MBMA announces 2025 Architecture Faculty Workshop

The Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA) will once again hold its annual Architecture Faculty Workshop for college and university professors from across the country.

The 2025 MBMA Architecture Faculty Workshop takes place April 9 and 10 in Houston, Texas and is in partnership with the University of Houston Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design. Workshop attendees will also be able to tour the Keeland Lab at the University of Houston, and, at Rice University, the new Cannady Hall, and Sarofim Hall (under construction). Additionally, a local metal building manufacturing plant tour is scheduled. Registration for the program is now underway and there is no fee for architecture educators to attend.

“The annual MBMA Architecture Faculty Workshop is always a great benefit to the educational community, and even more so for those who are interested in our annual student design competition,” says W. Lee Shoemaker, Ph.D., P.E., MBMA Director of Research and Engineering. “Attendees not only learn more about metal building systems themselves, but they have helped their students learn and be successful in our design competition.”

The event is FREE(!) for everyone. For the first 25 registrants, all costs for travel, meals and lodging will be reimbursed by the Metal Building Manufacturers Association.

The workshop introduces metal building systems to faculty and presents ideas for integrating this popular building type into the curriculum. One focus of the workshop is the annual MBMA student design competition, underway during the fall academic semester, that awards more than $30,000 to undergraduate and graduate students and faculty sponsors. The workshop provides the background for faculty to serve as advisors for the competition.

The workshop begins with a look at market trends and an introduction to metal building systems. Additional presentations and speakers include the following:

• MBMA Student Design Competition Insights, Eric F. Pros, AIA, director of design, DS Architecture
• Design Competitions: Role of Faculty Advisors, Stephen Schreiber, FAIA, ACSA distinguished professor, chair of the Department of Architecture at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst
• Metal Building Designs – In and Out of the Classroom, by Donna Kacmar, FAIA, a professor at Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design at the University of Houston.
• Introducing Metal Building Concepts into Architecture Curriculum, by Greg Snyder, associate professor of Architecture and Undergraduate Program Director for the School of Architecture, University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

Attendees of the workshop will receive free publications and access to resources on metal buildings. On top of the presentations and university visits, a local metal building manufacturing plant tour is scheduled for Thursday morning.

“We look forward to hosting a range of academic leaders,” comments MBMA General Manager, Tony Bouquot. “Our competition is open to both graduate and undergraduate students, so educators at all levels can gain some important insights by attending.” He says that typical attendees include undergraduate and graduate college and university professors, graduate programs advisers, deans of architecture schools and practicing architecture professionals who are also adjunct professors.

About the Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA)

Founded in 1956, MBMA serves manufacturers and suppliers that work with industry professionals, architects, building designers, educators, building code officials and others to advance the metal building systems industry. The efforts of member volunteers and association staff regularly lead to industry improvements and groundbreaking research. Resources at MBMA.com include technical materials, research reports, videos and design guides. The MBMA News provides the most current research and new ideas to propel the industry. MBMA also provides graduate and undergraduate educational resources at MBMAeducation.org.