A draft of the next edition of the AISC Standard for Certification Programs (AISC 207) is now available for public review and comment.

The next edition of AISC 207 will supersede the 2023 version and is anticipated to be finalized and released later this year.

The updated standard will notably exclude safety program requirements in recognition of the evolution of safety standardization and practices in the industry over the past several decades. The updated standard also harmonizes terminology with the AISC Code of Standard Practice, among other improvements.

What if steel could be preheated to a lower temperature for welding, creating a safer working environment, cutting costs and emissions, and improving efficiency?

The University of California, San Diego’s Machel Morrison, PhD aims to find out--and the American Institute of Steel Construction is helping him do so with a four-year, $300,000 Milek Fellowship.

“This research may lead to lower preheat requirements for some of the most common steel shapes and plate--which would have huge benefits,” said AISC Director of Research Devin Huber, PE, PhD. “This is precisely the kind of forward-thinking research that keeps structural steel at the forefront of efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability.”

Registration is now open for a one-of-a-kind event for any architect who designs in steel--anyone who’s looking for ingenious solutions to tough challenges, need-to-know designs, and the innovations that will define a greener, safer, more beautiful future.

Architecture in Steel, incorporated into NASCC: The Steel Conference, takes place April 2 in Louisville, Ky., and architects can save more than $500 off the regular registration price.

Architecture in Steel combines insightful education sessions--and up to 12 hours of AIA continuing education credit--with networking that’s just not possible anywhere else.

NASCC: The Steel Conference, the must-attend event for anyone involved in the design or construction of steel buildings and bridges, is coming to Louisville, Ky. in April--and registration is now open! 

“NASCC: The Steel Conference is the only place to talk with the professionals who work on a given product, from the design process to steel erection,” said Scott Melnick, senior vice president of the American Institute of Steel Construction and the conference’s main organizer. “Year after year, participants tell us that they made valuable connections they can’t have made anywhere else--and that attending the Steel Conference helped them do their jobs better.

Right now, architecture students across the country are designing projects they want to bring to life in the real world--and a jury of experts will decide which of them will receive a grant to do just that!

The University of Kansas/Studio 804’s Dan Rockhill, California Polytechnic State University’s Dale Cifford, and Hillsdale Fabricators’s Tony Diebold will evaluate proposals from faculty and faculty-sponsored students. The projects in question can range from full-scale inhabitable builds to prototypes to furniture. Entries for 2025 grants are due January 13, 2025.

Designers looking for a one-stop shop for sustainable design will soon have a fantastic resource--written by true experts.

The American Institute of Steel Construction has selected a team led by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to draft its newest design guide. Experts from Skanska USA Buildings, Inc. and Nucor Steel Corporation as well as Northeastern University's Jerome F. Hajjar, PE, PhD, round out the list of authors.

Barry Barger, an AISC Special Achievement Award winner and five-decade fabrication industry veteran, died November 21 at age 79.

Barger spent 40 years at Southern Iron Works, Inc. in Springfield, Va., and retired as the company’s senior vice president of operations. He began his career at Fred S. Gichner Iron Works and moved to Jarvis Steel Company before taking a job at Southern Iron Works. He was a prominent figure in the steel industry and sat on several AISC committees, including stints as vice chair of the Committee on Manuals and Textbooks and the Committee on the Code of Standard Practice. He earned his AISC Special Achievement award in 2002 for his role in developing the 2000 AISC Code of Standard Practice for Steel Buildings and Bridges.

What drives innovation in today's structural steel industry? The people who dedicate their time to making a difference.

The American Institute of Steel Construction will recognize 12 of them for their extraordinary contributions at NASCC: The Steel Conference next year.

"Designing, fabricating, and building with structural steel are team sports--and they work best in tandem," said AISC President Charles J. Carter, SE, PE, PhD. "Our industry remains innovative thanks to MVPs from classrooms to executive boardrooms. It is an honor to recognize some of the people who shape our industry."

