Texas Professors Selected to Attend National Masonry Workshop

Words: Ray Leonhard, Mukaddes DarwishOn March 20, 2016, four Texas architecture and engineering professors attended The Masonry Society’s annual University Professors Masonry Workshop at the University of California San Diego. The Texas Masonry Council (TMC) joined forces again with the Brick Industry Association – South West (BIA‐SW) to send deserving professors to California. Ray Leonhard, President & CEO of the Brick Industry Association comments that “the Brick Industry Association Southwest Region and the Texas Masonry Council have supported the University Professors Masonry Workshop for many years by sponsoring university professors’ attendance and travel expenses. We believe this workshop is an excellent opportunity for university faculty and masonry professionals to meet and discuss masonry construction and design issues, share teaching methods, network, and experience a hands‐on demonstration. The knowledge and tools gained from this valuable workshop will help to implement successful masonry programs across the United States that will educate future designers about the many benefits of masonry construction.” The University Professors Masonry Workshop (UPMW) is a forum for faculty who are teaching masonry, or will be teaching masonry, to learn about the design, specification, construction, and evaluation of masonry. Effective and innovative ways to teach this information to their students are discussed. The goal of the UPMW is simple: to assist professors teaching masonry so that students, who will be future designers and construction managers, are comfortable using masonry on their projects. The Masonry Workshop is a limited‐seating event geared to educate masonry professors on new masonry codes, standards, products, technology and research. The Workshop is an intimate and intense two‐day training in which attendees walk away with masses of new material to apply in their classrooms. Texas Tech Masonry Design and Construction Professor Mukaddes Darwish said the “UPMW in San Diego was a great conference and I was impressed with the new information the presenters shared with us. I enjoyed the discussions of innovative teaching methods and I gained some ideas to take to my classrooms.” For future workshops, interested Texas professors can apply for scholarships by contacting the Texas Masonry Council.
The Texas Masonry Council is comprised of masonry contractors, suppliers, architects and students working to promote the expanded use and the benefits of masonry. TMC focuses on increasing market share for the industry and creating value for its stakeholders. TMC seeks favorable state legislation in cooperation with others to achieve these ends, and through partnership with local chapters ensures that an adequate number of well‐trained craftspeople and leaders are developed and maintained to support the increased market share.
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