Night School 42: Connection Design II - Beyond the Basics

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Presented by: Larry Muir and Bo Dowswell

This eight-session course offers engineers a comprehensive deep dive into steel connection design, bridging the gap between academic theory and real-world practice. The program kicks off with an introduction to connection design and the course, establishing fundamental concepts, but also establishing the premise of the course: that as you get into advanced connections, design tools – software, manuals, design examples, the Specification – may not cover everything.  From there, the course moves into how to design connections, guiding participants from simple, common joints to navigating the complexities and Specification limits of advanced connection design. A closer look at connections and models, which highlights the practical realities and pitfalls of modeling; and connection load paths, which breaks down the critical steps for determining loads in both statically determinate and complex indeterminate connections. 

The latter half of the course focuses on buckling of connection elements and the role of geometric imperfections and how to model gusset plates.  Next the course addresses tension in connections—covering applied axial tension to double angle shear connections, single-sided welds, and HSS connections—and stiffness of connections, which reviews stiffnesses of various connections, or a lack thereof. The program concludes with a question-and-answer session, providing participants with practical advice and actionable solutions to the real-world challenges discussed throughout the course.

Course Schedule
Live broadcast for all sessions 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Central
Date

Title

Presenter

October 20, 2026 Session 1: Introduction to Connection Design and Course
 Bo Dowswell and Larry Muir
October 27, 2026 Session 2: How to Design Connections Larry Muir
November 3, 2026 Session 3: Connections and Models Larry Muir
November 10, 2026 Session 4: Load Distribution Bo Dowswell
November 17, 2026 Session 5: Buckling of Connection Elements Bo Dowswell
November 24, 2026 Session 6: Tension in Connections Larry Muir
December 1, 2026 Session 7: Stiffness and Strength Bo Dowswell
December 8, 2026 Session 8: You've Got Questions, We've Got Answers Bo Dowswell and Larry Muir

Individual Registration
Register one person. Each registrant has access to the course including the live webinar, recording, and quiz for each session, the final exam, and a certificate.
    • $550 Member
    • $950 Non-Member
    • $380 Student/Faculty
    • Government Agency:  Discounts available.  Contact registration@aisc.org.
Group Registration
Register an unlimited number of people from your company roster. Each registrant has access to the course including the live webinar, recording, and quiz for each session, the final exam, and a certificate. All registrants must participate from their own account to receive credit.
    • $1650 Member
    • $2800 Non-Member
    • Government Agency:  Discounts available.  Contact registration@aisc.org.

Are you already registered as a group and need to add more colleagues? Add to your group registration here.

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