Dr. Mehdi Setareh is an Associate Professor and member of the faculty of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He received his B.Sc. in Structural Engineering from the Technical University of Tehran, Iran in 1980, M.Sc. in Structural Engineering from the University of Surrey, Guildford, U.K. in 1985, and Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1990. Dr. Setareh has taught undergraduate and graduate level structures and building systems courses to architecture and engineering students since 1990.

Dr. Setareh is a licensed structural engineer and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the American Concrete Institute. He has performed computer analysis and design of large scale space structures at the Space Structures Research Centre of the University of Surrey, England. He also conducted research on the vibration control of building structures, and has developed a device (Tuned Mass Damper) for the reduction of floor vibrations. Dr. Setareh has acted as a consultant on different projects involving analysis and design of major building structures such as National Corvette Museum, Bowling Greens, Kentucky, Ford Motor Company Manufacturing Plants in Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio, Laboratories at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, etc. He has also been a vibration control consultant to the Corning, Inc., Chrysler Corporation, and Ford Motor Company on various projects. In all these projects Dr. Setareh has made extensive use of computer technology for the analysis and design of structural systems.