Shattered Glass is Allegedly Blamable for Most of the Victims of Beirut's Blast

Abstract

This article discusses the massive blast of Beirut that took place in the evening of August 4, 2020 and the devastation it has caused to the country and its citizens. It allegedly blames shattered glass from building facades and interiors to be the leading cause of most the 180+ deaths and 6000+ injuries that resulted from this tragic blast as has been witnessed in the emergency wards of treating hospitals. It then recapitulates on the terrorist attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, on April 19, 1995, that claimed the lives of 167 people and numerous injuries most of which were due to glass shards flying and falling from broken windows causing severe lacerations and abrasions. The article then addresses the resulting safety measures and construction codes that emerged after the Oklahoma City bombing with a recommendation to the Lebanese authorities and other authorities within volatile regions so as to incorporate safety glass in the reconstruction process and or the (re)design of old and new buildings. Should the building safety standards that emerged after the Oklahoma City attack have been ubiquitously used in contemporary cities, many lives and injuries that fell in the Beirut’s blast would have been spared.

Full text

Z.O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D. Shattered Glass is Allegedly Blamable for Most of the Victims of Beirut’s Blast. LinkedIn Pulse. August 26, 2020.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shattered-glass-allegedly-blamable-most-victims-blast-abu-faraj
Photo Credit: Ziad O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D.
Shattered Glass is Allegedly Blamable for
Most of the Victims of Beirut’s Blast
By: Ziad O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D., Professor of Biomedical Engineering
First Published: August 26, 2020
Keywords: Beirut, Blast, Bombing, Explosion, Laminated Glass, Lebanon, Non-Shattering Glass, Oklahoma
City, Safety, Shattered Glass.
Synopsis: This article discusses the massive blast of Beirut that took place in the evening of August 4,
2020 and the devastation it has caused to the country and its citizens. It allegedly blames shattered glass
from building facades and interiors to be the leading cause of most of the 180+ deaths and 6000+ injuries
that resulted from this tragic blast as has been witnessed in the emergency wards of treating hospitals. It
then recapitulates on the terrorist attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma, United States, on April 19, 1995, that claimed the lives of 167 people and numerous injuries
most of which were due to glass shards flying and falling from broken windows causing severe lacerations
and abrasions. The article then addresses the resulting safety measures and construction codes that
emerged after the Oklahoma City bombing with a recommendation to the Lebanese authorities and other
authorities within volatile regions so as to incorporate safety glass in the reconstruction process and or
the (re)design of old and new buildings. Should the building safety standards that emerged after the
Oklahoma City attack have been ubiquitously used in contemporary cities, many lives and injuries that fell
in the Beirut’s blast would have been spared.

Z.O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D. Shattered Glass is Allegedly Blamable for Most of the Victims of Beirut’s Blast. LinkedIn Pulse. August 26, 2020.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shattered-glass-allegedly-blamable-most-victims-blast-abu-faraj
Introduction:
In the evening of Tuesday August 4, 2020, precisely at 18:08 EEST, a massive explosion erupted in the Port
of Beirut creating a mushroom cloud in the air with a supersonic blast-wave of compressed air radiating
throughout the city, literally shaking the whole country and devastating everything in its path [1], Figure
1. The blast was felt in many neighboring countries, including Turkey, Syria, and Israel, and was heard in
Cyprus, 234 km away from the epicenter of the explosion [2]. It created a seismic tremor the equivalent
of a 3.3 earthquake magnitude on the Richter scale according to seismologists at the United States
Geological Survey [1,3], and has been considered as one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions in
history [4]. Beirut’s blast resulted in at least 180 deaths, over 6000 injured, some 30-40 missing, and over
300,000 homeless; moreover, it was accounted for 10-15 Billion USD in property damage [2]. Minutes
after the explosion, the Lebanese government declared Beirut in a state of emergency for two weeks [5].
Figure 1. A mushroom cloud created in the air (Top) with a supersonic blast-wave
(Bottom) radiating throughout the city. (Images were edited from a video feed.
Source: Unknown).
The blast was caused by an unexplained detonation of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate—approximately
1.1 kilotons of TNT, which had been stored unsafely in Warehouse No. 12 within the port of Beirut during
the preceding six years [2,6] after having been confiscated by the Lebanese authorities from the
abandoned Russian-owned cargo ship MV Rhosus [2]. Figure 2 shows the site of the explosion at the Port
of Beirut moments before the explosion and at the onset of the explosion resulting in a reddish-black
smoke shown in the figure on the right. The white smoke billowing in the left figure was due to an earlier

