This summer, CUNY CREST lost one of its alumni and colleagues, Dr. Shahab Afshari Tork. He passed away after a long battle with cancer. Born in Iran, he came to the United States to follow his dream of pursuing higher education. He received his B.S. Degree from University of Gillan, Master of Philosophy (2011), and a PhD in Civil Engineering (2018) from City College of New York. After finishing his doctoral degree, he joined the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, as a postdoctoral fellow in the Geosciences Department (2018-2020) and the Civil and Environmental Engineering (2021). Further, Dr. Afshari Tork joined a Design Engineering firm in Connecticut in 2022.
During his professional life, Dr. Afshari Tork published more than 15 manuscripts, and presented at many conferences. He received a number of awards and certificates for his work, including a prestigious one (2016 Award: National Water Center Innovators Program Summer Institute, National Flood Interoperability Experiment | CUAHSI, University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa) to attend the National Water Center at University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. In a short span of time, Dr. Afshari Tork became an expert in flood modeling to create flood inundation maps, and compute flood depth/stage and velocity measures, and flood risk assessment due to sea-level rise, extreme rainfall events, dam breaks, and flood protection for both local and regional scales.
Dr. Afshari Tork lived an amazing life doting on family and friends. Though we have heavy hearts, we find solace in knowing that Dr. Afshari Tork is in a better place. Words of sympathy feel inadequate in expressing grief and sorrow for a loss so great. We wish to share a moment of appreciation for a joyful life taken too soon. The Institute is working on establishing a fellowship in Dr. Afshari Tork name.
Dr. Shahab Afshari Tork is survived by his mother, Dr. Maryam Modaraei and father, Mr. Shakrokh Afshari Tork, P.E..
