Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 2021
  • M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Ben Gurion University, 2016
  • B.S., Structural Engineering, Ben Gurion University, 2014
Licenses & Certifications
  • Professional Engineer, California, #94832
  • Professional Engineer, Connecticut, #PEN.0038389
  • Professional Engineer, Michigan, #6201313242
  • Professional Engineer, New York, #112425
Additional Education & Training
  • NHERI RAPID Intensive Equipment Training Workshop, 2021
  • Learning from Earthquakes Study Program in New Zealand, 2019
  • ATC- 20 Post-Earthquake Safety Assessment of Buildings Training
Professional Affiliations
  • American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
  • Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC)
  • Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI)
  • Provisions Update Committee (PUC) for the 2026 NEHRP (Corresponding Member)
  • Journal of Structural Engineering and Journal of Earthquake Engineering (Reviewer)

Dr. Tal Feinstein specializes in civil and structural engineering, with particular expertise in earthquake and bridge engineering. Her expertise extends to investigating structure failures, construction defects, design errors and code compliance issues, spanning both domestic and international disputes. Dr. Feinstein also has experience evaluating the engineering standard of care for large-scale energy and infrastructure projects, having authored or co-authored numerous expert reports for use in dispute resolution.

Dr. Feinstein leverages her structural design background in her forensic investigations of concrete, steel, and timber structures and bridges. Her forensic investigations capabilities include identifying the contributing causes of structural failures through comprehensive site inspections, material assessments, accident reconstructions, and code compliance reviews.

Dr. Feinstein's academic experience includes a variety of structural laboratory testing methods, incorporating quasi-static cyclic testing and large-scale shake-table testing. She received her PhD at the University of California at Berkeley, where she developed nonlinear analysis methods to evaluate flexible-rocking structures under seismic loading, focusing on seismic design of anchored floor-mounted components and including shaking table testing in California and Taiwan. Her Masters thesis from Ben Gurion University investigated pipe-soil interaction based on large deformation analysis. Before going back to school to earn her PhD, she has worked as a structural design engineer on steel and concrete buildings and bridges at Rokach & Ashkenazi Consulting Engineers, LTD.

Dr. Feinstein served as an adjunct professor at San Francisco State University, where she taught a graduate level course on bridge design. She is also past-chair of the Seismology Committee of Structural Engineering Association of Northern California (SEAONC) and corresponding member of the Provisions Update Committee. Dr. Feinstein actively participates in the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), including acting as a board member of the Northern California chapter and participating in the 2019 Learning from Earthquakes Travel Study Program in New Zealand.