Z.O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D. Shattered Glass is Allegedly Blamable for Most of the Victims of Beirut’s Blast. LinkedIn Pulse. August 26, 2020.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shattered-glass-allegedly-blamable-most-victims-blast-abu-faraj
fire that burned out of control in Warehouse No. 12 near the towering grain silos [7]. It has been
speculated that a smaller explosion occurred at an adjacent warehouse storing fireworks that caused a
larger fire that triggered a second much larger blast [8]. The figure on the left also shows the Grain Silos—
one of the monumental landmarks of Beirut—moments before it was defaced. Figure 3 shows the 140 m
wide crater created by the blast [1]. Figure 4 shows a sample of the devastated districts within a 3 km
radius from the epicenter of the blast with shattered glass covering most of the city’s streets. Several
areas were disparately affected by the blast: Mar Mikhael, Gemmayzeh, Quarantine, Achrafieh, and
Downtown [9]. A collaborative work between NASA's Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) team
and the Earth Observatory of Singapore employed satellite-derived synthetic aperture radar data to map
the plausible extent of damage from the Beirut’s blast. These results are shown in Figure 5 whereby dark
red pixels—such as those present at and around the Port of Beirut—signifies the most severe damage,
while areas in orange are moderately damaged and areas in yellow are likely to have suffered to a certain
degree less damage [10]. Each colored pixel represents an area of 30 meters. The resulting map comprises
of modified Copernicus Sentinel data processed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and analyzed by
ARIA team scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, and Earth Observatory of Singapore
[10].
Figure 2. The site of the explosion moments before (Left) and at the onset (Right)
of the big explosion. (Images were edited from a video feed. Source: Unknown).

Z.O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D. Shattered Glass is Allegedly Blamable for Most of the Victims of Beirut’s Blast. LinkedIn Pulse. August 26, 2020.
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Figure 3. An aerial view of the site of the explosion revealing the dimensions of
the crater created by the blast. (Source: REUTERS).
Figure 4. A sample of the devastated districts within a 3 km radius from the
epicenter of the blast showing shattered glass covering the streets. (Source:
Unknown).

Z.O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D. Shattered Glass is Allegedly Blamable for Most of the Victims of Beirut’s Blast. LinkedIn Pulse. August 26, 2020.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shattered-glass-allegedly-blamable-most-victims-blast-abu-faraj
Figure 5. Satellite data used to map the extent of likely damage following the
massive explosion in Beirut on August 4, 2020. (Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Earth
Observatory of Singapore/ESA).
If one examines the types of injuries and causes of death related to the Beirut’s blast, one finds out that
they were mainly due to glass shards flying and falling from building facades and interiors causing severe
lacerations and abrasions, Figure 6, as witnessed in the emergency wards of treating hospitals. Certainly,
other causes of deaths or injuries were due to the enormous blast wave created by the explosion, collapse
of building roofs and walls, and/or to flying objects and debris—such as heavy objects, vehicles, window
frames, rocks, etc.—depending on the proximity of the victims from the epicenter of the explosion.

