Steel industry peers and professionals enjoyed more than 12 hours of education and networking opportunities on the first day of NASCC: The Steel Conference in Louisville, Ky.! With all of the festivities of the kickoff day, here are just a few of the moments that stood out to us the most. AISC President Charlie Carter, SE, PE, PhD (left) and Board of Directors Chair Hugh McCaffrey (right) presented the 2025 Geerhard Haaijer Award for Excellence in Education to Professor Emeritus Karl H. Frank, PE, PhD of the University of Texas at Austin. William Arruda shared his three-step personal branding process--know, show, grow--in the opening keynote focused on maintaining an authentic presence in an increasingly virtual world. Participants in search of the latest innovations flooded the Exhibit Hall when the doors opened at noon. Besides game-changing products and services, conference attendees also found opportunities to shoot hoops, win prizes, and sit down for caricatures in the Exhibit Hall. See our rundown of 10 cool things to do when you're there! We might be biased, but we think you absolutely need to check out AISC's booth (#189) to walk across a 3D-printed steel bridge . Bridge owners, designers, mills, fabricators, contractors, and erectors gathered to discuss crucial topics and resources at the Steel Bridge Industry Roundtable. Among many popular sessions on Wednesday was "Words of Wisdom from the Steel Industry." Dennis McCartney (right) generously donated $20,000 to the AISC Education Foundation! This gift expanded the total fund of the AISC Ernest J. McCartney/B&B Welding Company, Inc. Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program to $400,000. Pictured left to right are 2024 Fellowship recipient Paul Quinn, AISC Director of Foundation Programs Maria Mnookin, McCartney's niece Amanda, and McCartney. Participants closed out an exciting first day of the Steel Conference with dancing, drinks, and desserts at Elevate .

SAN ANTONIO - The Structural Stability Research Council (SSRC) Tuesday presented awards to five researchers driving today’s innovation. The presentation took place at the 2024 Annual Stability Conference, which is incorporated into NASCC: The Steel Conference, in San Antonio. The meeting also represented a turning point. After three years as Chair, Dan Linzell passed the gavel over to Craig Quadrato, PE, of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. Lynn S. Beedle Award: Jerome F. Hajjar, PE, PhD, Northeastern University The Beedle is SSRC’s premier award, recognizing those who have carried out world-class structural stability research and made outstanding and decisive contributions to establish SSRC as a world-leading structural stability organization. Jerome F. Hajjar is the CDM Smith Professor and Department Chair in the department of civil and environmental engineering at Northeastern University. He has served as chair of the Structures Faculty and deputy director of the Mid-America Earthquake Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; was a faculty member at the University of Minnesota; and was a structural engineer and associate at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. His research and teaching interests include analysis, experimental testing, and design of steel and composite steel/concrete building and bridge structures; regional modeling and assessment of infrastructure systems; and earthquake engineering. He has published over 300 papers and edited five books on these topics. Hajjar serves on the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Committee on Specifications and several of its task committees, including chairing Task Committee 5 on Composite Design and the AISC Sustainability Committee. He is the president of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) and has served on the SEI Board of Governors and several other ASCE and SEI committees. Hajjar was elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2022 and has received numerous awards for his research and teaching, including the 2021 AISC Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2016 ASCE Moisseiff Award, the 2010 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award, the 2009 ASCE Shortridge Hardesty Award, the 2005 AISC T. R. Higgins Lectureship Award, and the 2000 ASCE Norman Medal for his research on steel structures, composite construction, structural stability, and earthquake engineering. Hajjar will deliver a keynote titled “The Stability of Resilient and Sustainable Structures” Thursday at 8:00 a.m. in the Stars at Night Ballroom. SSRC Distinguished Member Award: Roberto T. Leon, PE, PhD, Virginia Tech The Distinguished Member Award is an annual honor bestowed upon an SSRC member who has made outstanding contributions to the work and mission of the SSRC through years of service. Roberto Leon is the Charles E. Via Jr. Professor in Virginia Tech’s department of civil and environmental engineering--and one of the leading researchers in both steel-concrete composite structures and the seismic design and performance of new and existing steel and composite structures. He has published more that 170 peer-reviewed papers, books, and books chapters, and his work has been cited by other researchers more than 7,000 times. A member of the Virginia Tech faculty since 2011, his previous honors include AISC’s Geerhard Haaijer Award for Excellence in Education and an AISC Lifetime Achievement Award. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a master’s degree from Stanford University, and a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. He was elected to the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2015 and serves on the AISC Committee on Specifications, TC 5 (Composite Design), and TC 7 (Evaluation and Repair). This year, SSRC also celebrated the achievements of Perry Green and Sam Easterling, who received awards virtually during the pandemic. The McGuire Award for Junior Researchers (MAJR) Medal: Ali Imanpour, PEng, PhD, University of Alberta The MAJR Medal’s namesake, the late William “Bill” McGuire, was a longtime member of SSRC who always emphasized the crucial need for state-of-the-art research is instrumental to improve the quality of stability design. This year’s jury, which included Larry Fahnestock, Craig Quadrato, and SSRC Chair Daniel Linzell (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), selected Imanpour for his high-quality research