CFSEI Expo’s Emerging Technologies Session to Showcase the Future of Cold-Formed Steel Design (May 20)

The Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute (CFSEI) 2026 CFSEI Expo will feature an Emerging Technologies session, May 20, highlighting product innovations and research across four 30-minute presentations.

The 4-part session examines emerging technologies shaping cold-formed steel (CFS) design. These include new seismic pathways, automation systems and open-source tools — innovations that improve efficiency, decision-making and building performance. Attendees who participate will earn 2 PDHs and 2 AIA LUs.

The 2026 CFSEI Expo will take place May 18-20, 2026, at the Westin Long Beach Hotel in Long Beach, California.

1. Enabling Seismic Performance-Based Design Pathways for Cold-Formed Steel Framed Buildings

Benjamin Schafer, Ph.D., P.E., F. SEI, Johns Hopkins University
Kevin Aswegan, P.E., S.E., Magnusson Klemencic Associates
Tara Hutchinson, PhD., P.E., University of California, San Diego

Session speakers: (l to r) Ben Schafer, Johns Hopkins University; Kevin Aswegan, Magnusson Klemencic Associates; Tara Hutchinson, University of California, San Diego

This presentation includes a broad technical discussion on the use of seismic performance-based design for cold-formed steel (CFS) framed buildings. The presenters will outline emerging pathways for its practical implementation.

Seismic performance-based design has reshaped reinforced concrete structural practice in high seismic regions, particularly in California. Such design has enabled architectural and structural solutions outside of prescriptive code limits. 

In contrast, seismic design of CFS framing remains largely constrained by prescriptive provisions in ASCE 7. These include limits on height, details and system applicability, despite growing evidence of CFS’s robust seismic performance. Click for details

2. From Artificial Hearts to Steel Skeletons: Algorithmic Assurance in Cold-Formed Steel Housing

Rodger Ford, FrameUpNow

Rodger Ford, FrameUpNow

FrameUpNow’s innovation Algorithmic Automation System (FUN) is  a deterministic, rule-driven design engine inspired directly by medical device rigor. Built on 350 pages of specifications and more than 6,000 lines of code, FUN converts traditional wood-frame ADU plans into perfectly engineered cold-formed steel (CFS) skeletons. 

Unlike probabilistic AI, the FUN system does not guess. It executes pre-defined structural engineering rules, International Building Code and California Residential Code requirements and manufacturing constraints with mathematical certainty. Click for details

3. A Web-Based App for Cold-Formed Steel Member Structural Calculations Built with Open-Source Software

Cristopher Moen, RunToSolve, LLC

Cristopher Moen, RunToSolve

Imagine your company has developed a new family of cold-formed steel (CFS) cross-sections. You believe they work better than the industry baseline. However, you don’t have the right workflow tool to calculate and tabulate section and buckling properties that confirm their performance. A web-based app can help.

In this presentation, Cristopher Moen of RunToSolve will introduce the web-based app. It can quickly generate results, graphically and in tabular formats, for multiple cross-sections. Moen will demo how the app works. 

This app is a prototype, a glimpse into the future of what can be done to advance engineering workflows with freely available, open-source software. Click for details

4. SIN Floor: Advancing Cold-Formed Steel in Composite Floor Systems

Phil Reinders, Steelcon, Inc.

Phil Reinders, Steelcon, Inc.

Traditional composite floor systems often rely on heavy secondary framing and extensive shoring, adding both cost and complexity. SIN Floor introduces a new approach. 

SIN Flor is a cold-formed steel (CFS) and concrete floor system. It combines two c-channels, a sinusoidally corrugated deck and a cast-in-place concrete topping to create a single, efficient structural panel. 

By embedding the steel sections within the slab and leveraging composite action, SIN Floor delivers long spans with reduced floor depth, while eliminating the need for secondary framing or shoring. The result is lighter structures, faster construction and improved sustainability. Click for details

Additional Resources

• Register for the 2026 CFSEI Expo in Long Beach, California (May 18-20)
• CFSEI Announces Speakers for 2026 CFSEI Expo in Long Beach, California (May 18-20)
• Insights and Inspiration Take Center Stage at 2025 CFSEI Expo in Raleigh