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.