Fawad A. Najam’s work focusses on the performance-based evaluation of built facilities under extreme loads e.g., severe earthquakes and winds. He studies seismic hazard and vulnerability assessment, nonlinear modeling and seismic analysis of structures, dynamic behavior of complex systems, and other related aspects of seismic risk. He has a PhD degree in Structural Engineering from Asian Institute of Technology (AIT, Thailand) with a research focused on the evaluation of nonlinear seismic demands of high‐rise RC buildings using simplified analysis procedures. He joined NUST Institute of Civil Engineering (NICE) at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) (Islamabad, Pakistan) in 2017. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Structural Engineering at NICE, NUST.
Dr. Najam holds an experience of over 10 years in the structural modeling, analysis and design of buildings, bridges and other structures. While working at various appointments including structural engineering consultant and research associate at various institutes in Pakistan and Thailand, he has actively participated in various private and public sector research and consultancy projects resulting in improved academia-industry linkages. He has conducted professional trainings for over 1000 professionals in several countries in research areas related to structural analysis, design, dynamic analysis, and nonlinear analysis etc. He has also remained involved in the development of several software and computational tools for structural engineering applications.
Dr. Najam is also serving as the member of the primary taskforce and core group formulated by the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) for the updation of the Building Code of Pakistan (BCP 2007). He is currently the member of PEC’s following three working groups and sub-committees.
a) PEC Working Group 1: To conduct an updated probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) of Pakistan and develop the updated seismic hazard maps.
b) PEC Working Group 2: To develop guidelines for structural loads, design load combinations and structural design requirements for RC buildings in Pakistan.
c) PEC Working Group 6: To develop guidelines and recommendations for the retrofit of existing buildings in Pakistan.
Before this responsibility, Dr. Najam was also the member of the PEC committee and working group for developing the standards and specifications for low-prefabricated cost units in Pakistan (under the government’s Naya-Pakistan Housing Scheme). He may be contacted at NUST Institute of Civil Engineering (NICE) at National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), H ‐ 12 Islamabad, Pakistan.
NUST Institute of Civil Engineering (NICE)
National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST)
H-12 Islamabad, Pakistan
Phone: +92-51-9085-4623
Office No. 118, NICE PG Wing Building, NUST, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan.
A brief overview of inelastic modeling of structures using CSI PERFORM 3D. Click below to view a CSI seminar by Dr. Graham Powell and a hand-written tutorial (or hint file) for the seminar.
SOME OF MY RECENT POSTS
Our study interests include the areas in structural dynamics, earthquake engineering, performance-based seismic assessment and design of structures, numerical analysis, seismic hazard analysis, disaster resilience and vulnerability assessment, nonlinear modeling of structures, finite element programming, and structural engineering software development.
Why the Location of Center of Rigidity Changes for Each Story Even for Symmetric Structures?
Question: Why the Location of Center of Rigidity Changes for Each Story Even for Symmetric Structures? Answer: The center of rigidity is the center of resistance of a floor or diaphragm against lateral forces. It is the stiffness centroid located within a floor-diaphragm plan. If the lateral forces are applied [...]
The Definition of Design Basis Earthquake Level and the Retrofit Need for Structures Designed for Older Codes
Question: I noticed that with the updates of codes it seems that with the passage of time the seismic parameters (response spectral accelerations) are increasing. For example if we compare earlier versions of AASHTO (if we talk about bridges) and the 2013 version, the earthquake changed from 475 years to 1000 [...]
Why building codes require a base shear scaling for the RSA procedure?
Question: Why in different building codes (UBC 97 or ASCE 7) the results of Response Spectrum Analysis (RSA) should be scaled such that the design base shear should match with the (e.g. 80%, 90% or 100% of the) design base shear obtained from the Equivalent Static Analysis? Answer: The requirement of [...]
ETABS End Offsets, Panel Zone and Moment Releases
An informative hand-written notes explaining the concepts of End Offsets, Panel Zone and Moment Releases in ETABS.
Resonance Amplification of Dynamic Response of Structures
Prof. Pennung Warnitchai of Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand explains the phenomenon of resonance amplification of dynamic response of structures using a simplified mode (often referred to as the Boss Model). The resonance is a phenomenon resulting in large amplification of oscilations which occurs when the frequency of a [...]
Structural Analysis: Are We Relying Too Much on Computers?
An interesting two part series of articles authored by Prof. Dr. Graham Powell. Prof. Powell is Professor Emeritus of Structural Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley. Over his career, Professor Powell has developed, or supervised the development of, several computer programs that have been used widely in research and [...]