2008-2012 (Structural Engineer)

I finished my Master studies in 2008 and defended my dissertation on simulation of nonlinear behavior of reinforced concrete structural walls using macroscopic and microscopic models. I started my occupation as a Structural Engineer at the State Organization of Schools Renovation in 2008, where my key responsibilities included structural design of school buildings and peer review of the structures designed by different consulting firms. Due to my ever-growing interest in research, I simultaneously pursued my research activities in the fields of numerical modeling and displacement-based design. I started collaborations with Assoc. Prof. Hossein Ghaffarzadeh (University of Tabriz), his master student Saleh Malekpour, and Dr Ali Davaran (University of Tabriz) during this period. In a study, parametric studies were conducted on applicability of the macro model (investigated during my master research) to walls with different characteristics (Dashti et al 2011). The accuracy of the model in prediction of the local response of walls was also evaluated by comparison of different local response parameters, including the neutral axis position (Dashti et al. 2012). Furthermore, a research was carried out on development of a direct displacement-based design procedure for dual system structures composed of reinforced concrete frames and steel bracings (Malekpour et al. 2013). In another study, the direct displacement based design (DDBD) approach for different types of reinforced concrete structural systems including moment-resisting, dual wall-frame and dual steel-braced RC frame systems was studied (Malekpour and Dashti, 2013).