Professor Emeritus Karl H. Frank, PE, PhD, became a legend during his 36 years at the University of Texas at Austin--and his impact continues today.

That’s just one reason the American Institute of Steel Construction is proud to present him its most prestigious honor for educators: the 2025 Geerhard Haaijer Award for Excellence in Education – an award only presented nine times previously since 1999.

Over the course of his career, Frank has made enormous contributions to structural stability, durability of steel structures, connections, fabrication, added stay cables, and inspection.

The American Institute of Steel Construction has updated the industry’s go-to reference for all things seismic design.

The fourth edition AISC Seismic Design Manual expands upon the guidance in the third edition and incorporates the 2022 AISC Seismic Provisions for Structural Steel Buildings, the 2022 AISC Specification for Structural Buildings, and recent design guides.

It’s now available in both digital and print formats.

Parke MacDowell, AIA, sits at the intersection of architectural practice and fabrication--right where people who design innovative structures meet the people who know how to put them together in the real world.

Also at that intersection? The American Institute of Steel Construction’s Forge Prize, which challenges emerging architects, educators, and graduate students to dream big and envision how structural steel will help people live, play, and work in the future.

In the second phase of the competition, three finalists will work hand-in-hand with a steel fabricator to refine their concepts. The winning design will take home a $15,000 cash prize and bask in an industry spotlight.

A steel bridge originally intended only for research in a lab remained strong enough through testing to become a viable real-world structure. In late October, it was officially set in place for an unforeseen second life.

The town of Kent, N.Y., set a 40-ft-long steel bridge as a pedestrian crossing over a small section of Lake Carmel on October 31, solidifying its reuse after serving its purpose as a custom-built research test structure at the University at Buffalo. The bridge has 6-ft girder spacing, is supported by W27x84 sections, and is outfitted with buckling-restrained braces (BRBs)--all as part of a project to test the seismic resilience BRBs could provide in a bridge.

This October, SteelDays drew fabricators, students, and steel enthusiasts nationwide to experience careers in fabrication, compete for welding scholarships, and immerse themselves in the energy of the American structural steel industry. Were you among them?

In case you missed out on something cool, check out the highlights--and watch out for similar events in your area next year!

Journalists have a keen eye for innovation--and Architectural Record Special Sections Editor Matthew Marani has a bird’s-eye perspective of architecture trends.

Those insights will prove invaluable when he serves as one of three jurors who will decide which Forge Prize design concept wins $15,000!

“Matthew Marani has spent years examining the cutting edge of architecture,” said AISC Director of Architecture Nima Balasubramanian, AIA, NOMA. “We are all looking forward to his expert perspective on the visionary concepts that the Forge Prize jury will consider!”

The American Institute of Steel Construction’s Forge Prize is looking for groundbreaking ideas--and Emily Baker is particularly well qualified to help find them.

Baker is an inventor, fabricator, architect, and associate professor of architecture at the University of Arkansas, and now, she’ll be one of three jurors for the 2025 Forge Prize.

She also won the 2024 Forge Prize with a landmark trail head that showcases her Spin-Valence system, a revolutionary steel space frame that is both beautiful and functional. Spin-Valence allows a single sheet thickness of steel material to vastly increase its depth producing a structural space frame through the use of a kirigami strategy of cutting and folding.

Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) are urging the Biden administration to close loopholes in the Section 232 steel tariff program that is designed to ensure a level playing field for America’s structural steel production and fabrication industries.

The American Institute of Steel Construction stands with their call to expand the scope of the Section 232 steel tariff program. Ensuring a fair and competitive market for U.S. steel translates to increased production capacity--and it protects American jobs and the families and communities that rely on them.

Ronnie Medlock, PE, of High Steel Structures, LLC, has been selected to receive the American Institute of Steel Construction's 2025 T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award for his contributions to the Federal Highway Administration’s Bridge Welding Reference Manual.

“Simply put, Ronnie Medlock is an icon within the bridge fabrication and construction world, and the impact of his contributions to the standards that guide the industry cannot be overstated. Ronnie Medlock has changed the way bridges are fabricated and constructed in the U.S.,” said AISC Vice President of Engineering and Research Christopher H. Raebel, SE, PE, PhD.

