April 9, 2019

(Chicago, IL) - Brandon Chavel, one of the nation's leading bridge designers, has joined the National Steel Bridge Alliance (NSBA), a division of the American Institute of Steel Construction, as its new Director of Market Development.

Chavel will spearhead the expansion of AISC's Steel Solutions Center to provide technical assistance, innovative solutions, and tools to make structural steel bridge design even easier. Chavel will manage a team that will develop conceptual solutions for bridges across the country, and will also direct an initiative to foster public-private partnership work with general contractors.

"As one of the nation's leaders in bridge design for nearly 20 years, Brandon brings the technical know-how and industry expertise to truly make an impact in increasing the market share of structural steel in bridges," said Tabitha S. Stine, SE, PE, LEED AP, vice president of AISC. "Brandon is a thought leader and a driven expert who will take on the challenge to grow the market share for structural steel."

Chavel is active in the AASHTO/NSBA Steel Bridge Collaboration, where he is currently vice chair of the Collaboration and chair of the Design Task Group.

Chavel has spent the last 17 years with HDR, Inc., serving as senior bridge engineer and bridge section manager in Cleveland. His extensive steel bridge design experience includes finite element analysis, skewed and curved bridge analysis and design, erection and construction engineering, rehabilitation and repair design, and load rating. He has been involved in several state-of-the-art projects related to the analysis and construction of horizontally curved steel girder bridges as a researcher.

Chavel, a licensed professional engineer, has led updates to and co-authored portions of the Federal Highway Administration Steel Bridge Design Handbook. In addition, he has co-authored several articles, papers, and presentations related to steel bridge design and construction. Chavel earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. He is based in Cleveland.