focused on structural stability, his strong record of professional engagement seeking to translate research into practice, and his investment in the structural engineering profession through service to SSRC. Ali Imanpour is an associate professor of structural engineering at the department of civil and environmental engineering of the University of Alberta. He was a postdoctoral fellow at McGill University before joining the University of Alberta. Imanpour received his PhD in structural engineering from Polytechnique Montreal in 2015. Before undertaking his doctoral studies, he worked as a structural design engineer for four years and was involved in design and retrofit projects. His research strives to blend analytical and experimental investigations and artificial intelligence techniques in order to develop understanding and tools to design steel structures under gravity and natural hazards, with a focus on seismic stability of steel structures, stability of beams, innovative structural systems, and the application of artificial intelligence in seismic engineering and construction of structural steel. Sarada M. and Raju A. Vinnakota Award: Bashar Hariri, PhD candidate at Polytechnique Montreal (now postdoctoral scholar at the University of Toronto) The Vinnakota Award recognizes the most promising students performing research in structural stability today. SSRC presented this year’s Vinnakota Award to Bashar Hariri for "Design Guidelines for Mitigating P-Delta Effects on the Seismic Response of Multi-Storey Steel Building Structures in Moderate and High Seismic Regions." SSRC also presented a certificate to Hariri’s advising professor, Robert Tremblay, PhD, also of Polytechnique Montreal. There were two honorable mentions for the Vinnakota Award this year. The first went to Divyansh Kapoor, a PhD candidate at University of Massachusetts at Amherst, for "Influence of End Connectivity on the Out-of-Plane Buckling Capacity of Light-gage Steel Corrugated Panels." The second went to Arka Maity, a graduate research assistant at University of California, Davis, for "A Novel Fiber Element to Simulate Interactive Local and Lateral Torsional Buckling in Steel Moment Frames." Yoon Duk Kim Young Researcher Award: Hyeyoung Koh, PhD, postdoctoral associate of civil and environmental engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison The Yoon Duk Kim Award is named in memory of a vibrant young researcher who was known for her cheerful smile and contagious energy. This award recognizes students or early career professionals who have already made a noteworthy contribution to the advancement of structural stability. This year’s recipient, Hyeyoung Koh, is a postdoctoral associate in structural engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she earned her doctoral degree. She received her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in architectural engineering from Hanyang University in Seoul. Koh’s research focuses on structural design and analysis as well as structural stability of steel and steel-concrete composite structures by taking various methodological approaches including physical experiments, computational modeling, and data analytics.

This year, the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI), part of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), held its annual conference for structural engineers, students, and academics right at NASCC: The Steel Conference. Following David Odeh’s SEIcon24 keynote on future-ready structures, ASCE and SEI recognized several remarkable structural engineers for their leadership and contributions. Andrew S. Whittaker, SE, PE, PhD, F.SEI, F.ASCE, received the 2023 Nathan M. Newmark Medal, named for a University of Illinois professor who made outstanding contributions to structural engineering and mechanics. ASCE and SEI presented this award to Whittaker for his fundamental contributions to earthquake, blast, impact, and performance-based engineering for buildings and mission-critical infrastructure, including advanced nuclear reactors. The recipient of the Alfredo Ang Award on Risk Analysis and Management of Civil Infrastructure is Kok-Kwang Phoon, PE, PhD, F. ASCE. Named after the developer of practical and effective methods of risk and reliability approaches to engineering safety-and-design structural criteria formulation, the award recognizes Phoon for his technical contributions to geotechnical risk and reliability. ASCE and SEI named Aditya Jhunjhunwala, S.M.ASCE, and Amit Kanvinde, PhD, M.ASCE, the recipients of the Raymond C. Reese Research Prize in recognition of their paper, “Fracture Mechanics-Based Fragility Assessment of Pre-Northridge Welded Column Splices.” Gregory J. Hancock, PE, PhD, D.Eng., M.SSRC, received the Shortridge Hardesty Award, presented to an individual who has substantially contributed to applying fundamental results of research to solving practical engineering problems in the field of structural stability. The committee recognized Hancock specifically for his work advancing codes and standards of structural steel and cold-formed steel. The recipients of the T.Y. Lin Award, which recognizes significant papers in the field of prestressed concrete, are Taye Ojo, SE, PE, PhD, M.ASCE, and Carin Roberts-Wollmann, PhD. They co-authored “Comparison of Post-Tensioned Slabs with Banded-Uniform and Banded-Banded Tendon Arrangements.” ASCE and SEI presented the Dennis L. Tewksbury Award to Donald R. Scott, SE, PE, F.SEI, F.ASCE, citing his leadership in reorganizing SEI, capitalizing on the Institute’s strengths while forming a more strategic and nimble organization that will put it on a path toward leadership in the profession for the next generation. This award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and service to SEI and the structural engineering profession. The Gene Wilhoite Innovations in Transmission Line Engineering Award recognizes individuals who make significant contributions to transmission line engineering, and this year’s recipient is J. Kelly Bledsoe, PE, M.ASCE. With this honor, ASCE and SEI recognized Bledsoe’s 30+ years of service and leadership in the development, innovation, design, and construction of electric transmission lines that have dramatically impacted the electrical transmission industry and advancement of transmission line engineering. In particular, Bledsoe helped develop ASCE 48 – Design of Steel Transmission Pole Structures