Z.O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D. Shattered Glass is Allegedly Blamable for Most of the Victims of Beirut’s Blast. LinkedIn Pulse. August 26, 2020.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shattered-glass-allegedly-blamable-most-victims-blast-abu-faraj
Figure 6. A mosaic image of a victim of the Beirut’s blast with deep lacerations
and limb amputations due to flying glass shards from building facades. The
mosaic was purposefully introduced due to the graphic nature of the image
(Source: Unknown).
The Oklahoma City Bombing Case:
On April 19, 1995, a domestic terrorist truck bombing hit the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, Figure 7 [11]. The bombing occurred at 09:02, killing 167 people
and causing more than 680 injuries [12-13]. The blast damaged or destroyed 324 other buildings within a
16-block radius, shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings, and burned or destroyed 86 cars [13-15], causing
an estimated 652 million USD worth of damage [16]. Following the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building
bombing, shattered glass was found around the city [17], and further investigations revealed that flying
glass lacerated more than 80% of the victims of the bombing attack in Oklahoma City [18]. This tragic
event drew the attention of both the engineering and security communities on two main matters, namely:
i) the preclusion of progressive structural collapse; and, ii) the design of blast-resistant glazing [12].

Z.O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D. Shattered Glass is Allegedly Blamable for Most of the Victims of Beirut’s Blast. LinkedIn Pulse. August 26, 2020.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shattered-glass-allegedly-blamable-most-victims-blast-abu-faraj
Figure 7. The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,
United States after the terrorist attack (Source: AP, File).
Hence, while designing the new Oklahoma City Federal Building, one of the objectives was to engineer
means to prevent glass shards from flying into the building and to determine how envelope design and
materials can aid in protecting people and property in the vicinity of an explosion [18]. Accordingly, the
glass enveloping the reinforced structure of the new federal building was laminated so that it becomes
blast-resistant, difficult to break into large pieces; and, if it is broken it would not separate from the
holding frame [17-18].
Discussion and Conclusions:
Many injuries occurring in explosions result from window glass failure whether directly or indirectly [19].
Direct glass-related injuries take place when glass shards flying and falling from broken windows cause
abrasions and lacerations [19]. The terrorist attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma, United States, on April 19, 1995, reinforced the need for building security measures that
are passive, permanent, cost-effective, and architecturally uncompromising [20]. Laminated glass has
proven to remain intact, protecting the interior of the building, and becoming part of the defense rather
than part of the attack [20].
The types of injuries and causes of death related to the Beirut’s blast were also mainly caused by glass
shards, flying and falling from building facades and interiors, resulting in severe lacerations and abrasions
as witnessed in the emergency wards of treating hospitals. Over 180 deaths and 6000 injuries resulted
from this explosion and much of these casualties could have been spared should the proper authorities
complied to the new standards issued and employed after the 1995 bombing of Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States.
In this sense, it is hoped that this article conveys a wake-up message to the engineering and security
communities to legislate and enforce new building safety codes and incorporate laminated glass in the
(re)design of old and new buildings, particularly in volatile regions in the world that are prone to internal
or external threats and are the host of a multitude of vulnerabilities.

