Dr. Zafir is the national practice leader and chief engineer for the seismic and geotechnical earthquake engineering at Kleinfelder an International firm involved in the analysis and design of built environment. Dr. Zafir has more than 35 years of experience in the field of geotechnical and earthquake engineering and research. Dr. Zafir has been actively involved on seismic hazard evaluations and seismic retrofit for renowned national and international projects. In addition to California, he has been involved in seismic design projects in Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Mexico, Bangladesh, and Russia. Some of his significant projects include development of: ground motions for seismic retrofit of Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, seismic feasibility studies for Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the state of Washington, ground motion studies for Jamuna River Bridge in Bangladesh, ground motion criteria for two fissile material storage facilities in Russia, Scoggins Dam Raise Project in Oregon, Wohlford Dam in San Diego, California, San Clemente Dam Removal in Carmel, California, Grace Dam in Idaho, Applegate Dam in Oregon, and Chemical and Metallurgical Research facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. He was involved in assessing the seismic response of the proposed Salton Sea Dam/Barrier in Southern California. In 2006, concrete-lined Waikaloa Reservoirs in Hawaii were damaged due to an earthquake. Dr. Zafir was the lead seismic engineer for the analysis and repair of these reservoirs. Recently, he served as the lead seismic engineer to assess the ground motions and seismic response of several urban levees in Sacramento area. He has published and presented more than forty technical papers in international journals and conferences. He has also been an invited speaker at universities and professional engineering associations across the US. He had also served on the editorial board of Earthquake Spectra for two 3-year terms. Dr. Zafir has been reappointed by the Governor of California in March 2020 for a 4-year term on the California State Mining and Geology Board where he has been serving since 2016.
