Ziad Azzi

Director of Engineering, Civil & Structural Engineer

Ziad Azzi, PhD, PE, is the Director of Engineering at DDA Forensics. He is a dedicated and innovative Civil and Structural Engineer with over 10 years of experience, and he brings extensive wind engineering and building enclosure expertise to our team. Due to his extensive work and educational background, Dr. Azzi’s expertise encompasses an exceptional mix of capabilities in structural and geotechnical engineering, structural analysis, structural dynamics, earthquake and wind analysis of structures, aeroelasticity, vibration and inspection, as well as evaluation of existing residential and commercial structures.

As Director of Engineering at DDA Forensics, Dr. Azzi oversees all aspects of the engineering department. Dr. Azzi has published numerous articles and conference papers in prestigious journals as well as delivered lectures and presentations on the wind flow and wind effects on structures. He is also an Adjunct Professor at FIU, teaching undergraduate and graduate-level design courses. Last but not least, Dr. Azzi also serves as an Expert Consultant for Windtech Consultants, certifying their wind engineering reports pertaining to wind loads on buildings and facades obtained from wind tunnel testing.

Prior to joining DDA Forensics, Dr. Azzi worked as a Forensic Structural Engineer with Geohazards Forensic Engineering LLC. He served as a research scientist at the prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Wall of Wind (WOW) Experimental Facility at the International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC). Before moving to the U.S., Dr. Azzi launched his career in Engineering as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the Lebanese American University in Beirut, Lebanon while pursuing his MS. At the same time, Dr. Azzi worked as a part-time structural engineer with CCL Engineering International.

Committed to ongoing education and maintaining industry-leading accreditations, Dr. Azzi is a registered PE in Florida and Louisiana and a licensed Commercial General Contractor (CGC) and Commercial Roofing Contractor (CCC) in Florida. He holds an MBA from the University of Miami and graduated Valedictorian. He has an MS and a PhD in Civil Engineering from Florida International University with an emphasis on Wind Engineering and Building Enclosure. He also holds an MS and BE in Civil Engineering from the Lebanese American University with an emphasis on Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Mechanics. He proudly holds HAAG Residential, HAAG Commercial, and HAAG Wind Damage Inspector certifications, in addition to industry-leading memberships.

Education / Certifications:

  • MBA, General Management and Innovation, University of Miami, 2023. 
  • PhD, Civil Engineering, Wind Engineering, Florida International University, 2021. 
  • MS, Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering, Florida International University, 2020. 
  • MS, Civil Engineering, Engineering Mechanics, Lebanese American University, 2017.
  • BE, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Lebanese American University, Lebanon, 2013.
  • HAAG Certified Inspector, Residential Roofs (HCI-R), Inspector # 992112015.
  • HAAG Certified Inspector, Commercial Roofs (HCI-C), Inspector # 992112015.
  • HAAG Certified Inspector, Wind Damage (HCI-W), Inspector # 992112015.
  • Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Remote Pilot – Unmanned Aircraft Systems, License # 4584804.

Professional Affiliations:

  • Registered Professional Engineer (PE), State of Florida, USA, License # 92273.
  • Registered Professional Engineer (PE), State of Louisiana, USA, License # 46975.
  • Certified General Contractor (CGC), State of Florida, USA, License # CGC1534669.
  • Certified Roofing Contractor (CCC), State of Florida, USA, License # CCC1335049.
  • Registered Professional Engineer, Order of Engineers and Architects – Beirut, Lebanon, License # 44668.
  • Member, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Member # 9595214.
  • Member, American Concrete Institute (ACI), Member # 137678.
  • Educator Member, American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC).
  • Member, American Association for Wind Engineering (AAWE).
  • Member, American Wood Council (AWC).

Journal Publications:

