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Profile

College / Department

College of Engineering

Department of Civil Engineering

Teaching areas

Structural Analysis and Design

Research areas

Structural reliability, finite element modeling, bridge engineering, experimental testing of structural steel and reinforced concrete elements

Education

PhD, Civil Engineering, University of Michigan, United States, 1990

MS, Civil Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, United States, 1986

BS, Civil Engineering, American University of Beirut, 1984

Professional experience

Professor, American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2006 - Present

Director Of Structural Design, Otak international, AbuDhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2008 - 2009

Head Of Civil Engineering Department, American Unviersity of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2006 - 2008

Associate Professor, American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 1999 - 2006

Assistant Professor, University of Houston, Texas, United Arab Emirates, 1994 - 1999

Project Engineer, Gannett Fleming, Inc., Pennsylvania, United States, 1990 - 1994

Memberships

ASCE, USA, January 1990 - December 2010

Contact

[email protected]

+971 6 515 2957

Dr. Sami Tabsh

Professor

PhD, University of Michigan, United States

Sami W. Tabsh is Professor of Civil Engineering and former Head of the Department at the American University of Sharjah, UAE. Before that, he has been a faculty member at the University of Houston, Texas, and a project engineer for complex structures with Gannett Fleming, Inc., Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA. Dr. Tabsh's research interests are in reliability-based code development, bridge structures, high-rise buildings and experimental testing of steel and concrete structural members. He has extensively published his research in international journals and conference proceedings, and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Pennsylvania, USA.

Publications

Sami Tabsh And Abdelaziz Younes. Flexural Investigation of Concrete Beams Reinforced with Welded Wire Reinforcement, 10th World Congress On Civil, Structural, And Environmental Engineering, Barcelona, April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2025

Abdelaziz Younes And Sami Tabsh. Experimental Investigation of the Confinement of Concrete Columns with Welded Wire Reinforcement, Buildings, 28 April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2025

Faress Hraib And Sami Tabsh. Influence of Girder Flaring on Load Effect in Girders of Composite Steel Bridges, Applied Sciences, 23 April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2025

Magdi El-emam, Amin Bigdeli, Youcef El Berizi And Sami Tabsh. Dynamic Response of Non-Yielding Wall Supporting Over-Consolidated Sand, Applied Sciences

Magdi El-emam, Mousa Attom And Sami Tabsh. Plane Strain Sand Properties from Numerical Modelling of Direct Shear Test, April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2024

Abdelrahman Hindieh And Sami Tabsh. Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Members Made with 100 % Recycled Materials and No Cement, April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2024

Sadiq Al Bayati And Sami Tabsh. A Framework for Research on Reinforced Concrete Columns Embedded with PET Bottles, April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2024

Abdulaziz Younes And Sami Tabsh. Flexural Behavior of Concrete Beams Reinforced with Steel Welded Wire Reinforcement, April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2024

Sami Tabsh And Moussa Leblouba. Resistance Factors Spectra for the Ultimate Limit State of the National Building Code of Canada, Buildings, 21 March 2024

Sami Tabsh, Adil Al-tamimi And Magdi El-emam. Strength Properties of Pervious Concrete Made with Locally Produced Recycled Coarse Aggregate

Sami Tabsh, Adil Al-tamimi And Magdi El-emam. Effect of Rebar Harsh Storage Conditions on the Flexural Behavior of Glass FRP Concrete, Sustainability, 27 February 2024

Adil Al-tamimi, Sami Tabsh And Magdi El-emam. Pervious Concrete Made with Recycled Coarse Aggregate and Reinforced with Date Palm Leaves Fibers, Materials, 4 December 2023

A. Sagheer, Sami Tabsh And Sherif Ahmed. Structural Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Beams Made with Locally Produced Recycled Aggregate in the UAE, Buildings, October (4th Quarter/Autumn) 2023

Magdi El-emam, Youcef El Berizi, Ahmed Mabrouk And Sami Tabsh. Bearing capacity of strip footing on top of slope: Numerical parametric study, Ain Shams Engineering Journal, 12 October (4th Quarter/Autumn) 2023

Wisam Abushama, Adil Al-tamimi, Sami Tabsh, Magdi El-emam, Ahmed Ibrahim And Taghreed Mohammed Ali. Influence of Optimum Particle Packing on the Macro and Micro Properties of Sustainable Concrete, Sustainability, 28 September 2023

