Dr. Patrick Safarian, P.E.
Fatigue and Damage Tolerance Senior Technical Specialist, Finite Element Methods and Composite Material Professor
Since 1997, Dr. Safarian has been involved in ensuring safety of the existing fleet and certification of new airplane models, such as 747-8, 787 and 777-9, 737MAX and A350 at Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). His involvement includes new rulemaking activities, including Parts 25 and 26, plus preparation of the advisory circulars and training material for metallic and composite material structures. Prior to FAA Patrick was employed at the Boeing Company for eleven years as a stress analyst. During that time, he contributed to development of methods and allowables for fatigue and damage tolerance standards for stress engineers. He also performed analytical and computational stress analyses of highly complex structures, including failure analysis in support of airplane design, in-service problems and accident investigations.
Patrick received his BSME from Northrop University in 1983, MSME from California State University, Fullerton, in 1985, and completed his PhD work in Mechanical Engineering at University of California, Davis, in 1987. In June 2004 he completed his Doctorate in Theological studies at Bakke Graduate School. Patrick has taught damage tolerance and advance engineering mathematics courses while at Boeing for over ten years. He has been teaching post-graduate engineering courses in the fields of fatigue, fracture mechanics, finite element analysis and composite material at University of Washington and Central Washington University since 1998. He has been teaching two courses in fatigue and damage tolerance to the industry since 2008. He has also offered the industry courses in finite element methods and applications since 2017. Patrick is married to Annette and they have two children, Natasha and Christopher.
Dr. Safarian interacts constantly with the industry experts in developing and application of the latest simulations tools and provides key guidance to aviation industry in analyzing metallic and composite material structures.
Dr. Brandon Chapman, Ph.D
Structural Analyst Engineer, Boeing Company – Seattle, WA
Brandon Chapman is a Structural Analyst and a Lead Engineer in the Structural Damage Technology (SDT) group of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. He is primarily involved in the development of durability and damage tolerance analysis methods and allowables. Brandon received his B.S. (Astronomy & Physics, 1996), M.S. (Physics, 1998) and Ph.D. (Physics, 2003) all from the University of Washington. His doctoral work was in the field of experimental condensed matter physics, where he studied structural phase transitions in ferroelectric materials. During his graduate studies, Brandon helped develop experimental beamline facilities at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. Prior to his employment at the Boeing Company in 2006, he worked as a research scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory, at the National Synchrotron Light Source facility. In 2010, Brandon earned a Master of Aerospace Engineering in Composite Materials and Structures (MAE-CMS) from the University of Washington. Brandon has published numerous papers in Science, Physical Review, Journal of Applied Physics, Journal of Crystal Growth, Environmental Science and Technology, and Chemistry of Materials. Brandon and his wife Molly are the proud parents of two boys, Benjamin and Samuel.
Dr. Francesco Deleo, Ph.D
Affiliate Professor in Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Washington – Seattle WA, and Director of Project Management at TerraPower – Bellevue WA
Dr. Francesco Deleo is an Affiliate Professor in the Aeronautics & Astronautics Department at the University of Washington and a senior engineering leader in the nuclear energy industry. He holds a BS, MS, and PhD in Aerospace Engineering and has over two decades of experience in structural analysis, fatigue, and damage tolerance across aerospace and energy applications.
Dr. Deleo’s doctoral research focused on fracture mechanics of composite materials, where he studied static and dynamic failure mechanisms in advanced composite structures. This work provided a strong foundation in fatigue and fracture mechanics principles that continue to inform both his teaching and engineering practice.
For more than a decade, Dr. Deleo has taught courses in fatigue, structural mechanics, and advanced structural analysis at both the university level and in professional training programs. His teaching approach emphasizes the practical application of fracture mechanics and fatigue methodologies used in modern engineering environments, bridging the gap between academic theory and real-world structural analysis.
In addition to his academic work, Dr. Deleo currently serves as Director of Program Management at TerraPower, where he supports the development of advanced nuclear energy technologies. Earlier in his career, he worked extensively in aerospace structural analysis, focusing on fatigue life prediction, damage tolerance assessment, and certification-driven analysis methods.
Through this course, Dr. Deleo aims to equip engineers with the analytical tools and practical understanding necessary to confidently evaluate fatigue-critical structures and apply damage tolerance methodologies used in modern aerospace design. Francesco is married to Vanessa since 2024, and they have a beautiful cavapoo called Brunello.