Similar to most of you, as the economy slowed, the publishers of Structural Engineer took a look at our offerings with an eye toward improvements. We have strategized on what to fine tune, re-focus, and expand. To that end, we have incorporated several exciting and robust enhancements to Structural Engineer and www.gostructrual.com.

First, I am sure that you took notice of our new approach to the cover story—which begins with an exciting and fresh design of the cover. Structural Engineer has traditionally spotlighted a unique and interesting project on the cover—and we will continue to do so—but we have enhanced the reporting within the article to include details of the structural engineer’s design decisions in "Q&A with the SE," interesting facts about the project in "By the numbers," and specifics about the firm in "Firm facts." As you can see with the cover of this issue, we will feature the structural engineers who are behind the success of these fabulous projects.

When I was discussing this month’s cover story with Project Manager Leslie V. Hemby, P.E., LEED AP, of Walter P Moore, I asked her what made this project interesting and extraordinary to work on. Hemby replied, "The whole team was excited to showcase the sustainable aspects of the project. Although we were going for LEED Gold, the team didn’t just ’go thru the motions’ to get the credits … the team did a lot of thinking ’outside the box.’ We really explored ways to blend the university’s requirements with the architectural desires and fully incorporate sustainability into the project as a whole." See "LEEDing the way to gold: Structural engineering design innovations graduate with honors at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas" on page 12 to learn more about UNLV’s Greenspun Hall and about the team that accomplished the design.

More exciting enhancements are coming to www.gostructrual.com. Enabling your access to information is a goal of ours. To that end, we will increase our coverage of product case studies. This month, the topic is steel connections, and four manufacturers have contributed case studies about their connection products that have been used on real projects. See page 36 to learn more about the projects and then visit www.gostructural.com for the full articles.

In the same vein, we have included more coverage of our annual, must-read article about structural engineers’ compensation on www.gostructrual.com. "The 9th Annual Compensation Survey: Salaries are still climbing, although at a much slower pace" begins on page 24, but be sure to visit our website for more details and the full article.

We are working on many more exciting new features for Structural Engineer and more developments for www.gostructural.com, so stay engaged with us. As always, I appreciate your feedback. Please e-mail me directly with comments, questions, and suggestions at jgoupil@stagnitomedia.com.