Sami Tabsh And Magdi El-emam. Development of Relative Rigidity Measure for Shallow Foundations, International Journal Of Civil Infrastructure, 1 August 2023

Sami Tabsh And Magdi El-emam. Sensitivity of Raft Foundation’s Structural Behaviour to Changes in Geometry and Materials, 29 March 2023

Abdullah Sagher And Sami Tabsh. Shear Strength of Concrete Beams without Stirrups Made with Recycled Coarse Aggregate, Buildings, 28 December 2022

Moussa Leblouba, Abdulsabour Kharzad, Sami Tabsh And Samer Barakat. Plated versus corrugated web steel girders in shear: behavior, parametric analysis, and reliability-based design optimization, Buildings, 22 November 2022

Sami Tabsh And Yazan Alhoubi. Experimental Investigation of Recycled Fine Aggregate from Demolition Waste in Concrete, Sustainability, 30 August 2022

Omar Nofal, Moussa Leblouba And Sami Tabsh. Statistics and probabilistic modeling of construction materials used in the UAE, July (3rd Quarter/Summer) 2022

Sami Tabsh And Magdi El-emam. Influence of Foundation Rigidity on the Structural Response of Mat Foundation, Advances In Civil Engineering, 8 October (4th Quarter/Autumn) 2021

Sami Tabsh. A Simple Method of Analysis for Complex Steel I-Girder Bridges, 1 October (4th Quarter/Autumn) 2021

Sami Tabsh. Applicability of the AASHTO’s Live Load Distribution Requirements for Integral Bridges, International Journal Of Civil Infrastructure, 5 March 2021

Sami Tabsh And Shehab El Din Mourad. Validation of the AASHTO LRFD Live Load Distribution Provisions for Integral Abutment Bridges, 18 October (4th Quarter/Autumn) 2020

Moussa Leblouba And Sami Tabsh. Reliability-based shear design of corrugated web steel beams for AISC 360 specification and CSA-S16 standard, Engineering Structures, 15 July (3rd Quarter/Summer) 2020

Moussa Leblouba, Sami Tabsh And Samer Barakat. Reliability-based design of corrugated web steel girders in shear as per AASHTO LRFD, Journal Of Constructional Steel Research, 1 June 2020

Sami Tabsh, Magdi El-emam And Pouya Partazian. Numerically Based Parametric Analysis of Mat Foundations, Practice Periodical On Structural Design And Construction, 1 May 2020

Sami Tabsh. Effect of Construction Minor Defects on the Ductility of Reinforced Concrete Drilled Shafts, Proceedings Of The 4th World Congress On Civil,proceedings Of The 4th World Congress On Civil, Structural, And Environmental Engineering (csee’19), Rome, Italy Structural, And Environmental Engineering (csee’19), Rome, Italy, April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2019

Sami Tabsh, Hany El-kadi And Akmal Abdelfatah. Faculty Perception of Engineering Student Cheating and Effective Measures to Curb It, Educon2019 – Ieee Global Engineering Education Conference, Dubai, Uae, April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2019

Sami Tabsh. Load Distribution in Short Bridges Subjected to Oversize Vehicles, 9th Australian Small Bridges Conference, Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia, April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2019

Sami Tabsh, Hany El-kadi And Akmal Abdelfatah. Faculty perception of engineering student cheating and effective measures to curb it, 1 April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2019

Sami Tabsh. A Simple Method of Analysis for Complex Steel I-Girder Bridges, Proceedings Of The 3rd International Conference On Infrastructure Management, Assessment And Rehabilitation Techniques (icimart’19), Sharjah, Uae, March 2019

Sami Tabsh. Effect of construction minor defects on the ductility of reinforced concrete drilled shafts, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 2019

Sami Tabsh And Sherif Yehia. Shear strength of reinforced concrete beams made with recycled aggregate, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 2018

Sami Tabsh, Akmal Abdelfatah And Hany El Kadi. Engineering students and faculty perceptions of academic dishonesty, Quality Assurance In Education, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 2017

Sami Tabsh And Muna Mitchell. Girder distribution factors for steel bridges subjected to permit truck or super load, Structural Engineering And Mechanics, 25 October (4th Quarter/Autumn) 2016

