New AISC competition aims to shape the future of steel

Do you have the next great idea for a groundbreaking technology, model shop or building that could potentially revolutionize the future of the steel design and construction industry? Enter AISC's first-ever Future of Steel competition! The competition rewards and celebrates innovative ideas for the future of structural steel fabrication, erection, engineering, design and construction. And you have the opportunity to win one of three cash prizes, totaling $2,000!

The first-place winner of the competition will receive a grand prize of $1,000 cash; the second-place winner will receive a $500 cash prize; and two third-place winners will receive a $250 cash prize. In addition, the winning designs and runners-up will be displayed at the 2014 NASCC: The Steel Conference, March 26-29 in Toronto. Designs may also be selected to be featured in Modern Steel Construction magazine.

"What makes this competition truly fantastic is that there are no rules," said Carly Hurd, AISC director of membership services. "AISC is looking for design concepts for innovations that haven't been realized yet by the steel design and construction industry. We believe that the future of the industry lies in the areas of innovation, which is driven by great ideas. Let your inner visionary and inventor shine; the sky's the limit!"

The only requirement is that designs and graphics be sent electronically. All images should be 300-dpi JPEG, TIFF or ESP files, preferably 4 in. by 6 in. or larger. Please do not embed photographs or figures in a Microsoft Word document (or any other type) unless you have also included separate image files. AutoCAD files cannot be used; submit structural details as line drawings or high-resolution PDFs.

Competition entries can be submitted by an individual or a team. Please also include a title for your innovation and a brief description with your entry, as well as the entrant's name(s) and/or company. All submissions represent that the entrant grants AISC an irrevocable, world-wide, paid-in-full license to publish (in both print and electronic form) all of the designs, images, drawings, graphics or electronic files provided by the entrant.

Please email your competition entries to AISC's Carly Hurd at hurd@aisc.org by October 1, 2013, and label the subject line: "Future of Steel Competition." All of the entries will then be posted publicly to AISC's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AISCdotORG, where they'll be voted on fans. The three entries that receive the most votes will be crowned the winners.

For questions about the competition, please contact AISC's Carly Hurd at hurd@aisc.org.

About the American Institute of Steel Construction
The American Institute of Steel Construction, headquartered in Chicago, is a not-for-profit technical institute and trade association established in 1921 to serve the structural steel design community and construction industry. AISC's mission is to make structural steel the material of choice by being the leader in structural steel-related technical and market-building activities, including: specification and code development, research, education, technical assistance, quality certification, standardization, and market development. AISC has a long tradition of service to the steel construction industry of providing timely and reliable information.