One of The Masonry Society's most active committees is the Design Practices Committee (DPC). The Committee, which is Chaired by David Sommer, of Degenkolb Engineers, is tasked with identifying and improving current practices and resources related to the design of masonry and developing new ones. Through their work the DPC:

• Promotes safe and economical design;
• Informs designers, regulators, and users; and
• Reflects appropriate state-of-the-art design, analyses, research, and field observations.

 

Currently, the DPC is working on several guides and standards which include:

• Direct Design Handbook for Masonry Structures (TMS 403),
• Standard Method for Determining Sound Transmission Ratings for Masonry Assemblies (TMS 302),
• Design and Construction Guidelines for Dry-Stack Masonry, a new offering from TMS that will be available soon.

In addition to this, the Committee assists TMS staff in responding to technical inquiries. The Committee also oversees and awards the Haller Award to  recognize innovative design practices.

For additional information on the Committee and its mission and goals, click here, or contact the Chair here. To be considered for membership on the Committee, click here.

Speakers and topics are sought for several venues:

• Webinars. TMS is seeking excellent presentations for our "2nd Thursday of the month" webinar series this fall and next spring. Current topics under consideration are Lap Splice Length for Reinforcement in Masonry by Ed Huston, and perhaps another few webinars on the popular topic of Masonry Testing. Other topics that can be presented in 1 hour are sought. Speakers for these webinars are paid $600.
   
• TMS Annual Meeting. While the meetings will be held virtually, we still will be offering educational sessions in a "webinar-type" format. TMS is soliciting excellent speakers and topics.  Presentations will be given on the morning of October 15 and are to be from 15 to 30 minutes in length. 
   
• Night School Presenters Needed. We are just starting work on these, but we hope to present a Night School that provides an Introduction to Masonry (Masonry 101) and on Strength Design of Masonry. 
   

For all these opportunities, the p resentations must not be promotional and should be of interest to those wishing to learn more about the design, construction, evaluation, or repair of masonry. A selection committee will consider proposals and will notify accepted presenters this Summer.  

The Masonry Society is accepting vendors and manufacturers who wish to offer informational webinars through the Society on their products and systems. For information or details, click here.

• Joint Reinforcement Types, response by Rochelle Jaffe and Dan Zechmeister
• Joint Reinforcement - Heavy Duty vs. Standard, response by Rochelle Jaffe
• Allowable Shear for Special Reinforced Masonry Shear Walls, response by Richard Bennett and John Hochwalt
• Flexural Tension Values, response by Richard Bennett
• Finding Topics in previous TMS Responds and TMS Journals, and finding Errata

Recordings of more than a dozen TMS webinars on masonry design, specification, inspection, testing, evaluation, and assessment are posted here. Many of these webinars are available to TMS Members for free. 

As it has for a number of years, The Masonry Society will again serve as a Cooperating Organization for the 2021 Structures Congress in Seattle, Washington on March 10-13, 2021. TMS has proposed 2 sessions for the Structures Congress, and will hear later this summer if they are accepted for presentation.  Watch the TMS website and TMS eNewsletter for details on these sessions as the 2021 Structures Congress approaches.

The Structures Congress is typically attended by more than 1200 engineers, exhibitors, and sponsors and includes dozens of sessions. We hope to see you there and we hope you will attend the TMS session!

Adam Hutchinson recently joined the Northwest Concrete Masonry Association (NWCMA) as Assistant Executive Director. Hutchinson earned his BS degree in Civil Engineering from Gonzaga University and worked with Integrus Architecture for over 11 years in the roles of drafter and design engineer. He will be training with current Executive Director Tom Young, P.E., FTMS over the next year.

Two TMS Members were recognized in March for their exceptional service to ACI in the following categories:

• DELMAR L. BLOEM DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD - Jeff Speck
• CHAPTER ACTIVITIES AWARD - Wayne M. Wilson

Member

David Anderson, ECS Mid-Atlantic, LLC

Michelle Craig, Northern California Western Nevada ACI Chapter

Elizabeth Fischer,   Garden Junkie Designs

Gregory M. Gordon, Greg Gordon & Associates

Charles Hamilton

Steve Hansen, Sunrise Engineering

Aaron Hayes

Thom Huggett, Contra Costa County

Adam Hutchinson, Northwest Concrete Masonry Association

Chad David Julius, Allan Block Corporation

Jack Kennedy, York Building Products Co.

James P. Martin, Woodard & Curran Inc.

Alonzo J. Maxwell, Construction Testing Services

Claudia Mulas, Claudia Mulas Architect, PLLC

Nick Murphy, KPFF Consulting Engineers

Todd Schnatzmeyer, Indiana Limestone Institute of America, Inc.

Al Schweickhardt, Applied Building Sciences

Brian Nielsen Skourup, Lamp Rynearson & Associates

Lindon Starr, LMS Inspections sp

Richard Suzuki, DCSE Associates, Inc.

Daniel Michael Tix, Keystone Retaining Wall Systems

Zach Usselton

Patrick Kent Watson, Fisher-Klosterman Inc.

Jim Winton, Winton Engineering

Chris Woodland, DCSE Associates, Inc.

Andrew Yu, Englekirk

 

Junior Member

Catherine Collins, Bekaert

 

Student Member

Jared Hudson,  Auburn University

Muthu Kumar.S,  SRM Institute Main Campus

Seth O'Brien,  Pittsburg State University

Juan Singaucho,  SUNY Buffalo

Juan Torres,  University of Azuay

Matthew J. Wojcik,  Drexel University

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