Bio
Dr. Abolfazl (Abe) Eslami, Ph.D., PE, is an internationally recognized authority in
geotechnical and foundation
engineering, with more than 35 years of experience spanning academia, research, and
professional consulting. He earned his Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering from the University
of Ottawa, Canada, in 1996, specializing in deep foundations, following degrees from Sharif
University of Technology and Tehran Polytechnic (Amirkabir University of Technology). During
his doctoral studies, he was as a Visiting Scholar at the University of British Columbia
(UBC), conducting advanced research on Cone Penetration Testing (CPT) and Piezocone (CPTu)
applications for foundation engineering.
From 1997 to 2025, Dr. Eslami served on the civil engineering faculties of the University of
Guilan and Amirkabir University of Technology, rising to the rank of Professor and
supervising more than 170 M.Sc. and 25 Ph.D. students while advancing graduate education,
research and professional practice in geotechnical and foundation engineering. Concurrently,
as Founder and Chairman of Sham-e Consulting Engineering Co., he directed geotechnical
investigations, foundation design, and construction solutions for numerous major
infrastructures, marine, industrial, transportation, and high-rise development projects. He
currently serves as Principal Geotechnical Engineer at AFE Consulting Inc. in California and
as Senior Advisor to Medro Engineering Co. in Los Angeles, providing technical advisory
services, independent peer review, forensic assessment, and specialized consulting for
complex and high-risk geotechnical and foundation engineering projects.
Dr. Eslami is widely recognized as co-developer of the Eslami–Fellenius CPT Pile Capacity
Method, a pioneering direct CPT-based design approach validated against 102 pile case
histories and referenced in leading foundation engineering textbooks, manuals and design
guidelines, including the NAVFAC Unified Facilities Criteria (2025). He developed the AUT
Geo-CPT/Pile Database, one of the most comprehensive collections of pile load tests and
subsurface investigation records and created the FELADD database and F-Sigma package for
load-displacement analysis and performance-based foundation design. He also established a
state-of-the-art physical modeling laboratory and developed the patented Frustum Confining
Vessel (FCV-AUT), providing advanced experimental capabilities for studying pile behavior,
penetration mechanisms, and soil–structure interaction.
His professional experience encompasses technical leadership, design review, and forensic
evaluation for offshore wind turbine foundations, marine facilities, liquefiable coastal
deposits, high-rise structures, transportation infrastructure, landslide stabilization
works, and ground improvement projects across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle
East.
Dr. Eslami has authored more than 170 technical publications, receiving over 4,400 citations
with an h-index of 35. His books include Piezocone and Cone Penetration Test (CPTu and CPT)
Applications in Foundation Engineering (Elsevier, 2020) and Advanced Foundation Engineering:
Principles, Performance and Prospect (Wiley, 2026). An active member of the Deep Foundations
Institute (DFI), International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering
(ISSMGE) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), he continues to advance the
discipline through innovative applications of in-situ testing, performance-based design,
sustainable geotechnics, and data-driven engineering solutions for challenging ground
conditions worldwide.