vd.VAISHALI DAGADESTRUCTURAL DESIGN ENGINEER
Open steel globe structure from Vaishali's PCMC Akurdi project archive

Engineer. Researcher. Educator.

Vaishali
Dagade.

Structural Design Engineer, Ph.D.

Thoughtful analysis. Buildable details.
Structures that bring an idea to life.

Discover my work

Eden Prairie, Minnesota

Practice and curiosity,
working together.

10+Years in structural design
Ph.D.Structural engineering
5+Years in academic teaching

01 / Selected work

The thinking behind
the structure.

From a slender steel column to a complete formwork system, I connect analysis, detailing, and the realities of construction.

Assembled aluminum wall and slab formwork at a construction site01 / Formwork systems

Design, detailing & site coordination

A system for building, again and again.

Aluminum and wood formwork for IREO Housing, TWG Garden Towers, Pristine Tower, and Prudentia Tower. Load calculations, layouts, connections, and construction support.

STAAD Pro   /   SolidWorks   /   AutoCAD
Reference photograph of industrial silos on braced structural-steel support frames02 / Industrial steel

Reference photograph of silo-support steelwork.

Bharti Engineering / Jamnagar

Clear load paths. Heavy demands.

Steel support structures for Reliance Industries' plate-blending silos, with approximately 640 tons of load per silo. Member, bracing, anchorage, and connection design.

STAAD Pro   /   Tekla Structures   /   Descon

An eye for form & detail

From the project archive.

Architectural glass and on-site construction.

Glass pergolaLe Meridien, Delhi
Glass staircaseLe Meridien, Delhi
Formwork on siteIREO Housing, Gurgaon

02 / Research

Looking beneath
the surface.

My doctoral work asks how complex shell structures respond, and how finite element models can describe that behavior reliably.

Figure 1 / Published research, 2022.
Curved and Layered Structures / Source & author credits / CC BY 4.0. Page crop; figure unchanged.
CylindricalSphericalConical
CompositeSandwichFGM

FGM / Functionally graded materials

Ph.D. in Structural Engineering / 2025

Small elements.
A deeper understanding.

I developed and validated four-node flat shell finite elements for static and free-vibration analysis of composite, sandwich, and functionally graded shell panels.

In the 2022 study, the DKZigTS1 formulation uses seven degrees of freedom per node. The research compared deflections, stresses, natural frequencies, and mode shapes with analytical benchmarks and three-dimensional ANSYS models.

Explore my research

Best Paper Awards: ICAMEN 2022 & NIT Kurukshetra 2021

Quadrilateral shell mesh with local, global, and surface coordinate systems01 / FormulationFrom curved surface to finite elements. Five conical shell vibration modes compared between 3D finite elements and DKZigTS102 / Free vibrationChecking how a shell moves. Through-thickness normal and shear stress comparisons for a sandwich shell03 / Layered responseUnderstanding the work of each layer.

Figures 2, 9, and 13: Curved and Layered Structures, 2022 / Source & author credits. CC BY 4.0. Extracted from the paper; figure content unchanged.

Selected publicationsJournal papers & book chapters, 2022-2025
  1. Static analysis of composite and sandwich spherical shells using a four-node flat shell quadrilateral finite elementSpringer / 2025
  2. Four node flat shell quadrilateral finite element for analysis of composite cylindrical shellsSpringer / 2023
  3. A quadrilateral flat-shell element for composite and sandwich shell panelsCurved and Layered Structures
  4. Static and free vibration analysis of sandwich shell panelsMaterials Today: Proceedings
  5. Free vibration response of cylindrical and spherical FGM shell panelsMaterials Today: Proceedings
  6. Shell finite element analysis of FGM spherical panelsIOP Conference Series
Vaishali Dagade
Vaishali Dagade, Ph.D.Eden Prairie, Minnesota

03 / About me

Built on experience.
Driven by curiosity.

I am a structural engineer who enjoys the conversation between good design, rigorous analysis, and the people who make a project happen.

My professional path spans more than a decade of structural design, over five years of academic teaching, and doctoral research in shell finite elements. As the founder of Vardhaman Engineers and Consultants, I worked with architects, developers, manufacturers, and site teams across reinforced concrete, steel, formwork, and municipal infrastructure.

I am now based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and interested in structural design and advanced analysis opportunities in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area.

More about my background
Ph.D. Structural EngineeringFE CivilPE Civil: Structural Exam PassedASCE & SEI Member

Professional practice

A foundation in delivery.

  1. 2015 - 2022
    Founder & Proprietor

    Vardhaman Engineers and Consultants

  2. 2009 - 2011
    Structural Design Engineer

    Sharp Engineers / Sharp Formwork

  3. 2007 - 2009
    Design Engineer

    Clancy Global Consultancy

  4. 2007
    Structural Designer

    Bharti Engineering

Teaching

Knowledge grows
when it is shared.

As an Assistant Professor at RMD Sinhgad and Dr. D.Y. Patil Institute, and Visiting Faculty at Government Polytechnic, Washim, I taught structural analysis, strength of materials, concrete and steel design, and applied mechanics.

Mentorship

Helping the next idea
take shape.

I mentored Talon Robotics students in SolidWorks and engineering design, and supported SkyWindFarm research with structural mechanics, material selection, stability discussions, and prototype testing.

SkyWindFarm project

04 / Technical practice

The tools.
And the judgment.

Software supports the work. Clear assumptions, validation, and buildable details give it meaning.

IBC · ASCE 7 · ACI 318 · AISC/LRFD · BS 5950 · Indian Standards

Analysis & simulation

STAAD Pro, ETABS, SAFE, NISA Civil, SAP, RAM, ANSYS, ABAQUS, Plan-win, and Frame-win.

Modeling & detailing

SolidWorks, AutoCAD, Autodesk Revit, Tekla Structures, Solid Edge, Descon Win, and Descon Brace.

Programming

Fortran and C++.

Technical writing

LaTeX and Overleaf.

Graphing & visualization

Origin and Desmos.

Calculations & communication

Excel-based design tools, technical reports, shop drawings, RFIs, and design coordination.

The full picture

Experience, on paper.

Professional resumeStructural design / PDFResearch resumeFEA & research / PDFRead online

A good project starts with a conversation.

Let's talk
engineering.

Structural design opportunities,
research, and thoughtful collaborations.
Eden Prairie & the Twin Cities

(952) 529-8034LinkedInBack to top