Dr. Shahtaheri is a highly skilled Risk Manager, published author, and invited construction journal reviewer with over 8 years of experience in strategic advisory and leading the development of holistic risk-informed decision frameworks for complex multidisciplinary Infrastructure Projects and Programs, ranging from millions to billions of dollars. Dr. Shahtaheri’s unique expertise lies at the intersection of decision analysis and risk and reliability analysis, where she improves Capital Project and Program life-cycle predictability and reliability under various project delivery methods.
Over the course of her advanced Ph.D. and M.A.Sc research with national agencies, Dr. Shahtaheri combined her industrial experience and advanced analytical skills to develop cutting edge decision and risk analysis algorithms such as the development of a probabilistic decision support system for a performance-based design of infrastructures, multi-objective highway maintenance strategy optimization, risk assessment for the development of optimal module tolerance strategies, and construction time-cost trade-off optimization.
During the course of her Ph.D. studies at Virginia Tech, she worked with Prof. Jesus de la Garza and Prof. Madeleine Flint on a $1.3M National Science Foundation Project to develop decision frameworks for multi-disciplinary Infrastructure Projects by integrating decision analysis, risk analysis, optimization algorithms and statistical analysis as part of the Vecellio Construction Engineering and Management Program. Thanks to her M.A.Sc. adviser Prof. Carl Haas and her co-adviser Prof. Jeffrey West, she is also passionate about modular construction and managing risks in modular construction using dimensional tolerance strategies.
Upon completion of her Ph.D. research project with the National Science Foundation, Dr. Shahtaheri joined the Risk Management Practice Group under the Program and Project Management Business Line at AECOM in New York City, where she utilized Risk Management best practices and decision-making tools to support the successful delivery of multi-million-dollar Infrastructure, and Capital Projects and Programs. In New York City, Dr. Shahtaheri developed risk-informed decision models to identify key life-cycle project and program risks, quantify risk exposures and uncertainty, identify and define acceptable risk levels, develop actionable and effective strategies for reducing and tolerating risks, and ensure that accurate forecasts and Program Management plans are developed for proactive decision making.
Dr. Shahtaheri is currently leading AECOM Canada’s Risk Management services. As AECOM Canada’s Risk Management Lead, Dr. Shahtaheri is responsible for the overall development and implementation of standardized Risk Management activities that are well versed with latest Market sector leads and trends for various Programs within Program and Project Management Business Line and supporting other Business Lines. In her role, Dr. Shahtaheri leads the development of risk mitigation strategies and claims avoidance policy, strategy, and objectives; acts as a business consultant to identify the core requirements of the data Risk Management landscape and acts as a trusted adviser to a variety of internal and external (Service Lines, functional teams) stakeholders; works with Program and Project Management Business Line leadership in implementing the overall vision for the Risk Management function and effectively and consistently communicating Risk Management offerings and policy processes to other regional Services Lines and functional teams; leads the execution and maintenance of Risk Management service framework, including data use case execution that reflect project/program direction and opportunities; and pursues and builds relationships across business, gathers intelligence, and brings insight about the wider capital project landscape.
With over 6 years of experience in solving the most complex decision problems of the construction industry, and over 2 years of experience in Design and Construction Management, Dr. Shahtaheri has advanced the risk and decision-making practices of the construction industry and proposed practical solutions to complex Infrastructure Projects and Programs.
Dr. Shahtaheri has received her Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering (Construction Engineering and Management) from Virginia Tech in 2018, her M.A.Sc. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Construction Engineering and Management, and Structures) from University of Waterloo in 2014, and her B.A.Sc. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in 2012.