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

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

Siavash Zamiran was interviewed by The Riverfront Times, a weekly magazine in St. Louis Metro area. The following is the article by Ms. Katie Hayes, The Riverfront Times journalist.
Link of the article
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"While most people associate earthquakes with the West Coast — a price residents pay for sunny beaches and L.A. glamour — here's a sobering fact: Missouri is also at risk for a major earthquake.

"Although the earthquakes in the Midwest are less frequent, their effects are wider," says Siavash Zamiran, a civil/geotechnical engineer at Marino Engineering Associates in St. Louis. "There is a lot of probability of another earthquake happening, but not much public awareness of that."

In the next 50 years, there is a 25 to 40 percent chance of an earthquake magnitude six or higher hitting the region. There is a 7 to 10 percent chance of a magnitude seven or higher, as found by the United States Geological Survey. 

How big is that? The Loma Prieta earthquake, which famously interrupted the 1989 World Series in San Francisco, crumpling the upper level of the Bay Bridge, collapsing a freeway and causing 67 deaths, reached a magnitude of 6.9.

In other words: It's big.

The cause for concern stems from the New Madrid Seismic Zone — a major seismic zone between the Missouri Bootheel and Memphis, Tennessee.

But that doesn't mean you need to start packing for a safe space. Not yet.

Greg Hempen is a geophysicist who retired from the United States Army Corps of Engineers and now serves as a consultant for the Missouri Seismic Safety Commission. The commission is part of the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency, or SEMA.
"The greatest hazard is from the New Madrid in our area, but that doesn't mean every place in St. Louis will be equally devastated," Hempen says. "The principle threat to structures and residences is in the floodplains. Most people in the uplands should not be too adversely affected."

More than 200 years ago, New Madrid suffered through an earthquake from this seismic zone. The New Madrid Historical Museum, located in the Missouri Bootheel, has testimonies from people who experienced a series of three magnitude 7 earthquakes between 1811 and 1812.
One testimony is a letter sent by William Leigh Pierce to the editor of the New York Evening Post in 1811. It reads, "At New Madrid, 70 miles from the confluence of the Ohio, and on the right hand, the utmost consternation prevailed among the inhabitants; confusion, terror and uproar presided; those in the town were seen running for refuge to the country, whilst those in the country fled with like purpose towards the town. I am happy, however, to observe, that no material injury has been sustained."

Should another earthquake of that magnitude hit, however, the damage would be considerably worse than it was 200 years ago.

"People in 1811 and 1812 were mostly self-sufficient," Hempen says. "They built their own structures. If the structure was only damaged a little, they could repair it. If it was damaged a lot, they could stay with a neighbor until the community repaired it." Today, of course, our lives are more complicated — and our edifices more elaborate.

Masonry buildings, those made with brick and mortar, are the most susceptible to earthquake damage. 

"We have some specific issues in St. Louis," Zamiran says. "One is that our buildings are more masonry buildings. So they are built with bricks, without any structural frames, without steel or concrete. They are very vulnerable."

Hempen, however, notes that he lives in a masonry structure that was built in the 1950s and has accepted the risk. While earthquakes are a concern in the region, Hempen says they are not the only hazard people should prepare for.

"I think there is a variety of things people should do short of preparing structures and preparing renovations," Hempen says. "There are many programs for all hazards. I think people should consider a variety of things. One is, do they have a hazard plan, an emergency disaster plan? If there is an evacuation, do they have an emergency list of what they should have?"

Two of the programs Hempen discusses are the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut and Map Your Neighborhood — both meant to educate people in the region about disaster preparedness.

Eight states would be directly affected by an earthquake from the New Madrid Seismic Zone. James Wilkinson, executive director of Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium, brings together emergency managers from each of those states. He says Missouri and the eight states he represents are fully engaged in earthquake emergency update with FEMA.

"Folks need to understand the earthquake is not a West Coast thing exclusively," Wilkinson says. "We have active faults, manmade and naturally occurring. It's important people take time to do research about where they live and the susceptibility they have to earthquakes. Just because there is a threat doesn't mean it has to be all encompassing."​"