and the ASCE Manual of Practice 74 – Guidelines for Electrical Transmission Line Structural Loading. Andrea Reynolds, SE, PE, M.ASCE, received the W. Gene Corley Award, which recognizes efforts that support advancing and distinguishing structural engineering as a profession. Reynolds is being honored for her leadership advancing and promoting structural licensure nationally and internationally, along with her efforts to mentor and build diverse teams. The recipient of this year’s Walter P. Moore, Jr. Award, which recognizes a structural engineer who has demonstrated technical expertise in and dedication to the development of structural codes and standards, is Robert Connor, M.ASCE. ASCE and SEI are honoring Connor for his leadership in the advancement of steel bridge design codes and standards, in particular the AASHTO Bridge Design Standard, and for his more than three decades of service as a designer, researcher, and faculty member that have dramatically impacted the structural steel bridge industry. Finally, in honor of his exemplary contributions to the success of the Institute, SEI President Jerome F. Hajjar, PE, PhD, M.NAE, F.ASCE, F.SEI, honored Michael Gryniuk, PE, M.ASCE with the SEI President’s Award. Gryniuk, a founding leader of SE2050, is advancing the structural engineering profession through his role as an advocate for sustainability and net-zero embodied carbon construction to meet premier design objectives. “I am honored to receive this award,” Gryniuk said. “We are actively shaping a more sustainable future for structural engineering and amplifying the discussion on embodied carbon within our profession. We hold a unique opportunity to lead, and I am fully committed to continuing this vital work.” In addition to recognizing individuals, ASCE and SEI also honored two student groups for their exemplary efforts to engage members and advance the structural engineering profession. They presented the SEI Chapter of the Year Award to the SEI Maryland Chapter, citing the group’s role advising the Green Building Council, which examines and comments on Maryland State Policy related to key contributors to climate change. The Graduate Student Chapter at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign received SEI’s Graduate Student Chapter of the Year Award in recognition of the group’s role in engaging students with industry professionals both on and off campus and improving soft skills related to hiring. ASCE and SEI also recognized 12 SEI members as 2024 SEI Fellows in honor of their leadership and mentorship in the structural engineering profession. They are: Ossama Ali Ahmed, PE, PhD, PMP, F.SEI, F.ASCE Bradley Byrom, SE, PE, F.SEI, M.ASCE Vijaya Gopu, PE, PhD, F.SEI, F.ASCE Sriram Kalaga, PE, PhD, F.SEI, F.ASCE Linda M. Kaplan, PE, F.SEI, M.ASCE David Lattanzi, PE, PhD, F.SEI, M.ASCE Saurabh Mittal, SE, PE, F.SEI, M.ASCE Spencer Quiel, PE, PhD, F.SEI, M.ASCE Dorothy Reed, PE, PhD, F.SEI, F.ASCE Girum Urgessa, PE, PhD, F.SEI, F.ASCE Brian Uy, PE, PhD, F.SEI, F.ASCE Ioannis Zisis, PhD, F.SEI, M.ASCE

The exhibit hall floor at the 2024 NASCC: The Steel Conference in San Antonio was full of fabrication equipment and tools. Participants--and potential steel fabricators--who wanted to see how some are used could start by visiting a 78-ft trailer parked right on the show floor. The Be Pro Be Proud virtual workshop trailer returned this year as the centerpiece of AISC’s Workforce Zone, a steel-building playground that introduced conference participants to every piece of a fabricator’s job and showcased engagement ideas for those recruiting for careers in architecture, engineering, and construction, specifically in the skilled trades. The most enthusiastic visitors, though, were about 100 Career and Technical Education (CTE) students from San Antonio who stopped by on the conference’s final day for a program called "Forge Your Future." They had a chance to connect with the entirety of the structural steel industry and consider a career in steel. That connection appeared to be strong. Students competed to get the best score on the virtual welding machine, gathered around classmates operating a crane simulator, and laughed through their trial-and-error attempts on the machines. They also learned how to measure steel members and talked with Nucor representatives about the industry. The students left having experienced all pieces of the Workforce Zone, which aimed to create enthusiasm for joining the trade industry—specifically in steel fabrication—and help correct a growing supply and demand problem. The construction industry will need to surpass its average hiring pace by 501,000 additional workers to meet the demand for labor, according to Associated Builders and Contractors. Attracting a younger workforce to offset a growing number of retiring tradespeople is a crucial piece of combatting the shortage. Those efforts start with challenging perceptions attached to working in construction and the trades so the next generation sees it as a promising career rather than a fallback option. “[Perception challenges] are usually not with the kids, but with their parents,” said Kevin Traynor, president and COO of JGM Fabricators and Constructors. “We try to do outreach to the parents as well. If we interview a high school kid or take one on a tour, we ask them to bring a parent and see how they can build a career.” The student tours and trailer visits involve more than just a virtual step into a skilled trade job. The students learned about the salary potential and the path to management in the trades--two essential pieces of a successful pitch. Both have previously left students pleasantly surprised and refuted some assumptions, said Andrew Parker, Be Pro Be Proud’s executive director. “Be Pro Be Proud’s mission is to change the perception students, parents, and teachers have of skilled professions and the manufacturing, transportation, construction, and utility sectors,” Parker said. “We hope a student will come on board the truck, explore the simulations, hear the message, look at the content, see what opportunities look like, and pay attention.” Students weren’t the only ones experiencing the Workforce Zone--it was open to all Steel Conference attendees, as well. Steel-related, hands-on engagement stations staffed by AISC and other exhibitors who make steel components surrounded the trailer. Attendees could try bolt installation, snap in magnetic