FIND A CONTRACTOR BUYER'S GUIDE
BECOME AN INDUSTRY PARTNER
MCAA Logo
MEMBER LOGIN JOIN
NEWS
The 2026 MCAA Annual Online Auction ↗

ASU Sigmon Design Competition 2013

Words: Lynn NashSeniors Ryan Stell, second from left, and Michael (Tony) Washington, third from left, are the winners of the second annual Appalachian State University NCMCA Sigmon Memorial Design Competition held in Boone in March. Stell and Washington will share a semester's tuition as their prize.

Twelve teams participated in the competition to design and model a hypothetical masonry in-fill building section as a graded assignment in the ASU Senior Architectural Design Studio II class.

Pictured above from left to right, David Jason Miller, ASU Assistant Professor of Building Science; Stell and Washington; Past NCMCA President Doug Burton, Chairman of the Sigmon Design Competition, who served as judge for the completion; and Jeff Tiller, PE, Chairman, ASU Department of Technology and Environmental Design.

ASU Professor Lee Ball and former architecture student Miles Smith joined Burton in judging the projects.

The Sigmon Memorial Scholarship Design Competition, now at ASU and at NC State University, is named in memory of brothers Dwyane and David Sigmon, and Dwayne’s son Randy.
 0
CMU Partitions: How Much Reinforcement Is Actually Required?
February 2026

Walk onto almost any job site and you’ll find masons laying out interior partitions much the same way they did decades ago. The work looks straightforward: stack the units, strike clean joints, and keep the wall plumb. And the function of these partitions

Technical Talks
Read More
MASONRY STRONG Podcast, Episode 37 Recap: Starling Johnson, VP of Sales at STALITE Lightweight Aggregate
February 2026

On this episode of the MASONRY STRONG Podcast, Starling Johnson joins the set in Indianapolis to talk about her path within masonry, sales in this industry, and life outside of work.

Justin Stengel
The MASONRY STRONG Podcast
Read More
Masonry Restoration: Why Walls Fail and How We Fix Them
February 2026

Masonry doesn’t crack. Old brick never has issues. Every masonry wall lasts 100 years or more… right? If only that were true. Masonry is one of the most durable building materials ever used, but like all construction, it responds to time, movement, mo

MAP Partner
Read More
MCAA President Jeff Buczkiewicz Testifies To Congress On AI In Masonry
February 2026

On February 11, 2026, Jeff Buczkiewicz, President and CEO of the Mason Contractors Association of America (MCAA), testified before the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. He spoke during a hearing titled “Building an AI-Ready America: Safer Workp

Legislative
Read More