• Current Affiliation
• Contact Information
• Education
• Research Interests
• Recent Publications
• Courses Taught
• Professional Activities
• Email

Current Affiliation

Research Assistant Professor
NEES Site Operations Manager

Contact Information

Mailing address:
University of Nevada, Reno
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
258 Reno, NV 89557-0152
T: (775) 784-6664
F: (775) 784-1390
elfass@unr.edu

Education

Research Interests

• Experimental and analytical studies of seismic performance of bridge foundations
• Shallow and deep foundations
• Soil-structure-interaction
• Pile and pile group response under axial loading
• Theoretical and experimental aspects of earthquake engineering and soil dynamics
• Post grouting of drilled shafts, deep foundation instrumentation and testing
• Undrained soil behavior and Soil liquefaction
• Characterization and the application of geosynthetics to improve soil performance

Recent Publications

• Elfass, S., Yang, H., Siino, J., Norris, N., 2009, "Drained t-z Characterization for Piles/Shafts in Sand," International Foundation Congress & Equipment Expo 2009 - IFCEE '09, ASCE, March, Orlando, FL.
• Elfass, S., Pooranampillai, J.D., Elsayed, A., Norris, N., 2009. "Undrained Point Load-Point Displacement Response of Piles/Drilled Shafts in Clay and Sand," International Foundation Congress & Equipment Expo 2009 - IFCEE '09, ASCE, IFCEE '09, ASCE, March, Orlando, FL.
• Pooranampillai, J.D., Elfass, S., Vanderpool, W., Norris, N., 2009. "Large-Scale Laboratory Study on the Innovative Use of Low Mobility Compaction Grout for Drilled Shaft Tip Post Grouting," International Foundation Congress & Equipment Expo 2009 - IFCEE '09, ASCE, IFCEE '09, ASCE, March, Orlando, FL.
• Pooranampillai, J.D., Elfass, S., Vanderpool, W., Norris, G., 2008, “Development and Assessment of Post Grouting Methods to Increase the Load Carrying Capacity of Deep Foundations,” 41st Symposium on Engineering Geology and Geotechnical Engineering, April 2008, p 77 – 92.
• Vanderpool, W., Norris, G., Elfass, S., 2008, “Warning: Low Mobility Grout (LMG) May Not Equal compaction Grout (CG), (2008), Geotechnical News, March 2008, Volume 26, Number 1, p 44-50.
• Elfass, S. and Norris, G., 2008, “Undrained Tip Response of Drilled Shaft in Cohesionless Soils,” Geotechnical and Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics (GEESD) IV, ASCE, Sacramento, CA.
• Muhanna, M., Dascalu, S., Harris, F. C., Elfass, S., and Karam, M., “Specification and Design Aspects of the Academic Researcher's Assistant (ARA) Software for Mobile Devices,” Proceedings of the 1st IEEE International Conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interaction (ACHI'08), S.L. Martinique, France, IEEE Computer Society Press, pp. 95-100. February 2008.
• Elfass, S. A., Norris, G. M., Vimalaraj, P., 2007, “A Simple Bearing Capacity Equation,” GeoDenver 2007, ASCE, New Peaks in Geotechnics, Denver, CO.

Courses Taught

Other Activities within Engineering and Teaching Professions

• Member ASCE, CUREE, NEES
• Designer of the UNR-laminar Soil Box (10'x10'x6') for assessing Soil-Foundation-Structure-Interaction (SFSI) under seismic conditions.
• Developer of AxiPile; a new model by which axial capacity of piles and drilled shafts can be assessed during loading-unloading-reloading phases.
• Chair of NEES Site Operations Manager forum (2009 – present)
• Advisory board member for Project Management certificate Program, Extended Studies, University of Nevada, Reno. (2007 – present)
• Manager of Bridge Research and Information Center (2001 - 2005)
• Editor In Chief of the 38th Engineering Geology and Geotechnical Engineering Symposium, March 2003.
• Former member of the Liquefaction Subcommittee, Geosciences Subcommittee, Nevada Earthquake Safety Council.
• A key participant in the outreach programs for K-4 through K-12. Application of computational science to advance educational experience.