Nucor Corporation Vice President and General Manager Zach Moon has been elected to the American Institute of Steel Construction’s Board of Directors.

“We're pleased to have Zach as the newest member of our Board of Directors,” said AISC President Charles J. Carter, SE, PE, PhD. “His background and experience make him a great fit, and he'll enhance the breadth and depth of the group.”

The average New York Times reader might have found the September 4th article “Climate change can cause bridges to ‘fall apart like tinkertoys’, experts say” deeply disturbing--after all, the assertions within it are genuinely alarming.

The good news for readers and the traveling public is that that article is largely inaccurate and grossly oversimplifies and overstates the impact that climate can have on steel bridges.

A draft of the next edition of the AISC Prequalified Connections for Special and Intermediate Steel Moment Frames for Seismic Applications (AISC 358) is now available for public review and comment.

The next edition of AISC 358, currently slated for a 2027 release, will supersede ANSI/AISC 358-22.

Officials want to add a bridge over the Skunk River Water Trail to better connect the park’s walking trails without disturbing a mid-river haven for wildlife, and they’ve turned to students at colleges and universities to make it happen!

The situation is hypothetical, but the ingenuity and skill are real. The American Institute of Steel Construction and the American Society of Civil Engineers have released the rules for this year’s Student Steel Bridge Competition, which gives the next generation of structural and civil engineers a challenge like this one every year.

To solve it, they must design a bridge, analyze and optimize their design, then fabricate it in steel so it can be constructed and tested in real life. They’ll go head-to-head with other teams at 20 regional competitions in spring 2025; the top contenders will meet at Iowa State University for the national finals May 30-31, 2025.

There’s a vital new resource available for anyone who designs steel railroad bridges, thanks to a collaboration between the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association and the National Steel Bridge Alliance.

The document, “Guidelines for the Design of Steel Railroad Bridges for Constructability and Fabrication,” describes special considerations for railroad bridges in the areas of design, girders, boxes, trusses, floor systems, decks and walkways, bolting, corrosion protection systems, and construction.

It complements the recommendations given in AREMA Manual for Railway Engineering, Chapter 15--Steel Structures, providing guidance and best practices that can lead to rail bridges that are more economical to fabricate, construct, and maintain.

The nation’s leading expert on the vibration design of buildings, Thomas M. Murray, PhD, died August 29 at the age of 84.

Murray, an emeritus professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va., was well known for his expertise on steel connections, floor system serviceability, pre-engineered building design, and light-gauge design, but his place among the highest pantheon of steel researchers was secured by his foundational work on vibration design, including his plainly titled paper “Building Floor Vibrations,” for which he won the American Institute of Steel Construction’s 1991 T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award.

Murray was also one of the authors of AISC Design Guide 11: Vibrations of Steel-Framed Structural Systems Due to Human Activity, which is one of AISC’s most widely accessed technical resources, and a perennially popular lecturer on the subject.

The AISC Education Foundation is helping 55 students across the U.S. make their higher education dreams a reality, awarding more than $200,000 in scholarships for the 2024-2025 academic year.

These scholarships support juniors, seniors, and master’s-level students in civil engineering, architectural engineering, construction engineering, materials/metallurgical engineering, construction management, and architecture programs in the U.S.

“Our scholarships are the AISC Education Foundation's biggest investment in the next generation of our industry,” said AISC Director of Foundation Programs Maria Mnookin. “It's easy to be excited about that investment when we see these students' high academic caliber coupled with their passion for structural steel. Our collective future looks very bright, and we are thrilled to recognize these very deserving recipients.”

Almost a quarter of a billion people around the world can't safely access critical resources like healthcare, education, or employment due to an impassable river. For thousands of them living in rural southern Rwanda, a brand-new steel footbridge is already changing lives and creating opportunities.

