Robert E. Shaw, Jr., PE

Robert E. Shaw, Jr., PE is President of the Steel Structures Technology Center, Inc., Howell, Michigan. A graduate civil engineer from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, he began his career in the steel construction industry in 1973.

The SSTC focuses on services and technical education related to the design, fabrication, erection and inspection of steel-framed structures.

SSTC seminars have been conducted by Mr. Shaw across the United States, including courses on structural steel building quality, inspection, and evaluation, structural welding design, special inspections of steel structures, and connection design. In-house training has been provided to a wide range of clients.

The SSTC publishes three documents written by Mr. Shaw. The Structural Bolting Handbook is a guide for the testing, installation, inspection and use of bolts in steel structures. The Structural Welding Quality Handbook is a  guide to structural steel welding quality and inspection. The Shop Inspection Handbook for Structural Steel Buildings is a 250+ page document that includes references and standards, structural steels, fabrication, bolting, welding, and surface preparation/coatings.

Mr. Shaw is  a member of the American Welding Society  D1 Structural Welding Committee, and Subcommittees on Steel (D1.1), Seismic Welding Issues (D1.8), Strengthening and Repairing Existing Structures (D1.7), Executive Committee, and the Design task group. He serves on the American Institute of Steel Construction Specifications Committee, Task Committee 9 on Seismic Design, Task Committee 13 on Quality Control and Quality Assurance, Task Committee 6 on  Connections, and the AISC Connections Prequalification Review Panel for seismic connections. He serves on the Research Council on Structural Connections, including the Specifications Committee and Education Committee. He is involved in the International Institute of Welding, serving as Chairman of Commission XV on Design, Analysis and Fabrication of Welded Structures, and chairs Subcommission XV-C on Fabrication. He is a member of ASTM Subcommittees A1.02 on Structural Steels and F16.02 on Steel Bolts, Nuts, Rivets and Washers. Memberships in professional and technical societies include AWS, ASNT, AISC, ASM, ASCE, and SSPC. He is also a registered ICC Special Inspector for Structural Steel and Bolting (S1) and for Structural Welding Inspection (S2).

He developed and serves as the sole instructor for courses on structural steel inspection conducted in cooperation with the International Code Council (ICC).

Mr. Shaw was the Lead Guideline Writer for In-Process Construction Inspection for the SAC Joint Venture Program to Reduce Earthquake Hazards in Steel Moment Frame Structures, Phase 2, was principal author of FEMA 353, and served on the Welding and Joining Technical Advisory Panel.

Mr. Shaw wrote the Technical Instruction (TI 809-26) for the United States Army Corps of Engineers on "Welding - Design Procedures and Inspections."

He wrote Chapter 12 on "Fabrication, Erection and Quality Control" for the textbook Steel LRFD Design, and Chapter 8 on "Inspection and Quality Control" for the textbook Handbook of Structural Steel Connection Design and Details, both published by McGraw-Hill. Other publications include the Guide to Metric Steel Fabrication, published by AISC, and the Structural Steel Inspector's Workbook, published by the ICC.

Mr. Shaw was the principal consultant to update the Commentary to the AWS D1.5-96 Bridge Welding Code for the NCHRP / Transportation Research Board. The SSTC conducted the Federal Highway Administration / NHI course on "High Strength Bolts for Bridges" with Mr. Shaw serving as principal instructor.

Before founding the SSTC in 1990, Mr. Shaw served the American Institute of Steel Construction as Associate Director of Education (1986-1990) and Regional Engineer (1981-1986). As Associate Director of Education, he conducted seminars on steel design and construction to an estimated 9000 engineers and other professionals. He also prepared separate individual short seminars on bolting, the use of alternate weld acceptance criteria and the retrofitting of steel structures. As Regional Engineer for the AISC, Mr. Shaw served Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky as a technical resource to engineers and fabricators.

Before joining AISC, Mr. Shaw was a Sales Engineer for the Mississippi Valley Structural Steel Division of Bristol Steel and Iron Works, Inc., working in the Decatur Illinois office. His duties included sales and project management for steel fabrication and erection contracts in the upper Midwest.