welds, and learn how to identify a member's size through measurement and some simple math. They could compete against other attendees in a virtual welding competition and take a virtual reality tour of a steel mill. The Be Pro Be Proud trailer had virtual-reality simulators where participants can practice welding, drive a truck, operate a robotic arm, drive an excavator, and more. “We’re always looking for ways to train and bring kids into the trades and see what other people are doing,” Traynor said after a stop at the Workforce Zone. “The best way to learn is by getting all the smart people together and figuring out what everybody is doing to get people into the trades. Simulators are a great next step. “If you can get simulators into high schools and grade schools and let kids see how to be a welder, equipment operator, or a driver—that’s great and where we all have to start as an industry.” All conference participants could learn something from the Workforce Zone—even steel fabricators. AISC’s forthcoming Fabricator Education Program training module was stationed at the front of the Workforce Zone. The hands-on activities and engagement can serve as an educational springboard for local talent outreach efforts and integrate as a piece of fabricators’ own workforce development programs. These activities capitalized on the benefits of experiential learning, putting the architecture, engineering, and construction industries at a distinct advantage over other careers. Providing these hands-on introductory experiences to a fabricator’s local Career and Technical Education (CTE) students can build and strengthen community partnerships. A workforce development program has a limited reach if it doesn’t effectively connect with and educate the future workforce. Many fabricators have partnerships with local trade schools, but they can effectively reach beyond them to a more general audience with the right approach. And successful outreach and recruitment of new labor goes beyond convincing the potential worker that the trade industry is a viable career path. The Workforce Zone also included a sign-up station for BlueRecruit, a job platform that can help steel industry employers find the right talent by connecting tradespeople with their next step or first step into the industry. Those employers are actively seeking help and looking everywhere to find it. “It’s at a crisis level for our needs and other steel fabricators’ needs,” said Amy Rogers, W&W | AFCO senior vice president for bridge sales. “We can’t just say we’ll talk to local high schools, talk to vocational-technical schools, or have relationships with professors. We need to hit it at all angles, outline options, and tell them this is a path to be proud of.”

In engineering as in life, a problem is only a problem if you see it that way. Local buckling in particular can be more of an asset than a burden with the right understanding, Benjamin W. Schafer, PE, PhD, said in the 2024 T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award lecture, “Think Global, Buckle Local: Exploring Local Buckling in Structural Steel,” at NASCC: The Steel Conference. Observed as far back as the mid-19th century, local buckling is a phenomenon that causes wrinkles, puckers, and, as Scottish civil engineer William Fairbairn described in his 1846 bending tests, “hummocks,” in plates. These tests and the other early observations of steel’s behavior under various conditions of stress paved the way for industry-wide code that has helped engineers predict and control local buckling. Schafer, who has centered much of his research on local buckling, admits that engineers aren’t necessarily keen on embracing the phenomenon--and, in fact, they often take the route of eliminating local buckling because it simplifies material behavior, avoids deformation, and increases durability for the structures in question. He asked engineers to take a new look at local buckling as a means to minimize member size while allowing for controlled deformation, even if it means there is more complex behavior involved. “Was it too complicated when I looked at that plate,” he urged them to ask themselves, “or can I use that to my advantage?” Schafer discussed the mathematics and mechanics of local buckling by examining the evolution of width-to-thickness ratios published in AISC 360 throughout the past century, pointing out that the ratios have gotten more and more complex with new research. Despite the complexity involved in predicting sites of local buckling, Schafer pointed out a key factor that can simplify the calculations: slenderness. “Getting local slenderness right is a huge ‘unlock,’” Schafer said. “Instead of having huge tables, we can look at two values.” Two separate paths--eliminating or embracing local buckling--are a historic precedent, but Schafer believes that modern tools and design methods enable engineers to find a middle ground. “There’s no real reason why anyone shouldn’t be allowed to use all the tools,” he said. “With this unlock of local buckling and modern design methods, you get to use both paths.” This knowledge is vital for the understanding it imparts on the industry, but Schafer discussed the global goals it will also help the industry accomplish. Citing David Billington, who studied structural excellence, he pointed to society’s modern structural needs as perhaps the greatest benefactor of local buckling understanding. “We’re not in a situation where we can afford to keep putting ‘more’ into the world,” Schafer said. “As we look to the future, where advanced high-strength structural steels are more common and every designer is pressed to maximize sustainability and minimize the thickness of the steel they employ, the importance of mastering local buckling is only growing.” Local buckling as a social solution rather than a structural problem is a new perspective to take, but one that can shape the future of structural engineering. Schafer discussed how an engineer’s technical depth is a strength, but one must not be afraid of applying that strength to issues of increasing breadth, including sustainability and resiliency in structures. “I challenge each of you to take your technical depth--for me, that’s local buckling--and apply it widely to see what you can make better,” Schafer said. “Our modern social needs combined with our scientific knowledge provides an opportunity for a new era of structural engineering excellence.”