Sami Tabsh, Hany El-kadi And Akmal Abdelfatah. Engineering students' perception of academic dishonesty at an American university in the UAE, 19 May 2016

Sami Tabsh, Hany El-kadi And Akmal Abdelfatah. Past and Present engineering students' views on academic dishonesty at a Middle-Eastern University, International Journal Of Engineering Education, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 2015

Sami Tabsh And Magdi El-emam. Finite element-based parametric analysis of mat foundations, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 2014

Sami Tabsh. Comparison between reinforced concrete designs based on the ACI 318 and BS 8110 codes, Structural Engineering And Mechanics, 25 November 2013

Sami Tabsh And Husam Najm. Bridge structures, Advances In Civil Engineering, 1 December 2012

Sami Tabsh, Akmal Abdelfatah, Mohammad Alhamaydeh And Sherif Yehia. Comparison of civil engineering curricula in the arab world, International Journal Of Engineering Education, 29 October (4th Quarter/Autumn) 2012

Sami Tabsh, Hany El Kadi And Akmal Abdelfatah. Faculty response to ethical issues at an American university in the Middle-East, Quality Assurance In Education, 21 September 2012

Sherif Yehia, Mohammad Al Hamaydeh, Akmal Abdelfatah And Sami Tabsh. ABET-accredited civil engineering programmes following track system: Part I - Survey and framework development, Global Journal Of Engineering Education, 9 May 2012

Sherif Yehia, Mohammad Al Hamaydeh, Akmal Abdelfatah And Sami Tabsh. ABET-accredited civil engineering programmes following track system: Part II - Implementation of the proposed framework, Global Journal Of Engineering Education, 9 May 2012

Akmal Abdelfatah And Sami Tabsh. Review of research on and implementation of recycled concrete aggregate in the GCC, Advances In Civil Engineering, 1 December 2011

Sami Tabsh And Akmal Abdelfatah. Current Research and Implementation of Recycled Concrete in the GCC Countries, International Conference On Sustainable Systems And The Environment, March 2011

Sami Tabsh. Structural safety of reinforced concrete structures designed following the ACI 318 code, Large Structures And Infrastructures For Environmentally Constrained And Urbanised Areas, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 2010

Sami Tabsh And Akmal Abdelfatah. Influence of recycled concrete aggregates on strength properties of concrete, Construction And Building Materials, 1 February 2009

Sami Tabsh. Closure to "stress-strain model for high-strength concrete confined by welded wire fabric" by Sami W. Tabsh, Journal Of Materials In Civil Engineering, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 2009

Sami Tabsh And Raouf Al-shawa. Closure to "effect of spread footing flexibility on structural response" by Sami W. Tabsh and Abdul Raouf Al-Shawa, Practice Periodical On Structural Design And Construction, 24 October (4th Quarter/Autumn) 2006

Sami Tabsh. Elimination of the effect of strain gradient from concrete compressive strength test results, Computers And Concrete, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 2006

Hazem Sarhan, Sami Tabsh, Michael O'neill, Alaa Ata And Carl Ealy. Flexural behavior of drilled shafts with minor flaws, 14 July (3rd Quarter/Summer) 2005

Sami Tabsh And Abdul Al-shawa. Effect of spread footing flexibility on structural response, Practice Periodical On Structural Design And Construction, 1 May 2005

Sami Tabsh, Michael O'neill And Moon Nam. Shear strength of drilled shafts with minor flaws, Engineering Structures, 1 April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2005

Irvin Luker And Sami Tabsh. Effect of non-uniform straining in concrete compressive strength tests, Cement, Concrete And Aggregates, 1 December 2004

Nehikhare Lambert-aikhionbare And Sami Tabsh. Ductility enhancement of high strength concrete columns with welded wire mesh, 16 August 2004

Hazem Sarhan, Michael O'neill And Sami Tabsh. Structural capacity reduction for drilled shafts with minor flaws, Aci Structural Journal, 1 May 2004

Michael O'neill, Sami Tabsh And Hazem Sarhan. Response of drilled shafts with minor flaws to axial and lateral loads, Engineering Structures, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 2003

Nehikhare Lambert-aikhionbare And Sami Tabsh. Confinement of high-strength concrete with welded wire reinforcement, Aci Structural Journal, 1 September 2001

