Biography
Sattar Dorafshan, Ph.D., A.M.ASCE, is an assistant professor of civil engineering at the UND College of Engineering & Mines. His areas of interest are intelligent infrastructure, autonomous systems, sustainability, artificial intelligence, remote sensing, nondestructive evaluation and testing, and additive manufacturing. Dr. Dr. Dorafshan has received research grants from state and Federal agencies, developed undergraduate and graduate courses in structural engineering, and established the Infrastructure Research Initiative at College of Engineering and Mines since joining UND in 2020.
CE 453 Reinforced Concrete
CE 403/503 Structural Dynamics
CE 455/555 Prestressed Concrete-Analysis and Design
Intelligent Infrastructure
Autonomous Systems
Sustainability
Artificial Intelligence
Remote Sensing
Nondestructive evaluation and testing
Additive manufactruing
Google Scholar Profile:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jpUDkvEAAAAJ&hl=en
Peer-Reviewed Journals
Dorafshan, S., Campbell, L. E., Maguire, M., & Connor, R. J. (2021). Benchmarking Unmanned Aerial Systems-Assisted Inspection of Steel Bridges for Fatigue Cracks. Transportation Research Record, 03611981211001073.
Dorafshan, S., & Azari, H. (2020). Deep learning models for bridge deck evaluation using impact echo. Construction and Building Materials 263, 120109.
Dorafshan, S., & Azari, H. (2020). Evaluation of bridge decks with overlays using impact echo, a deep learning approach. Automation in Construction, 113, 103133.
Dorafshan, S., Thomas, R., Coopmans, C., Maguire, M. Practitioner’s Guide to Small Unmanned Aerial Systems for Bridge Inspection, Infrastructures, 4(4),72
Dorafshan, S., Thomas, R. J., & Maguire, M. (2019). Benchmarking Image Processing Algorithms for Unmanned Aerial System-Assisted Crack Detection in Concrete Structures. Infrastructures, 4(2), 19.
Dorafshan, S., Johnson, K., Culmo, M., Maguire, M., Halling, M., Barr, P., Friction coefficients for slide-in bridge construction using PTFE and steel sliding. 10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0001417
Dorafshan, S., Maguire, M., Halling, M. W., Barr, P. J., & Culmo, M. P. (2019). Dynamic Effects Caused by SPMT Bridge Moves. Journal of Bridge Engineering, 24(3), 04019002.
Dorafshan, S., Thomas, R. J., & Maguire, M. (2018). SDNET2018: An annotated image dataset for non-contact concrete crack detection using deep convolutional neural networks. Data in brief, 21, 1664-1668.
Dorafshan, S., Maguire, M., & Collins, W. (2018). Infrared Thermography for Weld Inspection: Feasibility and Application. Infrastructures, 3(4), 45.
Dorafshan, S., Thomas, R. J., & Maguire, M. (2018). Comparison of deep convolutional neural networks and edge detectors for image-based crack detection in concrete. Construction and Building Materials, 186, 1031-1045.
Dorafshan, S., Maguire, M., Bridge Inspection: Human Performance, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Automation. Journal of Civil Structural Health Monitoring. 8(3), 443-476. DOI: 10.1007/s13349-018-0285-4
Dorafshan, S., Thomas, R., Maguire, M., Fatigue Crack Detection Using Unmanned Aerial Systems in Fracture Critical Inspection of Steel Bridges. Journal of Bridge Engineering. 23 (10) 04018078. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0001291
Behnamfar F., Dorafshan S., Taheri A., and Hashemi B.H., (2015) “A method for rapid estimation of dynamic coupling and spectral responses of connected adjacent structures”, The Structural Design of Tall and Special Buildings, Published online in Wiley online library. DOI: 10.1002/tal.1247.
Dorafshan, S., Behnamfar, F., Khamesipour, A., & Motosaka, M. (2013). Condensed hyperelements method of non-vertical consistent boundaries for wave propagation analysis in irregular media. Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration, 12(4), 547-559.
Refereed Conferences:
Ahmadvand, M., Dorafshan, S., Azari, H., & Shams, S. (2021, March). 1D-CNNs for autonomous defect detection in bridge decks using ground penetrating radar. In Health Monitoring of Structural and Biological Systems XV (Vol. 11593, p. 115930M). International Society for Optics and Photonics.
Dorafshan, S., Campbell, L. E., Maguire, M., & Connor, R. J. (2021). Benchmarking Unmanned Aerial Systems-Assisted Inspection of Steel Bridges for Fatigue Cracks. Transportation Research Record, 03611981211001073.
Dorafshan, S., Campbell, L., Maguire, M., & Connor, R. J. (2021). Benchmarking UAS-Assisted Inspection of Steel Bridges for Fatigue Cracks (No. TRBAM-21-03251).