In May, 11 industry volunteers led by the National Steel Bridge Alliance (NSBA) partnered with local crews to construct an 85-meter footbridge near Muhanga, Rwanda. This effort is in partnership with Bridges to Prosperity (B2P), an initiative to build footbridges that help rural communities overcome isolation and, in turn, poverty.

Do you have a visionary idea that pushes the boundary of what's possible? The Forge Prize from the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), challenges architects, educators, and students to create design concepts that embrace innovations in steel as the primary structural material--and $25,000 in prizes.

The Forge Prize, co-administered by AISC’s brand-new Architecture Center and AISC University Relations, challenges emerging architects, architecture educators, and architecture students to create design concepts that embrace innovations in steel as a primary structural material--with up to $15,000 on the line.

A draft of the next edition of the AISC Specification for Structural Stainless Steel Buildings (AISC 370) is now available for public review and comment.

The next edition of AISC 370 will supersede the 2021 version and is anticipated to be finalized in 2025.

The Steel Design Student Competition--with $20,000 in cash prizes and a spotlight on student work--is back for the 25th time!

Administered by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), the program is intended to challenge undergraduate and graduate students, working individually or in teams, to explore a variety of design issues related to the use of steel in design and construction. Winning designs are featured on both ACSA and AISC’s websites as well as displayed to 6,000+ architects, engineers, steel fabricators, and the rest of the AEC industry at NASCC: The Steel Conference (April 2 to 4, 2025, in Louisville, Ky.).

Right now, up-and-coming researchers across the country are discovering tomorrow’s innovations.

They keep steel on the cutting edge, and AISC wants to make a remarkable researcher the 2025 Milek Fellow.

Since 2004, AISC has given a promising non-tenured university faculty member the AISC Milek Fellowship (formerly the AISC Faculty Fellowship), a four-year award where the per-year funding level has grown from $30,000 when the program started some 20 years ago to $75,000 starting with the 2024 award.

Nabih Youssef, SE, PE, one of the country’s leading experts on seismic design and founder of the eponymous firm Nabih Youssef Associates, died on July 12 at the age of 80.

Youssef was well known for his groundbreaking work on performance-based design, base isolation, and the use of steel plate shear walls in areas of high seismic risk. In 2010, he earned an AISC Special Achievement Award for his work on the LA Live Project, a 52-story structure that used an elegant steel shear wall system rather than bulky concrete shear walls to provide lateral strength. Youssef was a prolific designer and speaker and also earned the 2011 SEAoSC Barnes Award and the 2008 AIA (Los Angeles) Presidential Award for Professional Achievement.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat honored two prominent structural steel designers with one of its annual awards.

Santiago Calatrava, a renowned architect, structural engineer, sculptor, and painter, earned the 2024 Lynn S. Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award. John Zils, a retired engineer who spent more than 40 years at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), earned the 2024 Fazlur R. Khan Lifetime Achievement Award.

American Institute of Steel Construction Director of Workforce Development Jennifer Traut-Todaro, SE, LEED AP, is now also serving as the president of the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois (SEAOI).

“I'm very excited for this year as we bring together members, new and old, to invigorate the Illinois structural engineering community,” Traut-Todaro said. “2024 poses some unique challenges. Remote or hybrid work models mean that fewer engineers are in the city on any given day, which makes it more difficult to gather in person--but at the same time, virtual collaborations open the door to engineers throughout all of Illinois, without focusing on Chicago.

We are encouraging members across the state to be intentional with their time and get involved in the community with a series of engagement challenges throughout the year. July’s challenge encourages engineers to join a committee. It’s a great first step to getting involved and making valuable professional connections.”

Three AISC member erectors earned 2024 Steel Erectors Association of America (SEAA) Project of the Year awards, two in the miscellaneous metals class and one in the structural class.

The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), in partnership with the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), has been selected to receive a $6.4 million grant to help automate the development of steel product environmental product declarations (EPDs). The grant is part of a nearly $160 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program to reduce climate pollution from the manufacturing of construction materials and products.