Sami Tabsh And Michael O'neill. Effects of minor anomalies on axial capacity of drilled shafts, Transportation Research Record, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 2001

Sami Tabsh And Muna Tabatabai. Live load distribution in girder bridges subject to oversized trucks, Journal Of Bridge Engineering, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 2001

Sami Tabsh And M. Tabatabai. Live-load girder distribution factors for bridges subjected to wide trucks, 1 December 2000

Shehab Mourad And Sami Tabsh. Deck slab stresses in integral abutment bridges, Journal Of Bridge Engineering, 1 May 1999

Sami Tabsh And Shehab Mourad. Live load distribution in integral composite steel bridges, Engineering Journal, 1 December 1998

Shehab Mourad And Sami Tabsh. Pile forces in integral abutment bridges subjected to truck loads, Transportation Research Record 1633, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 1998

Sami Tabsh And Alex Aswad. Statistics of high-strength concrete cylinders, Aci Materials Journal, 1 September 1997

Sami Tabsh And Kalpana Sahajwani. Approximate analysis of irregular slab-on-girder bridges, Journal Of Bridge Engineering, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 1997

Sami Tabsh And Shehab Mourad. Resistance factors for blind bolts in direct tension, Engineering Structures, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 1997

Sami Tabsh. Safety of reinforced concrete members designed following ACI 318 building code, Engineering Structures, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 1997

Sami Tabsh, Shehab Mourad And Robert Korol. Structural safety of ultra-twist blind fasteners in tension, Canadian Journal Of Civil Engineering, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 1997

Sami Tabsh. Design considerations for post-tensioned integral pier caps, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 1996

Sami Tabsh. Reliability of post-tensioned concrete slab bridges, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 1996

Sami Tabsh. Resistance factors for high strength blind bolts, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 1996

Sami Tabsh. Safety of concrete members designed by ACI 318 chapter 9 and appendix C load combinations, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 1996

Sami Tabsh. Reliability of composite steel bridge beams designed following AASHTO's LFD and LRFD specifications, Structural Safety, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 1996

Sami Tabsh And David Marchese. Span capability of noncompact composite steel bridge beams, Transportation Research Record, 1 December 1995

Sami Tabsh. Structural safety of post-tensioned concrete slab bridges with unbonded tendons, Aci Materials Journal, 1 July (3rd Quarter/Summer) 1995

Sami Tabsh And Alex Aswad. Statistics of steam-cured plant-produced high strength concrete, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 1995

Andrzej Nowak, Ahmed Yamani And Sami Tabsh. Probabilistic models for resistance of concrete bridge girders, Aci Structural Journal, 1 May 1994

Sami Tabsh. Simple live load distribution factors for girder bridges, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 1994

Sami Tabsh. Ductility of non-compact steel bridge beams, Engineering Journal, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 1994

Sami Tabsh. Reliability of highway bridge piers, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 1993

Sami Tabsh And Jack Kayser. Probabilistic analysis of post-tensioned steel girder bridges, 1 December 1992

Sami Tabsh. Bayesian reliability updating of existing steel girder bridges, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 1992

Sami Tabsh And Andrzej Nowak. Reliability of highway girder bridges, Journal Of Structural Engineering (united States), 1 August 1991

Andrzej Nowak And Sami Tabsh. Sensitivity analysis for composite steel girder bridges, 1 January (1st Quarter/Winter) 1991

Conference Presentations

Plane Strain Sand Properties from Numerical Modelling of Direct Shear Test, 9th World Congress On Civil, Structural, And Environmental Engineering (csee 2024), 14 April 2024

Experimental investigation of the flexural behavior of concrete confined with welded wire reinforcement, Frontiers In Materials Science And Engineering Conference, February 2024

Flexural Response of Concrete Beams Confined with Steel Welded Wire Mesh, International Conference On Infrastructure Management, Assessment And Rehabilitation Techniques (icimart'24), February 2024

Stabilization of Sand with Natural and Artificial Geofibers, International Conference On Infrastructure Management, Assessment And Rehabilitation Techniques (icimart'24), February 2024

Innovative transverse steel reinforcement for shear critical concrete beams, Cve 695 Seminar, October 2023

Case Studies in Professional Ethics, Cen 695 Seminar For Ms Students, September 2023

