CFS - Ask An Expert
Cold-formed steel (CFS) design typically is not a course topic offered at universities. Therefore, engineers are on their own to self-educate. How? By attending a seminar or webinar on a specific topic. And by getting answers to a specific project questions.
Many engineers take advantage of the highly successful CFSEI “Ask an Expert” page on the CFSEI website or the CFSEI Hotline, 1-800-79STEEL. Inquiries cover the gamut of CFS applications, and we respond to them promptly.
This interactive Q&A session will focus on FAQs and your steel framing questions. Plan to attend and participate.
Don Allen, P.E., S.E., LEED AP
Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (AWCI)
Don Allen has worked in cold-formed steel (CFS) specialty engineering since 1990. He has been involved in projects in Africa, Europe and North America. He has presented on CFS in Colombia, China, Egypt, and now Arizona. Having worked for hundreds of specialty contractors over the years, and now representing a contractor-focused association, Allen understands the issues CFS specialty contractors face every day. As Director of Technical Services for the Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (AWCI), Allen works with contractors daily, helping them to be profitable and safe in an increasingly complex and competitive construction marketplace.
Patrick M. Hainault, P.E.
R.A. Smith, Inc.
Patrick Hainault is the Co-Director of Structural Services at raSmith in Brookfield, Wisconsin. His experience includes engineering design and staff management with raSmith and Matsen Ford Design Associates, Inc., where he was a principal and senior engineer for 21 years. His expertise includes application of the latest technologies and design concepts to a wide variety of primary and secondary structures, including prefabricated systems. His engineering systems design experience includes structural steel, reinforced concrete, engineered masonry and wood. He was a structural designer for a concrete reinforcement supplier and a technician for a national material-testing firm. Hainault is past-chair of the CFSEI Executive Committee, a member of the SFIA Technical Committee and the AWCI Construction Technology Committee. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Wisconsin and several other states. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Marquette University.