Z.O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D. Shattered Glass is Allegedly Blamable for Most of the Victims of Beirut’s Blast. LinkedIn Pulse. August 26, 2020.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shattered-glass-allegedly-blamable-most-victims-blast-abu-faraj
About the Author:
Ziad O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D. is a Full-Professor of Biomedical Engineering. He received the B.E. degree in
Electrical Engineering from the American University of Beirut-Lebanon in 1988. Specializing in Organ
Investigation, Biomedical Instrumentation, and Biomechanics/Biomaterials, he obtained the M.S. and
Ph.D. degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Marquette University-USA in 1991 and 1995, respectively.
During 1995-1997, he served a Post-Doctorate Research Fellowship in Pediatric Motion Analysis at
Shriners Hospital for Children-Chicago.
Professor Abu-Faraj is the Editor of a comprehensive two-volume research handbook in
Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering entitled “Handbook of Research on Biomedical Engineering
Education and Advanced Bioengineering Learning: Interdisciplinary Concepts”, published by IGI-Global,
Hershey, PA, USA in 2012 [21]. He is the lead author of a reputable number of research articles in several
areas of Biomedical Engineering. His research interests are in: Humanities and Social Sciences: Sustainable
Development, Science Technology and Innovation, and Fourth Industrial Revolution [22]; Epidemiology:
COVID-19 [23-25]; Biomedical Science and Biomedical Engineering Education [26-34]; Kinesiology and
Orthopaedic Biomechanics: Physical Activity, Exercise Physiology, Human Movement Analysis, Postural
Stability, Measurement of Human Performance, and Plantar Pressure Analysis [35-55]; Rehabilitation
Science and Engineering [56-62]; Neuroscience and Neural Engineering [63-66]; Biomedical
Instrumentation and Control: Portable Microprocessor-Based Data Acquisition Systems, Biosensors, and
Biocontrol Systems [67-80]; Biometrics [81]; Biomedical Informatics and Biomedical Computing: Biosignals
and Systems, Biostatistical Analysis, and Modeling of Physiological Systems [82-84]; and,
Electroencephalography [83-85].
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Z.O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D. Shattered Glass is Allegedly Blamable for Most of the Victims of Beirut’s Blast. LinkedIn Pulse. August 26, 2020.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shattered-glass-allegedly-blamable-most-victims-blast-abu-faraj
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Technologies in Arab Countries. ESCWA Technology Center Report: Regional Forum on “National
Knowledge and Technology Development and Transfer Systems”, 51 pp., November 27-29, 2017,
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Z.O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D. Shattered Glass is Allegedly Blamable for Most of the Victims of Beirut’s Blast. LinkedIn Pulse. August 26, 2020.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shattered-glass-allegedly-blamable-most-victims-blast-abu-faraj
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Z.O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D. Shattered Glass is Allegedly Blamable for Most of the Victims of Beirut’s Blast. LinkedIn Pulse. August 26, 2020.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shattered-glass-allegedly-blamable-most-victims-blast-abu-faraj
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Simulated Environment of an Earthquake Using In-Shoe Plantar Pressure Measurement.
Proceedings of the 31st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and
Biology Society, pp. 5243-5246, September 2-6, 2009, Minneapolis, MN, USA. PMID: 19964865