Dorafshan, S., Coopmans, C., Thomas, R., Maguire, M. (2018). Deep Learning Neural Networks for sUAS-Assisted Structural Inspections: Feasibility and Application, ICUAS18. IEEE. Dallas Marriot City Center, Dallas.
Johnson, K., Halling, M., Dorafshan, S., Maguire, M., Barr., P., and Culmo, M., (2018) “Bearing friction values for slide-in bridge construction”. 9th International Conference on Bridge Maintenance, Safety and Management, Melbourne.
Dorafshan, S., Maguire, M., Halling, M., and Barr, P., (2018) “Dynamic Effects Caused by SPMT Bridge Transport”. 9th International Conference on Bridge Maintenance, Safety and Management, Melbourne.
Dorafshan, S., Maguire, M., Hoffer, N. V., & Coopmans, C. (2017, June). Challenges in bridge inspection using small unmanned aerial systems: Results and lessons learned. In Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS), 2017 International Conference on (pp. 1722-1730). IEEE. DOI: 10.1109/ICUAS.2017.7991459.
Al-Rubaye, S., Sorensen, T., Dorafshan, S., & Maguire, M. (2018). Matrix Model Accuracy of Partially Composite Concrete Sandwich Panels. PCI Convention, 2018. Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI).
Sorensen, T., Dorafshan, S., & Maguire, M. (2017). Thermal Evaluation of Common Locations of Heat Loss in Sandwich Wall Panels. In Congress on Technical Advancement 2017 (pp. 173-184). https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784481011.017.
Technical Reports:
Dorafshan, S., Maguire, M., (2018). “Infrared In-line Weld Inspection – Feasibility Study”, Nucor Building Systems.
Johnson, K., Halling, M., Dorafshan, S., Maguire, M., Barr., P., and Culmo, M., (2018). “Dynamics and Friction of ABC Bridge Moves,” CIAT-UTC-NC 13, Final Report.
Dorafshan, S., Maguire, M., Hoffer, V., Coopmans, C., Thomas, R., (2018)., “Investigating Unmanned Aerial Systems for Fatigue Crack Detection.” CIAT-UTC-NC31, Final Report. Piscatway, NJ.
Dorafshan, S., Maguire, M., Hoffer, V., Coopmans, C., (2017). “Fatigue Crack Detection Using Unmanned Aerial Systems in Under-Bridge Inspection.” Idaho Transportation Department, Final Report.
Dorafshan, S., Maguire, M., and Qi, Xi., (2016). Automatic Surface Crack Detection in Concrete Structures Using OTSU Thresholding and Morphological Operations, Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications. Paper 1234.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cee_facpub/1234
Dorafshan, S. and Salimi, M., (2010) “Qualitative and rapid seismic performance evaluation of electrical post of 400/62 k.v. Electrical post of Shahre-Kord buildings and equipment report”, Esfahan regional electric company (Persian), Isfahan, Iran.
Dorafshan, S. and Salimi, M., (2009) “Qualitative and rapid seismic performance evaluation of Isfahan power plant buildings and equipment report,” Esfahan regional electric company (Persian), Isfahan, Iran.
NRC Research Associate Award, National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington. 2019
Dissertation Fellowship Award, Office of Research and Graduate Studies, Utah State University, 2018.
Doctoral researcher of the year, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Utah State University, 2016.
ACI Intermountain scholarship award, Salt Lake City, 2015.
Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering (Structural), Aug 2018.
Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA.
M.Sc., Civil and Environmental Engineering (Structural), May 2011.
Isfahan University of Technology, Esfahan, Iran.
B.Sc., Civil and Environmental Engineering, May 2008
University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.
I am always looking to hire talented graduate students. If you are interested in working with me, do the followings before shooting me an email:
1- make sure you are eligible:
Civil Engineering Ph.D. Requirements | University of North Dakota (und.edu)
Civil Engineering Master's Requirements | University of North Dakota (und.edu)
2- Make sure you meet admission requirements for international students (To be considered for a Graduate Teaching Assistantship, a Speaking subtest score of 26/30 on the TOEFL or an overall 6.5 on the IELTS are required)
Requirements & Application | International | University of North Dakota (und.edu)
3. Research proposal
You are expected to submit a research proposal. Make sure to follow the format on this hyperlink. You can submit your proposal in two ways:
a. Within your official application: I will review all your documents, including your proposal. I will give you a detailed feedback, and a chance to revise it.
b. prior to submitting your application: you will not receive feedback. If the proposal did not need revision, you will receive an encouraging email from me to officially apply.
4. Please note, completing all these steps does not guarantee you admission, assistanship, or tuition waiver. The process is extremely competitive and merit-based.