CHICAGO — James Fisher, Ph.D., P.E., chairman of the AISC Specification Committee from 2003-2009 and leader in publishing the 2005 AISC Specification for Structural Steel Buildings, has kicked off the American Institute of Steel Construction's 'Steel Profiles,' a new monthly podcast series featuring interviews with prominent structural steel industry experts about topics relevant to the steel design and construction communities.

Listen to Fisher's reflections on his tenure as Specification Chair, his thoughts on Load Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) vs. Allowable Stress Design (ASD), and find out where he keeps his "Green Book" (AISC ninth edition steel manual) these days. Play the podcast free of charge at www.aisc.org/podcasts.

A new Steel Profiles podcast will air on the first Friday of every month. The podcast recordings can be downloaded onto any media player and will automatically play on the user's default audio player, and the recordings can be transferred onto any iPod or MP3 player. Coming soon, those who have an iTunes subscription (www.itunes.com) may choose to have the podcast recordings automatically downloaded to their iTunes library each month free of charge.

January's podcast will feature an interview with incoming AISC Specification Chairman, Shankar Nair, Ph.D., S.E, principal and senior vice president of Teng & Associates, Inc., Chicago. More information on the Steel Profiles podcast series can be found at www.aisc.org/podcasts.