It’s a big year for Odeh Engineers/WSP’s David Odeh, SE, PE. Fresh off the IMAX release of “Cities of the Future,” a Structural Engineering Institute documentary with which he was closely involved, Odeh brought the film’s themes, imagery, and inspiration to the stage at the SEICon24 keynote address at NASCC: The Steel Conference. The film, narrated by John Krasinski, transports audiences into a developed concept of what urban life could look like 50 years from now, building on emerging trends in innovation like autonomous vehicles, air taxis, and multi-use structures. The cities rendered in the film are designed to be fully sustainable, adaptable, and resilient–-and with the right framework, they can become a reality, Odeh said. Encouraging his keynote audience to challenge their own perceptions of future-ready design, he posed a series of questions throughout: What if we built structures right from the beginning with eventual reuse or adaptation in mind? What if structures could adapt with the push of a button? What if structures could be easily relocated or raised? “A lot of great engineers and researchers in our community are already thinking about the future and about ways to cope with future realities [like climate change],” Odeh said. “We need to make a big investment in the materials of the future. We need to create opportunities for systems to evolve.” Odeh dove into several recent projects in his own hometown of Providence, R.I., that exemplify his definition of future-ready structures: those that are sustainable, adaptable, reusable and resilient. One example he shared was Brown University’s South Street Landing, an adaptive-reuse project that involved converting a long-abandoned electrical power station to a collaborative workspace for more than 400 Brown employees. The design team raised the original ground floor by 4.5 ft to protect the structure, which sits right on the bank of the Providence River, from future flooding. “Structural engineers made it possible to reuse this building in a more resilient way and be more sustainable by adapting it over time,” Odeh said, emphasizing how repurposing existing infrastructure ultimately saves thousands of tons of CO2 emissions. Odeh also took his audience behind the scenes of Brown’s Lindemann Performing Arts Center, whose moveable walls can transform the shape and acoustics of the structure with the push of a button, thanks to its innovative steel framing. “We can apply adaptable design to solve problems related to climate and [other uncertainties],” Odeh explained. The future may be uncertain, but today’s leading structural engineers have the information and technology at their fingertips to ensure that structures are future-ready, Odeh said.

More than 530 Steel Conference attendees gathered Wednesday night for the annual Elevate reception, a space for allies across all avenues of the steel industry to celebrate workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion and share resources for continued progress. Attendees connected over drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and a lively dance floor at San Antonio’s historic 1902 Nightclub. Jennie Traut-Todaro, AISC’s workforce development director and the orchestrator of Elevate, said she was thrilled by the turnout and pleasantly surprised by the energy that filled every corner of the room. “It was great to see people enjoying themselves and clearly feeling like they belonged--which is the whole point of the event,” Traut-Todaro said. “Our attendees surprised me. In my head, engineers are very introverted, and I definitely wouldn’t think of them as dancers!” This year’s featured speaker, Aurora Change Agency’s Shani Dellimore Barrax, shared thought-provoking insights on culture-add versus culture-fit approaches to hiring. If a firm is stagnant, Barrax said, take a look at their diversity--hiring to fit the existing company culture leaves no room for fresh perspectives or new opportunities. Breaking away from the monoculture, on the other hand, is what allows a company to grow--and growing pains are a positive thing. “You have to normalize discomfort,” Barrax said. “The reason there’s been pushback on DEI is that it’s uncomfortable for some people, but the people affected are uncomfortable, too. The least you can do is be uncomfortable for a hot minute compared to the people dealing with that all the time.” Barrax’s message and the night’s uplifting atmosphere were very well received, Traut-Todaro said. Attendees taking a break from dancing the night away shared thoughtful questions, meaningful takeaways, and action plans for building more diverse, equitable, and inclusive spaces for their employees. “I got some great questions--people were very interested and excited to see all of the people who want to make this positive change for AEC industries to be more inclusive and more intentional about making people feel like they belong here,” Traut-Todaro said. Do you know a great speaker, or are you interested in sponsoring next year’s Elevate reception? Please contact trauttodaro@aisc.org.

