OUR PEOPLE
Academic Credentials
- M.S., Structural Engineering/Structural Mechanics, University of California, Berkeley, 1983
- B.S., Civil Engineering, University of the Pacific, 1982
Licenses & Certifications
- Professional Engineer, Arkansas, #15072
- Professional Engineer Civil, California, #39917
- Professional Engineer, Colorado, #PE-0041380
- Professional Engineer, Kansas, #PE18748
- Professional Engineer, Missouri, #2005032844
- Professional Engineer, New Jersey, #24GE04718100
- Professional Engineer Civil, Nevada, #17547
- Professional Engineer, New York, #85275
- Professional Engineer Civil, Texas, #106894
Professional Affiliations
- Structural Engineering Association of Southern California (member)
- Post-Disaster Safety Assessment Program, California Office of Emergency Services #SAP10011 (Certified Program Evaluator)
Ms. Shusto specializes in evaluating the performance and failure of structures and mechanical components, as well as defects in construction and deterioration of construction materials. She has applied her technical skills to a wide array of engineering applications and problem-solving, with specialized expertise in structural damage assessments and identification of the cause(s) of distress to single- and multi-family residential and light commercial structures.
Ms. Shusto is knowledgeable on code compliance including life safety conformance for building egress and glazing standards, accessibility compliance, and building standards.
Ms. Shusto's experience also includes structural safety and damage assessments of structures and equipment in the petroleum industry, dynamic steady state and transient analysis of mechanical components for prediction of failure modes, inspection and evaluation of deteriorated buried pipelines, and torsional analysis and testing of crankshafts.
In the area of seismic engineering, she has performed post-earthquake structural safety and damage assessments (site inspection, rapid visual assessment, structural analysis) and has provided repair/retrofit alternatives for structures damaged by the 1987 Whittier,1989 Loma Prieta, 1994 Northridge, 1999 Koacelli (Turkey), 2001 Nisqually, 2003 Pasos Robles, 2007 Alum Rock, 2008 Chino Hills, 2010 Sierra El Mayor Mexico, and 2011 Mineral, Virginia earthquakes. In addition, she evaluated the effects of high winds and flooding in the aftermath of tornados and hurricanes on residential and light commercial structures.
Ms. Shusto is often called upon to manage complex, multi-disciplinary failure investigations that require coordination of many consultants working on various aspects of the same technical issue. She has utilized this expertise to assist the legal and insurance communities on matters related to the World Trade Center collapse and class action litigations involving building components. Another aspect of Ms. Shusto's expertise is the development of investigation protocols, including technical peer review and management services, for insurance companies facing large numbers of claims following a catastrophe.