small group of peers who get together to talk about these skills. I have a group of friends, something like a mastermind group, that I keep in contact with. I get more motivated when chatting with them.

- What role did mentors, advisers, or your network play in your achievement?

Being surrounded by friends who are skilled is very motivating. Again, working in a small company gives me an advantage. I can work directly with officers, such as the president of the company. And I also work with faculty at the school where I teach, and they always try to be the top in their fields. That motivates me to follow their path.

- What do you hope to accomplish in these new positions?

I’d really like to learn more about my area of expertise; I read technical materials to increase my knowledge and stay updated. When I do that, I have more confidence about what I am doing.

And right now, I want to learn more about the growing areas of programming, data science, and machine learning. I also want to learn more about automation and statistics and incorporate them into the areas of my interest.

- What types of positions do you see yourself moving toward over the next few years?

I’d like to remain working in the industry and being involved in academics. I’d like to go toward more managerial positions like project manager, where I’d be working more independently on projects from the start and then developing and finalizing them.

- What advice would you give to other young engineers who would seek positions similar to yours?

Continuing your learning is important; when you finish school, that shouldn’t be the last time you open a textbook or read technical material.

Also, keep your life–work balance by being more organized and by learning personal development skills. People might think working full time and teaching would be overwhelming, but learning those personal skills teaches you how to balance everything in your life: work, education, health, and relationships. —LAURIE A. SHUSTER

2018 Young Engineer Award for Professional Achievement

10/5/2018

 
Picture
Siavash Zamiran receives the Young Engineer Award from President Lyle Simonton
It was an honor to receive 2018 Young Engineer Award for Professional Achievement. ASCE St. Louis Newsletter covered the professional and academic background of me as the award winner. The reference for the following article is the newsletter issue of October 2018. Sincerely, -Siavash Zamiran

The Young Engineer Award recognizes professional contributions of younger members to the Society and to the St. Louis Section and is presented annually to a Member of the St. Louis Section of ASCE who is judged to have attained significant professional achievement, and who is less than 35 years of age. This year’s Professional Recognition Award goes to Dr. Siavash Zamiran.

Dr. Zamiran earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 2009 from Azad University, followed by a Master’s of Science in Civil-Geotechnical in 2012. He then went on to earn his PhD in Engineering Science – Civil/Geotechnical Engineering from SIU-Carbondale in 2017.

Since 2017, Dr. Zamiran has worked with Marino Engineering Associates, where he performs stability analyses of reinforced slopes and retaining walls, subsidence investigations, and computational structural analysis of high-pressure natural gas and petroleum pipelines affected by ground subsidence. He is also teaching as an adjunct professor at SIU-Edwardsville.

Academically, Dr. Zamiran has worked as a Research Assistant and collaborative researcher at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale and Edwardsville and Azad University, with research topics including Seismic investigation of cantilever retaining walls, investigation of deep foundations in swelling weathered rock, subsidence investigation of Illinois coal mines, investigation of the behavior of soil nail walls in seismic and static conditions and liquefaction studying of monopile foundation in wind turbines.

Dr. Zamiran has been active with ASCE including: Key Contacts; committee member with Geo-Institute Rock Mechanics Committee, Deep Foundations Committee, and Geophysical Committee; head of judges at ASCE Mid-Continent Student Conference, Geo Wall Competition, and founder and former president of SIUE Geo-Institute Graduate Student Organization where he was the instructor of 4 free public workshops in geotechnical engineering.
Other highlights include:
  • Author and co/author of more than 30 conference and journal articles, one book, and reviewer of more than five journals.
  • Notable awards received: International Association of Foundation Drilling Award, GeoConfluence Research Scholarship, and Itasca Education Partnership Award.
  • Upon his graduation with a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, he was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Student award

Younger Member Leadership Symposium

9/7/2018

 
Picture
Note published in ASCE St. Louis Newsletter - September 2018:
"​Brandi Jones and Siavash Zamiran had the opportunity to represent our Section and gather with other Younger Members from around the nation at the annual Younger Member Leadership Symposium in August 2018. The Symposium, held at the ASCE Headquarters, provides Younger Members with a great opportunity to network and to grow both personally and professionally. We developed personal visions, dove into project management tactics, and discussed communication styles – all of which encouraged new perspectives on life in and out of the workplace and hone in on further developing our leadership skills. We hope to explore some of the discussion points over the next year with our YMs while focusing on growth of our members. "

“YMLS is a bridge which connects young engineers with common enthusiasm and areas of interest and provides an opportunity for sharing their ideas, knowledge and expertise with each other.” – Siavash

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Updates Category

    All
    Article
    ASCE
    Awards
    Education
    Geo Institute
    Geo-Institute
    In The News
    News
    Organizations
    Positions
    Presentations
    Research
    Software
    Workshops

    Time Archive

    October 2020
    May 2020
    February 2020
    June 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    October 2017
    May 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    October 2015
    August 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014

    Usefull Links

    Geotechnical Special Publication, ASCE
    IFCEE 2015
    ARMA Symposium
    OnePetro
    Civilica
    Coal Mine Ground Control Conference
    ISRM Sponsored Conferences
    Upcoming Geotechnical Conferences
    ScienceDirect

    RSS Feed

Affiliations
•  Committee Member, ASCE GI Geophysics Committee, 2017-Present
•  Committee Member, ASCE GI Deep Foundations Committee, 2017-Present

•  Committee Member, ASCE GI Rock Mechanics Committee, 2016-Present
•  Member, American Society of Civil Engineering, 2015-Present
• Committee Member, Geomate Technical Program, 2015-Present
• Councilor-at-Large, Illinois State Academy of Science, 2017-2019
• Individual Member, Deep Foundation Institute, 2015-2016
•  Member, St. Louis Engineer Club, 2015-2017

•  President & Founder, Geo-Institute SIUE Student Chapter, 2015-2017
•  Member, Chi Epsilon National Civil Engineering Honor Society in the US, 2015-Present
Picture
Siavash Zamiran, Ph.D., P.E.
Senior Project Engineer, Marino Engineering Asscoiates, Inc.