Case Studies in Engineering Ethics, Cen Graduate Seminar 695, 16 September 2022

Innovative transverse steel reinforcement for shear critical concrete beams, Mse Phd Seminar Series, November 2020

Case studies in engineering ethics, Ms Engineering Students Seminar Series, September 2020

Graduate School or Work in Industry, Seminar To Cen Students, 2 May 2019

Feasibility of Using Wood-Reinforced Concrete Composites for Structural Applications, 4th Material Science And Engineering Research Institute (mseri) Workshop, 28 April 2019

Case Studies in Engineering Ethics, Graduate Engineering Students Seminar, September 2018

Grants and sponsorships

Grant, Climate Change Impacts on Geotechnical Infrastructures in the UAE: Challenges for Stability and Resilience, American University of Sharjah and University of Sharjah, September 2025 - August 2027

Grant, FRG24-C-E77: Structural Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Members Made with 100% Recycled Materials and No Cement, AUS, June 2024 - May 2026

Grant, FRG24-C: Flexural and Shear Behavior of Recycled Concrete Beams Reinforced with Perforated Structural Steel Tubes, AUS, 1 June 2024 - 31 May 2026

Grant, FRG24-C: Structural Behavior of Steel Reinforced 3D Concrete Printed Beams Made with Locally Produced Recycled Aggregate, AUS, 1 June 2024 - 31 May 2026

Grant, Enhancement of Geotechnical and Structural Performance of Gabion Walls with Cement Mortar and Reinforcement, American university of Sharjah, 1 June 2023 - 31 May 2025

Grant, Flexural and Shear Behavior of Concrete Beams Reinforced with Perforated Structural Steel Tubes, American University of Sharjah, 1 June 2023 - 31 May 2025

Grant, Properties of Tire Shreds-Dune Sand Mixture as a Backfill Soil for Geotechnical Applications, Sharjah National Oil Company (SNOC), 1 January 2024 - 31 December 2024

Grant, Shear strength and Pullout Capacity of Recycled Aggregate-Dune Sand Mixture as a Backfill Soil, Beeah Group, 1 January 2024 - 31 December 2024

Grant, Structural Behavior of Steel Reinforced 3D concrete printed Members Made with Recycle Aggregate from Beeah, Beeah Group, 1 January 2024 - 31 December 2024

Grant, Structural Behavior of Steel Reinforced Concrete Members Made with 100% Recycled Materials from Beeah and No Cement, Beeah Group, 1 January 2024 - 31 December 2024

Grant, Use of Waste Materials in Structural and Geotechnical Engineering Applications, AUS Post-Doc Fellowship, 1 January 2024 - 31 December 2024

Grant, FRG21-M-E72: Structural Design of Reinforced Concrete One-Way Slabs Embedded with PET Plastic Bottles, American university of sharjah, 1 July 2021 - 30 September 2024

Grant, Undergraduate Student Research Award: Use of Structural Steel-Concrete Composite Section for Flexural Strength Enhancement, CEN - AUS, January 2024 - August 2024

Fellowship, Energy, Water, and Sustainable Environment Research Center (EWSERC) | Theme 5: Sustainable Cities and Infrastructures, AUS - College of Engeneering, May 2024

Grant, FRG22-C-E30: Use of Steel Welded Wire Fabric as Lateral Reinforcement in Concrete Columns, American University of Sharjah, 1 June 2022 - 31 May 2024

Grant, EFRG18-MSE-CEN-28: Use of Steel Welded Wire Fabric as Flexural and Shear Reinforcement in Concrete Beams, American University of Sharjah, June 2018 - 30 May 2021

Grant, FRG20-M: Development of an eco-friendly wood-reinforced concrete composite system for constructing low income family housing, American University of Sharjah

Grant, FRG19-M-E56: Effectiveness of Repair Methods for Reinforced Concrete Members Containing Honeycomb Defects, American University of Sharjah

Grant, The use of Wastewater & Recycled Demolition Wastes to Reduce Pollution in UAE; Utilization of Recycled Construction Materials Produced by CDW Unit/Beeah; and, Performance Evaluation of Recycled Crushed Concrete as Pavement Materials, Gulf Ecosystems Research (GER), 1 January 2015 - 31 December 2017

Awards and Honors

Best paper, 3rd World Congress on Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering, Budapest, Hungary, April 2018