Z.O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D. Shattered Glass is Allegedly Blamable for Most of the Victims of Beirut’s Blast. LinkedIn Pulse. August 26, 2020.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shattered-glass-allegedly-blamable-most-victims-blast-abu-faraj
[49] Abu-Faraj ZO, Akar HA, Assaf EH, Al-Qadiri MN, Youssef EG. Evaluation of Fall and Fall Recovery in
a Simulated Seismic Environment: A Pilot Study. Proceedings of the 32nd Annual International
Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, pp. 3954-3957, August 31-
September 4, 2010, Buenos Aires, Argentina. DOI: 10.1109/IEMBS.2010.5627696
[50] Abu-Faraj ZO, Faraj YT, Mohtar KH, Rammal MM. Characterization of Plantar Pressures in Visually
Impaired Individuals: A Pilot Study. Proceedings of the 6th International IEEE EMBS Conference on
Neural Engineering, pp. 1549-1553, November 6-8, 2013, San Diego, CA, USA. DOI:
10.1109/NER.2013.6696242
[51] Mattar R, Diab J, Wehbe S, Merhej C, and Abu-Faraj ZO. Normative Plantar Pressure Distribution in
Asymptomatic Adult Subjects: A Pilot Study. Proceedings of the Third International Conference on
Advances in Biomedical Engineering, pp. 230-233, September 16-18, 2015, Hadat-Beirut, Lebanon.
[52] Abu-Faraj ZO, Abdul-Al MM, and Al-Deeb RA. Leg Length Discrepancy: A Study on In-Shoe Plantar
Pressure Distribution. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on BioMedical Engineering
and Informatics (BMEI 2015), pp. 381-385, October 14-16, 2015, Shenyang, China. DOI:
10.1109/BMEI.2015.7401534
[53] Abu-Faraj ZU, Harris GF, Chang AH, Shereff MJ, Nery J. Plantar Pressure Distribution with the Use
of Metatarsal Pads: A Quantitative Study. Gait & Posture, Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 62, March 1994. DOI:
10.1016/0966-6362(94)90078-7
[54] Abu-Faraj ZU, Wertsch JJ, Wervey RA, Abler JH, Harris GF. Plantar Pressure during Stair Climbing
and Descending. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vol. 76, No. 1, p. 1074,
November 1995, Orlando, FL, USA. DOI: 10.1016/S0003-9993(95)81318-7
[55] Sampath G, Abu-Faraj ZO, Smith PA, Harris GF. Preliminary Clinical Application of an Active
Marker Based Pediatric Foot and Ankle Motion Analysis System. Gait & Posture, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp.
176, March 1998. DOI: 10.1016/S0966-6362(98)90263-6
[56] Abu-Faraj ZO, Harris GF, Smith PA. Surgical Rehabilitation of the Planovalgus Foot in Cerebral
Palsy. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 202-
214, 2001. DOI: 10.1109/7333.928580
[57] Abu-Faraj ZO, Harris GF, Chang AH, Shereff MJ. Evaluation of a Rehabilitative Pedorthic: Plantar
Pressure Alterations with Scaphoid Pad Application. IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation
Engineering, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 328-336, 1996. PMID: 8973959
[58] Abu-Faraj ZO, Hassani S, Harris GF. Gait Analysis: A Rehabilitative Interdiscipline. In: Kumar S,
Editor. Perspectives in Rehabilitation Ergonomics, First Edition, Taylor & Francis Ltd. Publishers,
London, UK, Chapter 7, pp. 166-195, 1997. ISBN: 0 7484 0673 5
[59] Abu-Faraj ZO, Bou Sleiman HC, Al Katergi WM, Heneine JLD, Mashaalany MJ. A Rehabilitative Eye-
Tracking Based Brain-Computer Interface for the Completely Locked-In Patient. In:
Wickramasinghe N and Geisler E; Editors. Encyclopedia of Healthcare Information Systems, First
Edition, Hershey, PA, USA: IGI Global, Vol. III, pp. 1153-1160, 2008. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-
889-5.ch144
[60] Abu-Faraj ZO, Mashaalany MJ, Bou Sleiman HC, Heneine JLD, and Al Katergi WM. Design and
Development of a Low-Cost Eye Tracking System for the Rehabilitation of the Completely Locked-
In Patient. Proceedings of the 28th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in
Medicine and Biology Society, pp. 4905-4908, August 30-September 3, 2006, New York City, NY,
USA. DOI: 10.1109/IEMBS.2006.260280
[61] Abu-Faraj ZO, Jabbour E, Ibrahim P, Ghaoui A. Design and Development of a Prototype
Rehabilitative Shoes and Spectacles for the Blind. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference
on BioMedical Engineering and Informatics, pp. 683-687, October 16-18, 2012, Chongqing, People
Republic of China. DOI: 10.1109/BMEI.2012.6513135