Right now is an exciting time to be an engineer, said Northeastern University’s Jerome F. Hajjar, PE, PhD, at the start of his Thursday morning keynote presentation at NASCC: The Steel Conference. The industry is in an optimal position to be a guiding force for resilience and sustainability, but industry leaders must reframe how they think about both. “This is a time when new materials, new design strategies, and new systems have the potential to revolutionize the way we think about our designs, our processes, and our profession,” Hajjar said. Addressing a crowd of 1,700 Steel Conference participants, the SSRC Beedle Award recipient dove into the role of structural engineers in mitigating the inevitable impacts of climate change by challenging existing mindsets around sustainability and resilience. When engineers design for resilience, arming the built environment against damage from natural disasters and other impacts of climate change, they are already designing sustainably--the two go hand in hand. Hajjar shared findings from more than a decade of research on resilience, explaining how we can apply fuse-based design to protect our buildings and bridges well into the future. Hajjar discussed controlled rocking structural systems as one example of using easily replaceable inelastic fuses that prevent collapse but also enable quick reoccupancy after extreme seismic and wind events. This stands in contrast to traditional collapse-prevention approaches that focus exclusively on life-safety of occupants. Similarly, employing energy-dissipating elastomeric bearings in bridge design limits force transfer from the foundation and protects bridges from collapse in a seismic event, Hajjar said. Over time, replacing these small fuses in a building or bridge’s substructure is more sustainable, adaptable, and cost-effective than replacing the entire building or bridge. And often, cost is what scares clients away from choosing a sustainable project--they hear the word ‘sustainability’ and they see one big dollar sign. Throughout his career, Hajjar has seen firsthand that when architects propose aesthetically beautiful designs, clients are all in--”but when they propose something that is sustainable, the calculator comes out and we start talking cost,” he said. “Technical innovation and leadership alone may not do the trick here.” The solution, Hajjar said, is an industry-wide mindset shift whereby if a structure is not resilient, it feels unsafe, and if it’s not sustainable, it feels ugly. “But let’s put a positive spin on it,” Hajjar concluded. “Let’s lead a culture shift--a shift in our mindset so that if our structure is resilient, it feels safe; if it is sustainable, it feels beautiful,” Hajjar said. “There’s hope for the future.”

Over in the Workforce Zone on the show floor at NASCC: The Steel Conference, participants are getting a sneak peek at an upcoming program designed to help AISC members train new hires. The Fabricator Education Training Program is designed to provide AISC members with an easy way to introduce basic concepts to new employees at their fabrication shops. As a robust supplement to in-person training, the program intends to help new hires acquire necessary skills as quickly as possible in order to feel more involved and supported in their new roles, which will, in turn, help them progress into more specialized career paths that become available with experience. "New employees can get overwhelmed with all the things they don't know about steel fabrication,” said Joel Landsverk, AISC’s Fabricator Education Program manager. “This new training will introduce them to the tools, language, and environment of a real fab shop, helping them to get comfortable and productive, faster than ever." The first 14 courses of the program include about five hours of training content. One standout quality of these courses is the training approach they take. Presented mostly in video segments, they are centered around mentor/employee scenarios, with an expert fabricator standing in as the mentor. New hires who take the training will be introduced to essential skills like how to properly read and use a tape measure, how to use a grinder, and even how to torch cut. The scenarios depicted in the courses play out just as they would in a real fabrication shop--and, in fact, all the content in this program is created in fully active fabrication shops to deliver maximum authenticity and effectiveness. AISC members are eager to start implementing the Fabricator Education Training Program into their onboarding processes. Through his firsthand experience working with new hires, Kenny Hicks, a structural steel training specialist with Able Steel Fabricators, Inc. in Mesa, Ariz., can attest to the benefits the program will bring to fabricators across the country. “Every steel employer in America is looking for talent right now. We can get employees, but can we get talent?” Hicks said. “The industry is starving for talent, so the only way we’re going to fix it is through training. The industry needs what [AISC is] doing. We needed it 20 years ago [so that] we wouldn’t have gone through this slump that we’re coming out of now.” The Fabricator Education Training Program is a game-changer when it comes to recruiting and retaining employees--and it’s already growing! Throughout 2024, the Fabricator Education Training Program will add fitter training courses to its library, focusing on topics such as drawing reading, construction math, and basic layout and fit-up strategies. Stop by the booth to click through the first phase of courses at your leisure and find out more about how you can incorporate AISC’s Fabricator Education Program into your company’s new hire training. The Fabricator Education Training Program will go live soon after NASCC: The Steel Conference. Visit aisc.org/fabricatortraining to sign up for updates.