  • Alawode, K. J., Azzi, Z., Elawady, A., and Chowdhury, A. G. (2023). “Dynamic Properties of an Aeroelastic Transmission Tower Subjected to Synoptic and Downburst-like Outflows.” Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 242, 105557. DOI: https:doi.org/10.1016/j.jweia.2023.105557
  • Jeddi, A. B., Azzi, Z., Shafieezadeh, A., Elawady, A., Chowdhury, A. G., and Irwin, P. (2023). “Revisit of underestimated wind drag coefficients and gust response factors of lattice transmission towers based on aeroelastic wind tunnel testing and multi-sensor data fusion.” Engineering Structures, 278, 115486. DOI: https:doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2022.115486
  • Azzi, Z., Elawady, A., Irwin, P., Chowdhury, A. G., and Abi Shdid, C. (2022). “Aeroelastic modeling to investigate the wind-induced response of a multi-span transmission lines system.” Special Issue, Mitigation of Wind-induced Disaster of Transmission Tower and Line Structures under Extreme Loading Conditions, Wind and Structures, 34, 2, pp. 231-257. DOI: https:doi.org/10.12989/was.2022.34.2.231
  • Azzi, Z., Elawady, A., Irwin, P., Chowdhury, A. G., and Abi Shdid, C. (2021). “Aeroelastic modeling to study the wind-induced response of a self-supported lattice tower.” Engineering Structures, 245, 112885. DOI: https:doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2021.112885
  • Azzi, Z., Habte, F., Vutukuru, K. S., Chowdhury, A. G., and Moravej, M. (2020). “Effects of roof geometric details on aerodynamic performance of standing seam metal roofs.” Engineering Structures, 225, 111303. DOI: https:doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2020.111303
  • Azzi, Z., Matus, M., Elawady, A., Zisis, I., Irwin, P., and Chowdhury, A. G. (2020). “Aeroelastic Testing of Span-Wire Traffic Signals.” Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) 2016-2020: Mitigating the Impact of Natural Hazards on Civil Infrastructure and Communities, Frontiers in Built Environment, Wind Engineering and Science, 6:111. DOI: https:doi.org/10.3389/fbuil.2020.00111
  • Feng, C., Chowdhury, A. G., Elawady, A., Chen, D., Azzi, Z., and Vutukuru, K. S. (2020). “Experimental Assessment of Wind Loads on Roof-to-Wall Connections for Residential Buildings.” Frontiers in Built Environment, Wind Engineering and Science, 6:10. DOI: https:doi.org/10.3389/fbuil.2020.00010
  • Azzi, Z., Habte, F., Elawady, A., Chowdhury, A. G., and Moravej, M. (2020). “Aerodynamic Mitigation of Wind Uplift on Low-Rise Building Roof Using Large-Scale Testing.” Frontiers in Built Environment, Wind Engineering and Science, 5:149. DOI: https:doi.org/10.3389/fbuil.2019.00149

Conference Proceedings:

  • Jeddi, A. B., Azzi, Z., Shafieezadeh, A., Elawady, A., Chowdhury, A. G., and Irwin, P. (2022). “Wind Load Parameters for Transmission Towers Using Wind Tunnel Testing.”, Proceedings of the 14th Americas Conference on Wind Engineering (14ACWE), Lubbock, TX, USA, May 17-19.
  • Alawode, K. J., Elawady, A., Shafieezadeh, A., Chowdhury A. G., and Azzi, Z. (2022). “Aeroelastic Testing to Examine the Dynamic Behavior of a Single Self-Supported Electrical Transmission Tower Subjected to Downburst Wind Loads.”, Proceedings of the 14th Americas Conference on Wind Engineering (14ACWE), Lubbock, TX, USA, May 17-19.
  • Azzi, Z., Elawady, A., Irwin, P., and Chowdhury, A. G. (2022). “Aeroelastic Testing to Evaluate Wind Effects on Transmission Systems.”, Proceedings of the 14th Americas Conference on Wind Engineering (14ACWE), Lubbock, TX, USA, May 17-19.
  • Azzi, Z., and Abi Shdid, C. (2021). “Seismic Behavior of Unreinforced Concrete Masonry Infill Walls.” Proceedings of the 11th International Structural Engineering and Construction Conference (11ISEC), Cairo, Egypt, July 26-31. DOI: https:doi.org/10.14455/ISEC.2021.8(1).STR-02
  • Azzi, Z., Elawady, A., and Chowdhury, A. G. (2020). “Large-Scale Aeroelastic Testing to Investigate the Resiliency of Transmission Infrastructure to Hurricane Storms.” Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Structural Dynamics (EURODYN 2020), pp. 1944-1957, Athens, Greece, November 23-26. DOI: https:doi.org/10.47964/1120.9158.18535
  • Azzi, Z., Elawady, A., and Chowdhury, A. G. (2020). “Determining the Efficacy of a Retrofit Technique for Residential Buildings using Holistic Testing.” Proceedings of the ASCE/SEI 2020 Structures Congress, pp. 360-369, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, April 5-8. DOI: https:doi.org/10.1061/9780784482896.034
  • Azzi, Z., Elawady, A., Matus, M., Zisis, I., and Irwin, P. (2019). “Buffeting Response of Span-Wire Traffic Signals using Large-Scale Aeroelastic Wind Testing.” Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Wind Engineering (15ICWE), Beijing, China, September 1-6.
  • Azzi, Z., Matus, M., Elawady, A., Zisis, I., and Irwin, P. (2018). “Large-scale aeroelastic testing to investigate the performance of span wire traffic signals.” Proceedings of the 5th American Association for Wind Engineering Workshop (5AAWE), Miami, Florida, USA, August 12-14.
  • Azzi, Z., Moravej, M., Habte, F., Elawady, A., and Chowdhury, A. G. (2018). “Roof Uplift under Cornering Winds and Wind Uplift Mitigation.” Proceedings of the 5th American Association for Wind Engineering Workshop (5AAWE), Miami, Florida, USA, August 12-14.

Book Chapters:

  • Khodadadi, N., El-kenawy, E., Eid, M., Azzi, Z., Abdelhamid, A., and Mirjalili, S. (2023). “Whale optimization algorithm for optimization of truss structures with multiple frequency constraints.”, Handbook of Whale Optimization Algorithm, Chapter 41, Elsevier. DOI: https:doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-32-395365-8.00047-6
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