“These historic investments will expand market access for a new generation of more climate-friendly construction materials, and further grow American jobs that are paving the way to the clean energy economy,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe.

“What can we do in these five years of EPA funding to propel us 50 years in the future? We are trying to transform an industry, not make temporary or incremental change,” said Kara Peterman, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at UMass Amherst and lead researcher on the project.

A draft of the next edition of the AISC Code of Standard Practice for Structural Stainless Steel Buildings (AISC 313) is now available for public review and comment. The next edition of AISC 313 will supersede the 2021 version and is anticipated to be finalized in 2025.

The American Institute of Steel Construction has just released the online replacement for its popular ASTM standards collection, Selected ASTM Standards for Structural Steel Fabrication, including Structural Stainless Steel.

AISC partnered with ASTM International to create an online subscription that will ensure that users always have the latest standards (including downloadable PDFs) at their fingertips.

The American Institute of Steel Construction and the National Steel Bridge Alliance are thrilled to welcome back a familiar face: Brandon Chavel, PE, PhD. “The steel bridge industry is continuously innovating, with many exciting projects on the horizon," he said. “Our team is excited to continue to collaborate with bridge owners, designers, consultants, contractors, researchers, and steel bridge fabricators to address our nation’s current infrastructure challenges and develop the next generation of industry leaders.”

“Brandon’s years of experience and leadership in the bridge design community make him the perfect person to serve as the voice of America’s steel bridge industry,” said AISC Senior Vice President Scott Melnick. “His expertise will help our Bridge Initiatives department make a difference for our country--and everyone who relies on anything transported by vehicle or rail.”

Student engineers from the University of Florida secured their fourth straight first-place overall win in the 2024 Student Steel Bridge Competition (SSBC) National Finals on June 1, breaking the consecutive titles record they set themselves in 2023.

Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, La. served as the host school for the 2024 competition.

This year’s SSBC participants were challenged to design, fabricate, and quickly construct a scale-model steel bridge that would span a man-made river in a large disc golf course. Competitors had to find innovative ways to navigate new rules and challenging assembly constraints, including one of the widest conceptual rivers in the competition’s history.

A draft update to the standard Certification Standard for Shop Application of Complex Protective Coating Systems, a joint standard developed by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) and the Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP), is now available for public review and comment.

The next edition of this standard will supersede the version published in 2010 under the designation AISC 420-10/SSPC-QP 3. This update intends to bring the standard in line with current companion reference standards.

Any discussion of the construction of the Buffalo Bills’ New Highmark Stadium, one of western New York’s biggest projects in history, is incomplete without discussing the many fabricators involved.

In a May 28 Buffalo News article, reporter Michael Petro explains the role of steel fabricators in bringing the $1.7 billion stadium to life--and, in turn, their role in bolstering the local economy.

According to the article, of the 25,000 tons of structural steel being used to build the stadium, 60% is from in-state fabricators. The prime contractor, Cives Steel in St. Lawrence, N.Y., is responsible for about half of the steel for the stadium, and a dozen other fabricators, including JPW Structural Contracting in Syracuse and A&T Ironworks in New Rochelle, are also contributing to the project.

Nearing the end of a successful competition season, qualifying student teams from 49 U.S. colleges and universities will go head-to-head at the 2024 Student Steel Bridge Competition National Finals on May 31 and June 1 at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, La.

This year’s participants, who advanced from 20 regional competitions earlier this spring, were challenged to design and fabricate a functional, aesthetically pleasing bridge to cross over a man-made river in a disc golf course--without using piers. They must then assemble their bridges in a timed setting. This year, the competition rules allow for up to two builders to act as barges within the river if they choose, but at an additional cost.

AISC’s new Sustainability Partner Program is a win for specifiers, fabricators, and--of course!--the environment.

"Few people recognize that structural steel fabricators are the key player for a project's sustainability," said AISC Director of Sustainability and Government Relations Max Puchtel. "Fabrication itself accounts for less than 8% of structural steel's cradle-to-gate carbon footprint, but a fabricator's procurement responsibility means that their upstream influence is far greater."