At a whopping 250,000 sq. ft, this year’s NASCC: The Steel Conference exhibit hall can be daunting. Our Newsroom team walked all the aisles and the 355 booths Wednesday to find the things you shouldn’t miss this year. Drumroll, please… See a rope hoist in action at Engineered Supply (booth 1755) Stop by Engineered Supply to see a demonstration of its portable rope hoist system. Designed for easy use with roof and wall anchor points, this system ensures safe and protected maintenance access even beyond initial construction. In fact, AISC President Charlie Carter even used the rope hoist to take a ride to the ceiling during the Opening Reception! Harness the power of plasma at EMI (booth 1158) Grab a face shield and watch sparks fly from EMI’s Angle-Channel Processing Center that can cut through a steel pipe in seconds. “The plasma doesn’t melt the steel--it literally vaporizes it,” said manager Mark Ferrance. The machine can heat metal up to 20,000 degrees--twice as hot as the surface of the sun! Best of all, it cuts steel into the most complex of shapes at lightning speed. Try your hand at steel inspection at Eterio Realities’ FabStation (booth 1365) Did you know you can use augmented reality to check that steel beams are up to standard? Put on a pair of goggles at the FabStation and see for yourself! Use FabStation to get quick, precise measurements and seamless 3D model visualizations of complex steel assembly structures. It seamlessly integrates with some of the most popular detailing software, including Tekla, SDS2, Advanced Steel, SolidWorks, and Inventor. Win a LEGO electric arc furnace at Nucor (booths 701, 801, 901) Tap into your competitive side and test your knowledge of structural steel in just five questions! When you visit Nucor’s booth, you can get a hands-on lesson about the circular economy of steel production and answer some trivia questions for a chance to win a custom electric arc furnace LEGO set, socks, and other cool prizes. Shoot your shot with Steel Plate (booth 343) The AISC booth isn’t the only spot to get in the March Madness spirit! Stop by Steel Plate and practice your free throws--every sunk basket gets you a chance to win a San Antonio Spurs jersey signed by none other than Devin Vassell himself! Basketball fan or not, you’re sure to have a ballin’ time. Meet your auditors at QMC’s first-ever booth (booth 1866) QMC is flying solo! For the very first time, QMC has its own booth at the Steel Conference. Not only can you find out more about QMC’s audits when you visit the booth, but you can also glean some of the wealth of knowledge of its auditors. Pour over Peddinghaus’ machinery (booth 400) The orange carpet is an NASCC fixture, and this year it has five machines on display. Stop by to see the PeddiSubX 1120 beam drill line demo every 30 minutes and the PeddiSaw and the PeddiRotator upon request. The PeddiSubX is one of the largest machines on the floor that is demoing this year. The PeddiWelder, one of the company’s new robotic welders, can’t demo inside the exhibit hall, but stop by for an up-close look and for a beer poured from a tap attached to the welding arm. Get laser-focused at X SERIES (booth 642) Laser cutters are growing in popularity because of their speed, which can be up to 12 times faster than traditional plasma cutting methods. X SERIES has three large screens playing videos showcasing two of its cutters that are designed for structural steel and miscellaneous metal fabricators: the Plate Lazer Plus high-speed plate processor and the Rail Blazer Pro. The Plate Lazer Plus can cut steel plate up to 3 in. thick with laser power between 12 and 40 kw, a testament to how much laser technology has developed recently. The Rail Blazer Pro is for materials up to ½ in. thick to be used in light structural applications. Drill down on tools at Wurth Construction Services (booth 1717) Erectors and fabricators can try out useful tools at the Wurth Construction Services booth, namely the Unibor ELP50 on-site cutter. The ELP50 allows an erector to cut a hole in a beam that a fabricator might have missed, ensuring fabrication missteps are corrected in minutes. Elsewhere, try tightening multiple grades of Wurth’s bolts with drills, including one bolt that will automatically snap an end piece off to signal a worker that it has reached its necessary tightness. Bonus: Get hands-on experience in the skilled trades at AISC's Workforce Zone And finally, don’t forget to check out the Workforce Zone for some high-tech ways the industry and its partners are tackling the skilled labor shortage!

SAN ANTONIO - A ranching accident changed Chad Hymas’ life in ways anyone who meets him can see. He relies on a wheelchair to move around—the result of a 2,000-pound hay bale shattering his neck and seven ribs in 2001, when he was 27. His spinal cord is permanently severed. His hands have limited gripping capacity. “You don’t have to look at me too hard to understand why I’m passionate about this,” said Hymas, now a best-selling author, a member of the National Speaker Hall of Fame, and a decorated wheelchair athlete. Hymas spent Wednesday morning, though, discussing other changes his accident caused during his NASCC: The Steel Conference keynote, titled “How A Split-Second Decision Can Change Your Life.” Changes he considers more important than his physical capabilities. Changes that took him longer to process than immediately realizing he was paralyzed. Changes that made him understand an inherent flaw in how people approach safety. “We wait for the bus to tip over before we act,” Hymas said. Or, in his case, wait for a habit of ignoring a low hydraulics warning light while operating a backhoe to cost him. Hymas had seen the warning light and continued anyway countless times without consequence. But repeated lack of harm does not equate to smart or right. Like ranching, steel fabrication and construction present daily safety hazards and come with stringent and lengthy safety rules and guidelines. But their effectiveness is limited if a company’s culture lacks a passion for following carefully crafted safety policies and achieving flawless safety records. Creating a safety-aware culture shouldn’t be prompted by an accident. Hymas challenged audience members to change the way they think about safety by telling them how he needed to change the way he lived. The day Hymas awoke from his coma, his father told him that post-injury life would be unnavigable without three pillars: a passion for people, a purpose every day, and a perspective of his situation. Years later, Hymas realized he wasn’t fulfilling them. He discovered he was alive, but merely breathing air. He spent most days in bed watching “Judge Judy.” One day, Hymas’ father called and said he was taking Hymas’ two young sons on his 28,000-acre ranch to look for elk—a passion Hymas once hoped he could share with them. His father was sending a message: I’m taking over dad duties because you aren’t doing them. Hymas immediately called back and said he would join, wheelchair and all. The next day, they saw more than 300 elk. The lasting memory, though, is a picture of one of his sons on a mud-caked ATV, wearing one of Hymas’ old camouflage coats because Hymas never bought him one of his own and flashing a dentist-brochure smile. He takes the picture everywhere he goes. It’s a symbol of his realization that his injury didn’t preclude him from achieving his dreams, prevent him from having a purpose, or keep him from being an impactful father. All it took was a willingness to go outside and get dirty. Hymas encouraged his audience to get dirty as workers by exceeding safety minimums, just as he did when he turned off the TV and set an early morning alarm instead of staying in bed for yet another day. He saw an example of it in action just two hours before his speech. A hotel bellman wheeled him from his hotel to the Henry B. González Convention Center entrance down the block—decidedly not a part of a bellman’s job. Hymas offered to tip him, but he refused the money. Hymas asked the bellman if he had a family, to which he responded he had two daughters. Hymas said the money was for buying them ice cream after work. In other words, it was for making a memory. The bellman took the tip. View something through a lens of how it impacts family and friends, and it’s often easier to accept or obey. Hymas learned to view his circumstances that way, and it made him a better father, husband, rancher, and contributor to society. It made him no longer feel trapped. A culture that promotes safety becomes a company’s DNA when employees view safety guidelines in that same way. Steel Conference attendees who make the conference about someone who’s not present, Hymas said, will find the most meaning in it. “Are you here with intent,” Hymas said,” or are you just breathing air?”

