AISC Announces Two New Vice Presidents

Chicago, IL - The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) has announced Brian Raff as Vice President of Market Development and Carly Hurd as Vice President of Operational Engagement.

"I'm excited to recognize Carly and Brian, who have made key contributions to advancing AISC's mission to increase the use of domestically fabricated structural steel," said AISC President Charles J. Carter, P.E., S.E., PhD.

Brian Raff

Raff will lead a team of steel building and bridge specialists located throughout the U.S. to help architects, engineers, contractors, and structural steel fabricators in their work designing and building steel structures. From facilitating communication between designers and fabricators to helping to educate the A/E/C community about innovative steel systems, AISC's market development group is focused on increasing steel's share of the construction market.

Raff first joined AISC in 2005 as Manager of Certification Business Development and was later promoted to Marketing Director of the National Steel Bridge Alliance. He left AISC in 2014 to take a job with the Canam Group as a Strategic Development Manager, and returned to AISC in 2017 as Director of Government Affairs. He later added Director of Communications to his resume. He also previously worked as a structural engineer at OWP/P (now CannonDesign) and at Thornton Tomasetti. Raff has a bachelor's degree in architectural engineering from Penn State University and an MBA from DePaul University.

"AISC has been my North Star with respect to steel design and construction, and I hope to make it the same for everyone that interacts with us as an organization," said Raff. "I'm humbled to be working with such a talented and energetic group of people as we work tirelessly to make steel the material of choice."

Carly Hurd

Hurd, formerly AISC's Director of Membership, has been promoted to the newly created position of Vice President of Operational Engagement. "Carly's new role will help advance the steel industry by building stronger connections within the work we do for our industry and the design community and also to our members, volunteers, and the entire A/E/C community," Carter explained.

Hurd, a graduate of Western Michigan University, joined AISC in 2006 as a Membership Services Assistant, rising up to Membership Services Manager before becoming Director of Membership in 2008. She has been responsible for developing and managing AISC member recruitment and retention efforts as well as all administrative functions of AISC's membership department, full member education, the sponsorship program for the Student Steel Bridge Competition, and the development and production of products and services for AISC members. She also acts as a liaison between AISC and regional fabricator associations.

"I'm extremely excited for this opportunity to help strengthen our organization and industry for the future," said Hurd. "I know cooperation and coordination can help us achieve amazing things."

AISC also announced three additional promotions:

• Todd Alwood, previously Director of Certification at AISC, will lead the unification of the Membership and Certification operations to enhance the value provided to members as well as the fabricators and erectors who participate in AISC's Certification program. Alwood joined AISC in 2002 as a Senior Advisor with the Steel Solutions Center and then became the Upper Midwest Regional Engineer (a predecessor to today's Structural Steel Specialist position), covering five states including his home state of Illinois. Before his roles with AISC, Alwood attended the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and earned a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies and a master's degree in Architecture. Upon graduation, he worked for Teng and Associates in Chicago.

• Dani Friedland, previously Marketing Communications Strategist, has been named Director of Marketing Communications. She leads a team charged with telling the stories that show how remarkable the steel industry is. Prior to joining AISC, Friedland spent nine years working for MTG Media Group in editorial, new media, and editorial technology roles. She holds a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College and a Master of Science in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.

• Max Puchtel, SE, PE, has been named Director of Government Relations and Sustainability and will be responsible for leading AISC's sustainability efforts as well as monitoring federal and state initiatives that directly impact the domestic structural steel industry. Puchtel most recently served as Manager of Auditing and Quality for the auditing agency of the AISC Certification program. Prior to joining AISC, he held engineering positions at AISC, Wynright Structural Solutions, Sargent & Lundy LLC, and Automotion Systems Group. Puchtel holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the University of Michigan and a Professional Master in Structural Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

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. To learn more, visit www.aisc.org.