ROBERT T. RATAY, PhD, PE, is a highly regarded consulting structural engineer in private practice and an adjunct professor at Columbia University. He has four decades of structural design, condition assessment, forensic analysis, and teaching experience with prominent engineering firms and universities, and often serves as an expert consultant to engineers, contractors, owners, attorneys, insurance companies, and government agencies. Dr. Ratay has served on and chaired several technical, review, and advisory committees and is a member of the Board of Governors of the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers.