Aftab A. Mufti
Ph.D., P.Eng., FCSCE, FEIC, FASCE, FCAE

ISIS Canada
A250 Agricultural & Civil Engineering Building
96 Dafoe Road
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2
Ph: 204.474.8506
Fax: 204.474.7519
Email: muftia@cc.umanitoba.ca

Dr. Aftab Mufti is a Professor of Civil Engineering, at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, as well as being the Program Leader and President of ISIS Canada, and first President of ISHMII (International Society for SHM of Intelligent Infrastructures). He was one of the key persons to initiate interest in the uses of Advanced Composite Materials (ACM) for Civil Engineering structures in Canada through his founding work as Chair (1989 to 1993) of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) Technical Committee on the use of ACM in Bridges and Structures.

With support from Industry, Science and Technology Canada and External Affairs Canada, and working through the auspices of the CSCE, Dr. Mufti was the leader of fact-finding missions to Europe in 1990 and Japan in 1992.

The work of the two missions led to two state-of-the art books, which are still being cited in the technical literature. In July 1993, with support from External Affairs Canada, Dr. Mufti organized and co-chaired a successful Canada-Japan Workshop on ACM in Bridges and Structures. He is the founding Chair of the non-profit Advanced Composite Materials in Bridges and Structures Network of Canada (ACMBSN). In 1995, along with his colleagues, he was the founding member of the group that established the NCE for the ISIS Canada Research Network. This network brings together members from industry, government, and university, who share a common interest in promoting the Network of Centres of Excellence on Intelligent Sensing for Innovative Structures (ISIS Canada).

The quality of the research conducted by the ISIS Research Network has been such that ISIS has had to prepare five design manuals to enable practicing engineers to use its leading-edge technology. Dr. Mufti has authored or co-authored two of these manuals, and is playing a key role, as a member of the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code Technical Committee on Advanced Composite Materials, in having the national design codes modified to incorporate the use of new materials and design concepts in civil structures.

Dr. Mufti coined the new term “Civionics” as an explanation of the need to bring together the brightest minds in the fields of electrical engineering, electronics, and photonics to expand the envelope of civil engineering in the future design of civil infrastructure. His believes that Civionics is to civil engineering what avionics is to aerospace. Civionics is the basis for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) - a rapidly emerging technology that is replacing visual inspection as a means of monitoring bridges and structures for safety and longevity using sensors and remote read-out equipment to monitor stresses inside a structure. Because this is such a new and emerging technology, Dr. Mufti is personally directing the preparation of detailed specifications to be used by sensor suppliers and installers to ensure optimum placement and enhance the efficiency and reliability the system.

His SHM methodology was utilized in 2003 in the restoration of the Golden Boy statue, which sits atop Manitoba’s Legislative Building. As part of the overall rehabilitation program for the legislature, the Golden Boy was restored and fitted with an innovative sensing system to monitor on-going stresses on the statue and to ensure its structural safety. Real-time sensing data is available on a continuous basis to engineers and interested members of the public alike on the ISIS Canada web site.

The quality of Dr. Mufti’s research in the emerging area of Civionics and SHM is unparalleled. While others have monitored components, few have taken the systems approach being championed by Dr. Mufti. To develop international guidelines for the application, use and interpretation of data from SHM installations, Dr. Mufti has spearheaded the formation, and now serves as founding President, of the International Society for SHM Intelligent Infrastructure (ISHMII) with representatives from Asia, Europe, and North America serving on its Board of Directors. This society will be hosting its international conference in at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg in 2007.

In addition, Dr. Mufti’s research in the finite element method (FEM) has been in progress for thirty years. One of his major projects was an earthquake related finite element structural analysis of the Point LePreau Nuclear Power Plant in New Brunswick. His most recent research is focused on FEM, CAE and CAD/CAM applications in advanced composites, with particular reference to fibre-reinforcement of concrete and wood for bridges. He is also an earthquake consultant on the 13-km long PEI Fixed Link Bridge known as the Confederation Bridge.

Dr. Mufti is the author or co-author of nine books. His first book, "Elementary Computer Graphics" published by Reston (Prentice-Hall) was translated into Japanese. His book on, Bridge Superstructures New Developments, co-authored with Dr. Jaeger and Dr. Bakht, was published by the National Book Foundation of Pakistan in 1996. This book contains many of the new developments in bridge structures using advanced materials.

He is also the author or co-author of more than 200 publications in Bridge Engineering, Finite Element Analysis and Computer Graphics, and several Technical Reports. He is currently on the editorial board of the new professional journal, “Structure and Infrastructure Engineering,” and on the international advisory board of International Advisory Board of the journal “Advances in Structural Engineering.” He is a former Associate Editor of the Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, Past Chairman of the computer Application Division of CSCE and Past Chairman of the Computer Applications in Engineering Division of the E.I.C. In 1987, he was a judge for the prestigious Canadian Consulting Engineering Award and in 1988 the CSCE asked him to give a national lecture tour on "The Integration of the Finite Element Method with CAD". He is also a Fellow of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, the Engineering Institute of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Dr. Mufti is the recipient of many awards. He received the Phelps Johnson Prize in 1969 from the Engineering Institute of Canada for his research on the Finite Element Method and in 1990 was the recipient of the Whitman Wright Award of CSCE for Excellence in Computed Aided Design. In 1993, the CSCE awarded him the Pratley Award for his research work on Bridge Engineering. He went on to receive the Association of Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia Award in 1996 for distinction in engineering, and in 2001 was honoured by Dalhousie University for his outstanding contribution to education, research and industry.

The steel-free bridge concept, of which he is the principal developer, has been recognized with a number of awards, both national and international. These include the Pratley Award 1994, the CERF Charles Penkow Award (Finalist) 1996, the Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada (ACEC) Award 1996, the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Award for Excellence in Engineering 1997, the International Road Foundation (IRF) Award for the best paper 1997, the ACI Design Award 1998, the Nova Award 2000, and the Consulting Engineers of Manitoba Award of Merit for Innovation in the Design of the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) System - Provencher Pedestrian Bridge 2003.

For his contributions to the restoration and preservation of heritage structures, Dr. Mufti was recognized with the Consulting Engineers of Manitoba Award of Excellence for Innovation in the Golden Boy Conservation Project 2003.

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