Z.O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D. Shattered Glass is Allegedly Blamable for Most of the Victims of Beirut’s Blast. LinkedIn Pulse. August 26, 2020.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shattered-glass-allegedly-blamable-most-victims-blast-abu-faraj
[62] Boustany G, Itani AED, Youssef R, Chami O, and Abu-Faraj ZO. Design and Development of a
Rehabilitative Eye-Tracking Based Home Automation System. Proceedings of the Third Middle East
Conference on Biomedical Engineering (MECBME’16), pp. 30-33, October 6-7, 2016, Beirut,
Lebanon. DOI: 10.1109/MECBME.2016.7745401
[63] Abu-Faraj ZO, Abou Rjeily DM, Bou Nasreddine RW, Andari MA, and Taok HH. A Prototype Retinal
Prosthesis for Visual Stimulation. Proceedings of the 29th Annual International Conference of the
IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, pp. 5774-5777, August 23-26, 2007, Lyon,
France. DOI: 10.1109/IEMBS.2007.4353659
[64] Parks TJ, Wertsch JJ, Abu-Faraj ZU. Repeatability of Transcarpal Median and Ulnar Short Segment
Latencies: Considerations in Delta Determination. Muscle and Nerve, Vol. 17, No. 9, p. 1083,
September 1994. DOI: 10.1002/mus.880170920
[65] Parks TJ, Roberts MM, Abu-Faraj ZU, Wertsch JJ. Premotor Potentials in the Normal Elderly.
Muscle and Nerve, Vol. 17, No. 9, p. 1083, September 1994. DOI: 10.1002/mus.880170920
[66] Ackman JD, Abu-Faraj Z, Chambers C, Phillips B, Davids J, Hood J. Botulinum Toxin Treatment of
Dynamic Deformities in an Ambulatory Spastic Cerebral Palsy Population: A Multi-Center Study.
Gait & Posture, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 167, March 1998. DOI: 10.1016/S0966-6362(98)90245-4
[67] Abu-Faraj ZO. A Holter Type System for Recording Plantar Pressures: Development and Clinical
Applications. Ph.D. Dissertation, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA, 1995, 150 p.,
Publication Number: AAT 9600843.
[68] Harris GF, Abu-Faraj ZU, Wertsch JJ, Abler JH, Vengsarkar AS. A Holter Type System for Study of
Plantar Foot Pressures. Journal of Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 1, pp. 233-239, 1994. Also in
Biomedical Engineering - Applications, Basis & Communications, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 409-415, August
1995.
[69] Abu-Faraj ZO, Harris GF, Abler JH, Smith PA, Wertsch JJ. A Holter-Type Microprocessor-Based
Rehabilitation Instrument for Acquisition and Storage of Plantar Pressure Data in Children with
Cerebral Palsy. IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation Engineering, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 33-38, March
1996. DOI: 10.1109/86.486055
[70] Abu-Faraj ZO, Harris GF, Abler JH, Wertsch JJ. A Holter-Type, Microprocessor-Based,
Rehabilitation Instrument for Acquisition and Storage of Plantar Pressure Data. Journal of
Rehabilitation Research and Development, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 187-194, 1997. PMID: 9108345
[71] Abu-Faraj ZU, De La Fuente EK, Marx K, Montgomery S, Riedel S, Harris G. Assessment of Pull-to-
Stand Joint Reactions in Human Subjects: Design and Instrumentation of an Integrated System.
Proceedings of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 1162-1163,
October 29 - November 1, 1992, Paris, France. DOI: 10.1109/IEMBS.1992.5761972
[72] Sampath G, Abu-Faraj ZO, Smith PA, Harris GF. Design and Development of an Active Marker
Based System for Analysis of 3-D Pediatric Foot and Ankle Motion. Proceedings of the IEEE
Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society, Vol. 20, pp. 2415-2417, October 29-November 1, 1998,
Hong Kong. DOI: 10.1109/IEMBS.1998.744916
[73] Abu-Faraj ZU, Harris GF, Wertsch JJ, Woodbury WM, Vengsarkar AS. A Data-Acquisition System
for Monitoring Skin Surface Temperature during Nerve Conduction Studies. Proceedings of the
IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 1030-1031, October 28-31,
1993, San Diego, CA, USA. DOI: 10.1109/IEMBS.1993.978990
[74] Abu-Faraj ZO, Hamdan TF, Wehbi MR, Khalil GA, and Hamdan HM. Design and Development of an
Earthquake-Simulated Environment for the Study of Postural Stability. Proceedings of the
International Conference on Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Engineering, pp. 188-193, December
11-14, 2006, Republic of Singapore. ID: 9705574

