TMS Spring Meeting Early Registration Now Open

Make Plans for May 11-15 Meetings in Orlando

MSJC Update

The Masonry Standards Joint Committee (MSJC) continues its work updating provisions in TMS 402 and TMS 602, Building Code Requirements and Specification for Masonry Structures. Late last year, the Committee sent the Technical Activities Committee (TAC) all committee-approved changes for review and comment. TAC forwarded comments back to the Committee earlier this month, and the Committee has begun to consider those comments, respond to them, and where appropriate, ballot additional revisions. Once complete, the revisions will be sent out for Public Comment, which is tentatively scheduled to begin in August, 2010. To monitor or participate in the MSJC, plan to attend TMS's Spring Meetings (see article above) and watch TMS's website for details.

Applications for Special 2013 MSJC being accepted until February 15, 2010

In order to meet a compressed adoption schedule for consensus standards in the planned the 2015 "I-Codes" (including the IBC and IRC), Standards Developers such as TMS have had to revise their standards development schedules, and in many cases compress or abandon revision cycles. For the Masonry Standards Joint Committee, TMS, in consultation with Diane Throop, MSJC Chair, and ACI and SEI/ASCE who co-sponsor the MSJC, has decided to have a one-time, 2 year revision cycle to try to sync future MSJC schedules with the revised ICC schedule. As such, after the current 2011 cycle, the MSJC provisions are targeted to be updated in a special 2013 edition, after which the Committee will revert to a 3 year revision cycle in 2016, 2019, and so on.

To prepare for this compressed 2013 revision cycle, Diane Throop, MSJC Chair, is forming a 2013 Committee at this time, and TMS is accepting applications for Committee membership until February 15th. The new Committee will begin work this Spring, and will meet concurrently with the 2011 MSJC in May. If you would like to be considered for membership on the 2013 MSJC, and are not currently a MSJC member, please fill out the application by clicking here. If you are currently a MSJC member, but wish your status to change, please contact Diane Throop. If you are currently an MSJC member, and wish to remain a member at your current status, no action is needed. Notification of the 2013 Committee formation will be distributed and posted on TMS's website in late March.
 

Fellow Member Nominations due February 1st

The Masonry Society is accepting nominations for Fellow Members until February 1, 2010. Information on the award, a listing of eligible Members, and nomination forms are posted here.

Members Give Generously with Dues Renewals

TMS Members continue to generously support TMS efforts by donating funds to the General Fund, Endowment Fund, Pilot Project Fund, Clayford T. Grimm P.E. Student Scholarship, and James L. Noland Student Scholarship. Click the links above to see a list of donors and to learn more about these Funds and Scholarships. Many thanks to all those who have supported these efforts!
 

Upgrade to Affiliate Membership: Sharath C. Babu Thornton Tomasetti

Associate Member: Robert E. Miller Advanced Masonry Restoration, Inc.

Professional Members

Mark F. Aho McNamara/Salvia, Inc.
Earnest L. Baucom Baucom Engineering, LLC
Harry B. Kuchma KRW Consulting Group, LLC
Maurice Mallia Mallia Engineering Company, Inc.
Frederick Robert Rutz J. R. Harris & Co.

Student Members

Mike J. Carioscia University of Colorado - Denver
John Franklin Pettit University of Colorado – Denver
Jessie Atticus Thompson - TMS's Youngest Member!     

Complimentary TMS "E-Memberships" available for Students

The Masonry Society is pleased to offer electronic memberships to students interested in masonry. Students enrolled in this program receive electronic newsletters, Journals, and announcements from TMS and have access to the Member's area of the website. Unlike Student Members, Student E-Members are not entitled to publication discounts nor discounts on seminar registrations. Nevertheless, Student "E-memberships" allow students an easy way to stay apprised of what TMS is doing, while making contacts, and obtaining easy access to excellent information on masonry.  For information on how to enroll yourself, or your students, contact info@masonrysociety.org.

Download Recent Journal Papers and NAMC Papers from TMS Website

Older Papers should be available by Summer

The Masonry Society is pleased to report that all TMS Journal papers from 2000 forward and all papers from the 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th North American Masonry Conferences (NAMC) can now be accessed and downloaded from The Masonry Society’s website, thanks to the volunteer efforts of Thomas Samblanet this summer. older issues are being scanned and will be uploaded to the website over the next few months. TMS hopes to have all past issues of TMS Journal and the NAMC Proceedings, plus other reports and resources available for download by the summer of 2010. To use the search engine and to download recent papers, click here. Please be advised, that errors are generated when you try to access older papers that have not yet been uploaded.
 

Sponsorship Opportunities at TMS

TMS occasionally receives calls and inquiries related to sponsorship opportunities. Currently TMS is accepting sponsors for the 2010 Spring and Annual Meetings and the North American Masonry Conference. In addition, TMS continues to accept sponsorships for the Sustainability E-Newsletter. For details on benefits to sponsors, sponsorship levels, and other ways to expose your company or organization to TMS Members, contact the office at 303-939-9700.
 

TMS Journal, Vol. 28, No. 1 Complete

In the next few days, TMS Journal Vol. 28, No. 1 will be published by The Masonry Society and posted on the Member's Area of the Website. Papers included in this Journal include:

• “Study of System-Component Interactions in a Thin-Tile Masonry Dome” Andrew D. Sorenson and Ece Erdogmus
• “Finite Element Analysis of a Panelized Brick Veneer Wall System and Comparison with Wind Load Testing Results” Jianhai Liang and Ali M. Memari
• "A Planar-Frame Model for URM Structural Damage Prediction" Youssef Belmouden and Pierino Lestuzzi
• "A Moment Magnification Approach for Unreinforced Masonry Design" Richard M. Bennett

For information on this Journal, or on how to submit a manuscript for consideration in a future Journal, contact Susan Scheurer.

Dues Notice Reminder

If you have not already done so, please pay your 2010 Membership Dues as quickly as possible. We realize that with the severe economic downturn, many have had to forego memberships in organizations this year. We hope that will not be the case with our Members and that the economy improves soon. TMS relies on Membership Dues to operate, and without them we cannot support our Committees, develop new seminars, or produce new design and construction guides. As such, if you have not done so already, and if you are able, paying your dues promptly helps TMS fund these efforts. And if you cannot renew, please let us know that as well so that we do not send further dues notice reminders which take time and money. If you have questions about your membership, contact TMS at 303-939-9700 or email info@masonrysociety.org.

As an added incentive to renew, TMS is offering a free listing in TMS's popular Masonry Consultant/Speaker Database. By renewing, you can take advantage of this offer and advertise yourself or your firm quickly and easily.