Just a handful of projects in the country will receive the structural steel industry’s top design honor next year. Will yours be one of them?

The American Institute of Steel Construction’s flagship competition for buildings, the IDEAS² Awards, is now accepting entries!

AISC’s Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel (IDEAS²) Awards recognize outstanding projects that illustrate the exciting possibilities of structural steel. They are the industry’s most prestigious design honor for building structures.

In a joint letter to Congress, the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), and Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) outline their firm opposition to the proposed Mass Timber Federal Buildings Act (S4149)--and urge members of Congress to reject the anti-competitive bill.

The bill, which was introduced by U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and James Risch (R-Idaho) on April 17, would give favorable treatment to the mass timber industry in the awarding of federal and military construction projects – at the expense of other building material competitors, including steel. The letter from steel industry leaders raised substantive concerns about the potential ramifications of this legislation on fair competition, taxpayer value, and sustainability practices within the construction sector.

A draft of the next edition of the AISC Specification for Safety-Related Steel Structures for Nuclear Facilities (AISC N690) is now available for limited public review and comment.

This edition of N690 will supersede the 2018 version, and it is anticipated to be finalized this year.

The scope of this public review includes revisions to some requirements for steel-plate composite structural elements as well as an updated provision for quality assurance documentation.

When the design community has a question about steel, they naturally turn to the American Institute of Steel Construction. After all, AISC literally writes the specification for the design of steel buildings. In recognition of the growing importance of sustainability in design decisions, AISC has announced a major expansion of its sustainability efforts--including creating a team of three sustainability experts and working to update steel industry EPDs. 

"Surprisingly few people know that wide flange steel sections, straight from the mill, consist of an average of 93% recycled steel scrap (from things like cars, refrigerators, and decommissioned bridges), and all structural steel is 100% recyclable without loss of properties. It's a truly circular supply chain, which is unique among American structural materials," said newly appointed Vice President of Sustainability and Government Relations Brian Raff. "My team will also work to ensure that all of the sustainable benefits that structural steel offers remain a viable option for designers and builders across the country."

Ken Shipman was the unexpected answer to a problem JGM had encountered since its founding: staying organized. As the company's very first material handling specialist, Shipman, 37, takes inventory of all stock deliveries and makes labels for each steel beam before assigning it a spot in the yard.

His job is a small detail that makes a big difference.

"My goal is to alleviate stress from other people, so if I can help make the crew's job easier, that's a good day," Shipman says.

Dave Ruby, one of the world’s leading experts on constructability and the founder of Ruby+Associates, a Degenkolb Company, has officially retired from the firm, ending a structural engineering career that spanned more than 60 years.

Ruby is the company’s former chair and a founding principal. He started his namesake company in 1984 to fill a gap and provide structural engineering services to the construction industry. He became an internationally known expert in steel construction and constructability in his decades leading Ruby+Associates, receiving numerous awards from industry groups. He earned the J. Lloyd Kimbrough Award in 2022, AISC’s highest honor for designers. He became just the 12th person since 1941 to receive it. He also received an AISC Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.

The American Institute of Steel Construction and the Steel Joist Institute have teamed up to create a comprehensive reference volume for rain loads and ponding design.

Design Guide 40, Rain Loads and Ponding provides guidance for the design of roof systems to avoid or resist water accumulation and any resulting instability. It includes an in-depth review of rain loads and ponding effects to help design professionals properly and efficiently design for ponding on roofs constructed with structural steel, open web steel joists, and joist girders.

Courtney Lilly learned to trust her intuition and maximize her resources from a young age. And at the Southern New Jersey Steel fabrication shop, where Lilly, 28, heads the quality assurance and quality control division, it pays to be intuitive--and knowing your stuff doesn’t hurt either.

Although she spends most days ensuring layouts and fit-ups are up to standard and making sure no beam goes unfabricated, Lilly, a certified welder, always keeps a face shield and gloves at the ready.

“I’ll jump in and help the guys weld if we’re tight on a deadline,” Lilly says.