Masonry Magazine October 2009 Page. 33
INDUSTRY NEWS
Please submit your news and events to:
jmorrell@lionhrtpub.com
News From MCAA
By Tim O'Toole
New Additions to Member
Profiles
The MCAA is excited to announce several new features and additions to MCAA Member profiles. MCAA Members now have the option to include links on their profiles to several popular social networking Web sites, including Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube. In addition, members can also include a link to an RSS feed for their companies and post the years they were established.
Two of the most exciting new features are the ability to add a company logo and project/product photos to member profiles. Each member now has the option of uploading a logo along with up to four photos of projects and/or products he would like featured on the profile.
To update your profile, visit www.masoncontractors.org/editprofile, and log in using your username and password. Once logged in, you will be able to verify the information listed on your profile and make any necessary changes.
As a member of the Mason Contractors Association of America, your company profile is available to thousands of masonry customers who visit the MCAA Web site each day, searching for mason contractors and masonry products. It is important that your profile is up-to-date with current information.
If you have any questions or need further assistance, please contact the MCAA office at 800-536-2225.
Thirty-five New Online
Courses Added
The MCAA has added 35 new courses to its online education catalog, including more than 24 courses focusing on green building. Each course is self-paced and can be accessed by you or your entire team 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All courses are eligible for Certification credit.
A full list of online courses offered by the MCAA can be found online at www.masoncontractors.org/onlinetraining. To learn more about Certification, please visit certification.masoncontractors.org. IMAS
Tim O'Toole is manager of information technology for the Mason Contractors Association of America.
Designing a Bigger Future
for Structural Masonry
Until now, structural masonry has suffered a split persona. While it offered a more efficient building system, plus inherent qualities like beauty and durability, the lack of design software made it a less practical choice for engineers and architects.
Now, software developed by Bentley Systems Inc. for the International Masonry Institute (IMI) and industry partners, including the National Concrete Masonry Association, has made the structural masonry market more viable than ever.
The software provides a quicker solution for all masonry loadbearing buildings, plus a hybrid option allowing masonry to work with a steel frame. The whole-building, finite-element, structural engineering software programs can rapidly analyze both types of buildings. Depending on the building's configuration and function, masonry can be the primary structural system (loadbearing achieved with bearing and shear walls) or integrated with a steel or reinforced concrete frame in the form of a hybrid masonry and frame system.
Designers like its versatility, since it allows for easy design of perforated shear walls, irregular configurations, multi-story structures and structural infill panels. Along with the dramatically shorter design time, "we got a