As a consultant, he has tackled problems with several nuclear containment structures, large sports arenas, the Montreal Olympic Stadium, the Miami rapid transit system and the relocation of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse.

Dr. Zia is a Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Concrete Institute and a recipient of the Holladay Medal from NC State, as well as the ASEE Centennial medallion and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Florida. He served as head of the Department of Civil Engineering at NC State University for from 1979 to 1988.

The Constructed Facilities Laboratory in the Department of Civil Engineering at North Carolina State University recently established the Paul Zia Distinguished Lecture Series at NC State University. The new series has been established to honor the contributions of Paul Zia to the civil engineering profession, particularly in the concrete and structural engineering fields. The inaugural lecture of the series was presented in November 2002. Ben C. Gerwick, professor emeritus of civil engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, presented the lecture, “Some Major Bridges: Recent, Current, and Future.”