Z.O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D. Shattered Glass is Allegedly Blamable for Most of the Victims of Beirut’s Blast. LinkedIn Pulse. August 26, 2020.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shattered-glass-allegedly-blamable-most-victims-blast-abu-faraj
[75] Abu-Faraj ZU, Harris GF, Wertsch JJ, Abler JH, Vengsarkar AS. Holter System Development for
Recording Plantar Pressures: Design and Instrumentation. Proceedings of the IEEE Engineering in
Medicine & Biology Society, Vol. 16, pp. 934-935, November 3-6, 1994, Baltimore, MD, USA. DOI:
10.1109/IEMBS.1994.415220
[76] Vengsarkar AS, Abler JH, Abu-Faraj ZU, Harris GF, Wertsch JJ. Holter System Development for
Recording Plantar Pressures: Software Development. Proceedings of the IEEE Engineering in
Medicine & Biology Society, Vol. 16, pp. 936-937, November 3-6, 1994, Baltimore, MD, USA. DOI:
10.1109/IEMBS.1994.415221
[77] Wervey RA, Abler JH, Abu-Faraj ZU, Harris GF, Wertsch JJ. Data Preview Software for Interactive
Review of Holter Type Plantar Pressure Data. Proceedings of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine &
Biology Society, Vol. 17, 2 pp., September 20-23, 1995, Montréal, Canada. DOI:
10.1109/IEMBS.1995.579681
[78] Harris GF, Smith PA, Abu-Faraj ZO, Hassani S. Pediatric Gait Analysis: Instrumentation
Requirements and Clinical Data Interpretation. Proceedings of the International Conference on
Biomedical Engineering (BME '96), pp. L9-L11, June 3-5, 1996, Hong Kong.
[79] Abu-Faraj ZO, Al Chamaa W, Al Hadchiti A, Sraj Y, and Tannous J. Design and Development of a
Heart Attack Detection Steering Wheel. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on
BioMedical Engineering and Informatics (BMEI 2018), 6 pp., October 13-15, 2018, Beijing, China.
DOI: 10.1109/CISP-BMEI.2018.8633210
[80] Abu-Faraj ZO, Sampath G, Smith PA, Hassani S, Harris GF. A Clinical System for Analysis of Pediatric
Foot and Ankle Motion. Abstract: Gait & Posture, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 149, April 1997. DOI:
10.1016/S0966-6362(97)83368-1
[81] Abu-Faraj ZO, Atie A, Chebaklo K, Khoukaz E. Fingerprint Identification Software for Forensic
Applications. Proceedings of the 7th IEEE International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and
Systems, 4 pp., December 17-20, 2000, Kaslik, Lebanon. DOI: 10.1109/ICECS.2000.911541
[82] Abu-Faraj ZO, Barakat SS, Chaleby MH, Zaklit JD. A SIM Card-Based Ubiquitous Medical Record
Bracelet/Pendant System: A Pilot Study. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on
BioMedical Engineering and Informatics, pp. 1914-1918, October 15-17, 2011, Shanghai, People
Republic of China. DOI: 10.1109/BMEI.2011.6098724
[83] Abu-Faraj Z. Characterization of the Electroencephalogram as a Chaotic Time Series. Master Thesis
Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA, 1991, 115 pp.
[84] Abu-Faraj Z, Ropella K, Myklebust J, Goldstein M. Characterization of the Electroencephalogram as
a Chaotic Time Series. Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering
in Medicine and Biology Society, Orlando, FL, USA. October 31-Novemer 3, 1991, Vol. 13, No. 5,
pp. 2228-2229. DOI: 10.1109/IEMBS.1991.684975
[85] Abu-Faraj ZO. Is the Term Paradoxical Sleep a Misnomer? LinkedIn Pulse. June 17, 2020. Available
online: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/term-paradoxical-sleep-misnomer-prof-ziad-abu-faraj