Vesna Terzic PhD

Vesna is the co-founder and principal of AVANT and an associate professor at the Department of Civil Engineering at the California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). Vesna obtained her PhD degree in structural engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was granted the Popert Fellowship in recognition of her “hard work, excellence, and promise”. Upon completion of graduate school, she continued her professional career as a researcher and a lecturer at the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center at UC Berkeley for another 4 years. She is a recipient of the prestigious ACI Chester Paul Siess Award for Excellence in Structural Research.

Vesna's expertise includes the development of advanced models and tools for seismic performance assessment and resilience evaluation (e.g., repair cost model, recovery time model, performance estimation tool), evaluation of nonlinear dynamic behavior of structures and their protective systems, probabilistic performance-based seismic design and evaluation of buildings, and seismic hazard evaluation and ground motion selection. She is the principal investigator for several research projects supported by the National Science Foundation and PEER Center. She was a member of the OpenSees development team, a lead analyst of the FEMA-P58-2 performance products team, and a member of the FEMA 138 project management committee.

Selected Awards
Popert Fellowship in recognition of hard work, excellence, and promise awarded by Civil Engineering Department at UC Berkeley. (2009)
ACI Chester Paul Siess Award for Excellence in Structural Research for the paper, “Evaluation of Post-Earthquake Axial Load Capacity of Circular Bridge Columns,” published in ACI in 2015. (2017)

Education
PhD University of California, Berkeley, Structural Engineering (2009)
MS University Ss. Cyril and Methodius, North Macedonia, Earthquake Engineering (2005)
BS University of Belgrade, Serbia, Structural Engineering (2003)

Appointments
Principal, AVANT Advanced Structural Solutions, Long Beach CA (2018 - present)
Associate Professor, California State University Long Beach (2014 - present)
Project Scientist, Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center, UC Berkeley (2014)
Postdoctoral Researcher, Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center, UC Berkeley (2010 - 2013)
Adjunct Professor, Santa Clara University, California (2011)

Teaching
Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering, UC Berkeley
Advanced Structural Analysis, CSULB
Dynamics of Structures, CSULB
Reinforced Concrete Design, CSULB and Santa Clara University
Structures Lab, CSULB
Statics, CSULB