Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1997
  • M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Cincinnati, 1994
  • B.Tech., Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India, 1992
Licenses & Certifications
  • Professional Engineer Civil, California, #61004
  • Professional Engineer Mechanical, California, #38488
  • Professional Engineer, Colorado, #PE0058954
  • Professional Engineer Civil, Florida, #84974
  • Professional Engineer, Georgia, #PE041369
  • Professional Engineer, Mississippi, #32745
  • Professional Engineer, North Carolina, #047573
  • Professional Engineer Civil, Nevada, #025672
  • Professional Engineer, Ohio, #PE.80392
  • Professional Engineer, Rhode Island, #PE0013021
  • Professional Engineer Civil, Texas, #141248
Professional Honors
  • Rackham Pre-Doctoral Fellow, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1996-1997
Professional Affiliations
  • American Society of Civil Engineers (member)
  • Member ASC A92.2 subcommittee on Vehicle-Mounted Elevating and Rotating Aerial Devices
  • American Institute of Steel Construction (member)
  • Society of Petroleum Engineers (member)

Dr. Saraf specializes in failure analysis, design, damage assessment and repair design of wood, steel, concrete and composite structures; blast, impact, earthquake and fire loading on structures; and nonlinear finite element analysis. Dr. Saraf's expertise in engineering also extends to evaluation of bridges, buildings and building components, pipelines and other buried structures, storage tanks and silos, shoring systems, cranes and mechanical equipment, and marine structures.

Dr. Saraf has performed extensive research focused on reliability and risk analysis and development of risk-based design codes and has applied these skills to perform probabilistic assessment of systems and products to evaluate both the past and the expected future performance. Dr. Saraf has performed numerous reviews of design and construction/installation procedures to check for code compliance and/or assess available margin of safety in matters relating to structural or process failure, seismic qualification of equipment and structures at nuclear facilities, and disputes arising out of delay in large construction projects.

Dr. Saraf has provided consulting services in matters relating to cement and concrete material performance, including review of mix design, placement procedures, curing, cracking, spalling and exposure to fire/thermal loading; long term wood deterioration; and proper selection of materials for design. Dr. Saraf also specializes in instrumentation and evaluation of in-field performance of structures, building products and large machinery using non-destructive monitoring and testing.

Dr. Saraf has also consulted extensively on analysis, design and failure investigations for the petroleum industry including problems involving nonlinear finite element analysis of pipes and threaded connections, simulations of shear ram operations, oil well cementing design, testing and placement, heat transfer, seismic wave propagation for exploration, and offshore blowout.