SAN ANTONIO - The American Institute of Steel Construction today recognized outstanding individuals who are driving the present and future of structural steel design and construction. The Institute presented the honors during the opening keynote of NASCC: The Steel Conference in San Antonio, which runs through Friday, March 22. J. Lloyd Kimbrough Award The Institute’s highest design honor, the Kimbrough Award honors engineers and architects who are universally recognized as the pre-eminent steel designers of their era. This prestigious award is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the structural steel industry through his or her design work. Michael A. Grubb, PE, of M.A. Grubb and Associates, is only the 13th person to receive the Kimbrough Award since its inception in 1941. Lifetime Achievement Awards Lifetime Achievement Awards honor living individuals (industry members, designers, or educators) who have made a difference in the success of AISC and the structural steel industry. This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipients are: Senior Engineer Heather Gilmer, PE, of Pennoni for her significant contributions to the steel bridge industry President Robert E. Shaw, Jr, PE, of Steel Structures Technology Center, Inc. for his work educating designers and fabricators on bolting and welding, his creation of the Student Steel Bridge Competition, and his continuing work on numerous AISC and industry committees Professor of Civil Engineering Ronald D. Ziemian, PE, PhD, of Bucknell University for his contributions to AISC and the structural steel industry through his research, teaching, service on committees, his speaking engagements, and his many articles and papers on the stability of steel structures Special Achievement Awards A Special Achievement Award provides special recognition to living individuals (industry members, designers, or educators) who have demonstrated notable singular or multiple achievements in structural steel design, construction, research, or education. Caroline R. Bennett, PE, PhD, Charles E. & Mary Jane Spahr Professor and Chair at the University of Kansas, for advancing knowledge about the behavior of hot-dipped galvanized steel structures Iowa State University James L. and Katherine S. Melsa Dean of Engineering W. Samuel Easterling, PE, PhD, for Steel Diaphragm Innovation Initiative (SDII) research that drove impactful changes to standards governing the use of metal deck diaphragms in steel structures Virginia Tech Professor Matthew R. Eatherton, SE, PhD, for Steel Diaphragm Innovation Initiative (SDII) research that drove impactful changes to standards governing the use of metal deck diaphragms in steel structures Jerome F. Hajjar, PE, PhD, CDM Smith Professor and Department Chair at Northeastern University, for Steel Diaphragm Innovation Initiative (SDII) research that drove impactful changes to standards governing the use of metal deck diaphragms in steel structures Johns Hopkins University Hackerman Professor of Civil and Systems Engineering Benjamin W. Schafer, PE, PhD, for Steel Diaphragm Innovation Initiative (SDII) research that drove impactful changes to standards governing the use of metal deck diaphragms in steel structures Terry Peshia Early Career Faculty Awards The Terry Peshia Early Career Faculty Award provides recognition to individuals who demonstrate promise in the areas of structural steel research, teaching, and/or other contributions to the structural steel industry. Onur Avci, PE, PhD, assistant professor and Herbert P. Dripps Faculty Fellow at West Virginia University, for exceptional promise and continued excellence in structural steel research, teaching, and service to the industry Assistant Professor Machel Morrison, PhD, of the University of California, San Diego, for exceptional promise and continued excellence in structural steel research, teaching, and service to the industry T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award Each year, AISC's T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award recognizes an outstanding lecturer and author whose technical paper or papers, published during the eligibility period, are considered an outstanding contribution to the engineering literature on fabricated structural steel. The Higgins Award recipient traditionally gives the final keynote of the Steel Conference. Join us in the Stars at Night Ballroom at 12:30 p.m. Friday as 2024 T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award recipient Benjamin W. Schafer, PE, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University presents “Think Global, Buckle Local: Exploring Local Buckling in Structural Steel.” Milek Fellowship The Milek Fellowship is a four-year, $75,000-per-year award presented annually to a promising non-tenured university faculty member. The 2024 Milek Fellow, Clemson University’s Mohannad Zeyad (M.Z.) Naser, PE, PhD, was recognized for research intended to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to create a virtual assistant named SteelGPT to enhance the steel design process.