Steve’s passion for the industry began early, working summers in his father’s general contracting firm in Lawton, Oklahoma. A physics teacher in high school helped introduce Steve to the science behind his interests.

As undergraduates, Ford and Bob Zahl were hired by the consulting office of Oklahoma State University professor Louis Bass, an expert in long span structures, where projects included roofs for the original Texas Cowboys stadium, Louisiana Superdome and the Buffalo Bills. After OSU, Ford attended The University of Texas at Austin where he was a structural engineering research assistant and a teaching assistant. He then joined the Department of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science at the University of Oklahoma as a professor and researcher. 

In 1980, Dr. Ford and Bob Zahl reunited and co-founded Zahl-Ford Structural Consultants, now known as ZFI Engineering Co, which has provided the structural design for many significant buildings in the Oklahoma City area, including the Bricktown Ballpark, Civic Center Renovation, Oklahoma Museum of Art, OU Children’s Ambulatory Care Facility, Dean McGee Eye Institute expansion and a joint venture on Leadership Square.

A self-described researcher and problem-solver, Dr. Ford was involved in research at graduate school that resulted in changes to the American Concrete Institute Building Code. Although he has been involved in high profile projects nationally, Dr. Ford considers his greatest professional accomplishment to be developing “a firm that has provided less experienced individuals a place to grow technically, professionally, and ethically, and to provide for their families. The real indication of that achievement is the ongoing success of the firm which is guided by the next generation of homegrown leaders.”