The news of GeoConfluence Research Scholarship earned by Siavash Zamiran is reflected in SIUE news webpage. 
The content of the news is provided in the following:
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SIUE’s Zamiran Earns Inaugural Geoconfluence Research Scholarship
14 November 2016, 1:18 PM
​Southern Illinois University Edwardsville research assistant Siavash Zamiran has been awarded the inaugural GeoConfluence Research Scholarship from the St. Louis Chapter of the Geo-Institute of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He was recognized during GeoConfluence, the association’s annual conference, on Friday, Nov. 4 in St. Charles, Mo.
Zamiran is a doctoral candidate in the SIUE School of Engineering’s Cooperative PhD Program in Engineering Science with Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The scholarship will support his dissertation research, “Seismic Investigations of Retaining Wall Structures.”
“This scholarship funding will be used for developing a program that assists engineers through the nation to design retaining walls based on earthquake characteristics in their specific seismic zone” said Zamiran. “My future professional goal is to continue engineering research with experimental and numerical studies, and increase my publications in conferences and scientific journals. I would like to be active in different areas of geotechnical engineering in both academic and industrial environments.”
The GeoConfluence Research Scholarship promotes research in the field of geotechnical/geoenvironmental engineering, particularly that which will benefit the state of practice in the Midwest and can be implemented by regional engineers.
Zamiran’s extensive research activity during his doctoral studies includes the study of retaining walls’ behavior during earthquakes, subsidence and stability evaluation of Illinois coal mines, and the study of levees due to flooding and soil erosion, among other projects.
The scholarship includes up to $3,000 to be used for specific educational tools and equipment, materials and travel needed to fulfill a thesis/dissertation. As part of the award, Zamiran will present his research results at a future GeoConfluence conference.
Photo: (L-R) Siavash Zamiran, doctoral candidate and GeoConfluence Research Scholarship recipient, Pravin Jha, chairman of the GeoConfluence Research Scholarship Subcommittee, Kord Wissmann, president of Geo-Institute, and Sandeep Goud Burra, scholarship recipient.

The news of ADSCE Award earned by Siavash Zamiran is reflected in SIUE news webpage. The list of winners of 2016-2017 ADSC award is presented here.
The content of the news is provided in the following:
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"13 October 2016, 9:40 AM
​The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Engineering Cooperative PhD Program in Engineering Science is training the next generation of creative thinkers and innovators who will continue the advancement of the engineering industry.
Graduates of the program receive a doctor of philosophy degree from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The program’s memorandum of understanding designates SIUE as an approved residence center where coursework can be completed using the SIUE School of Engineering’s state-of-the-art laboratories for research and instruction.
“The goals of this program are to expand the high-quality educational opportunities in the doctoral level to students at SIUE by utilizing the educational resources available at both SIUE and SIUC,” said Keqin Gu, PhD, program director and distinguished research professor in the School of Engineering’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.
“Students are especially pleased with the opportunity to work closely with outstanding faculty on the frontiers of engineering and science topics,” he added. “All past graduates of this program are employed as senior level engineers or faculty members at universities.”
Among the 18 students currently enrolled in the program, research assistant Siavash Zamiran has received multiple accolades for his research projects conducted in the SIUE soil laboratory. Zamiran is the 2016 recipient of the International Association of Foundation Drilling’s (ADSC) internationally acclaimed Endowed Civil Engineering Graduate Study Scholarship.
“The receipt of this scholarship is incredibly motivating, as it is well-known in the geotechnical and civil engineering communities,” Zamiran said. “My future professional goal is to continue engineering research with experimental and numerical studies. I would like to be active in different areas of geotechnical engineering in both academic and industrial environments.”
Zamiran’s extensive research activity during his doctoral studies includes the study of retaining walls’ behavior during earthquakes, subsidence and stability evaluation of Illinois coal mines, and the study of levees due to flooding and soil erosion, among other projects.
Abdolreza Osouli, PhD, P.E., assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, serves as Zamiran’s faculty advisor through the cooperative PhD program.
“With Siavash’s motivation, I have been able to direct him to excellent performance in all capacities of teaching, research and professional service,” Osouli said. “Students in this program have opportunities to engage with a multitude of educational and scholarly activities that can be helpful for their future professional careers.
“This program enhances critical thinking and helps the students be self-driven. Consequently, it trains students to be developers of creative ideas in the engineering industry.”
Zamiran will be acknowledged for his receipt of the coveted scholarship during the ADSC annual meeting in February 2017 in Palm Springs, Calif.
Students enrolled in the SIUE and SIUC Cooperative PhD Program may pursue a broad spectrum of engineering disciplines, including civil engineering, computer science, electrical and computer engineering, industrial engineering, and mechanical engineering.
For more information on the program, visit siue.edu/engineering/phd/index.
Photo: (L-R) Abdolreza Osouli, PhD, assistant professor of civil engineering, research assistant Siavash Zamiran, and Keqin Gu, PhD, cooperative PhD program director and distinguished research professor in the SIUE School of Engineering."