The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), headquartered in Chicago, is a non-partisan, not-for-profit technical institute and trade association established in 1921 to serve the structural steel design community and construction industry in the United States. AISCs 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, market development, and advocacy. AISC has a long tradition of service to the steel construction industry providing timely and reliable information. As part of AISC's mission, we emphasize: --Increasing the structural steel industry's share of the construction market --Unifying the industry with a common purpose --Increasing the structural steel industrys share of the construction market --Supporting and improving the ability of the structural steel industry to be both innovative and competitive in a worldwide construction market Since its establishment, AISC has conducted its numerous activities with a scrupulous sense of public responsibility. For this reason, and because of the high caliber of its staff, the Institute enjoys a close working relationship with architects, engineers, code officials and educators who recognize its professional status in the fields of specification writing, structural research, design development and performance standards. AISC represents the total experience, judgment, and strength of the entire domestic industry of steel fabricators, distributors, and producers. The scope and success of its activities could not be achieved by any one member of the industry. The nation shares the rewards of these activities through better, safer and more economical buildings, bridges and other structures framed in structural steel. Smarter. Stronger. Steel.