Ahmed M. Abdel-Ghaffar, an internationally known University of Southern California civil engineering professor specializing in the analysis and monitoring long span flexible bridges,
died April 17, 2008, at the age of 61, after a long illness.
Abdel-Ghaffar’s 1974 investigation of the dynamic characteristics of the Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Angeles, done when he was a graduate student, led to new standards on how to collect, analyze and interpret structural dynamic measurements from complex, three-dimensional, extended structures. His investigation allowed the development of high-fidelity computational tools used to reliably design such structures to resist the action of earthquake ground motion. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) used Abdel-Ghaffar’s computer program when it embarked on a major retrofit of the Vincent Thomas Bridge, and he served as a consultant, determining the damping characteristics of the bridge.
“Professor Abdel-Ghaffar’s excellence and innovation in the area of long span bridges was known internationally and he was much beloved by his students,” said Yannis C. Yortsos, dean of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. “He is greatly missed by all of his colleagues here and around the world.”
"Building tall bridges that span engineering frontiers and withstand great earthquakes was Ahmed Abdel-Ghaffar's passion. Ahmed was a gentleman engineer and a dedicated educator," said Jean-Pierre Bardet, chair of the USC Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering where Abdel-Ghaffar was on the faculty.
Abdel-Ghaffar also made major contributions to understanding and analyzing the behavior of structures interacting with soil during earthquakes. He was among the pioneers who conducted forced-vibration experiments on the Santa Felicia Earth Dam and interpreted its recorded seismic and dynamic response.
A meticulous writer with an eye for detail and eloquence, he was a gifted and dedicated teacher whose lecture notes continue to be used today by his students many of whom are professors at academic institutions worldwide.
A native of Egypt, Abdel-Ghaffar graduated in 1970 from Cairo University with a B.S. degree in civil engineering. He was the class valedictorian, earning a “first class honors” distinction. After working for two years as an instructor in structural engineering at Cairo University, he attended the California Institute of Technology, where he earned a master’s degree in civil engineering in 1973 and a Ph.D. with an emphasis on structural dynamics and earthquake engineering in 1976. His reputation at Cairo University as one of the most intelligent and attentive young lecturers led other aspiring Egyptian researchers to follow him to the United States.
Abdel-Ghaffar’s pioneering research at Caltech as a doctoral student under Prof. George Housner brought him international recognition in the then-emerging field of sensor-based monitoring of long span flexible bridges.
In 1978 Abdel-Ghaffar joined the Materials Engineering Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago-Circle and he moved to the Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Department at Princeton University as an assistant professor the following year. He came to USC in 1987 as a full professor.
He served as a consultant to government agencies in the U.S., Japan, Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere. Among Abdel-Ghaffar’s many notable projects, was one to monitor vibration of the Golden Gate Bridge and he hung a breathtaking photograph in his office showing him and his students standing near the top of the bridge while collecting sensor data.
During his long illness, he continued to interact from his bed with a number of international contacts and provide valuable advice on many projects, such as the long span bridge across the Gulf of Suez.
Abdel-Ghaffar, a resident of Rolling Hills Estate, was survived by his former wife and three children.
Mourad Zeghal
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Dr. Zeghal research interests include: Computational Soil Micro-Mechanics, Geotechnical-System Identification, Seismic Response Monitoring, and Information Technology Applications in Geomechnics. He is active with the Center for Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (CEES), Scientific Computation Research Center (SCOREC) and the Inverse Problems Center (IPRPI). Failure of geosystems due to natural or man-made hazards such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, or terrorist attacks may have monumental repercussions, sometimes with dramatic and unanticipated consequences on human life and the country’s economy. Dr. Zeghal’s research focuses on three areas that are central to the national effort to reduce the impact of these hazards: (1) multiscale modeling of geosystems, (2) model validation and calibration, and (3) development of improved optimal design tools. The methodology of evaluating and predicting the performance of geosystems is undergoing a significant paradigm shift. Computational simulations are destined to become more prominent than empirical approaches and will ultimately become the main tool for analysis and design of civil systems. A hierarchy of adaptive and cost-effective computational models capable of accurately predicting the multiscale and multiphysics response of geosystems is being developed. This hierarchy enables a seamless handling of the initiation and evolution of the various response and failure mechanisms of soils under extreme loading conditions. The hierarchical models range from homogenized continuum to discontinuous coarse-particle formulations. A class of innovative system identification and inverse problem tools are being developed to calibrate these models using experimental data ranging from soil sample and centrifuge tests to full-scale and field tests. This new generation of computational procedures is being translated to practice through careful interactions with practitioners (from industry and government laboratories) and the introduction of changes in the educational curricula of our students.
Lecture Title: Hydro‐Micromechanical Modeling and Simulation of Saturated Granular Soils Under Extreme Conditions