India Chapter of ACI has always endeavoured to provide technical, networking and growth opportunities to fulfil its motto “Progress through Knowledge” by means of organising conferences and technical lectures for the construction industry.

Under the present leadership of President, Dr. Raghuvir Salkar, and the Board of Direction, India Chapter of ACI successfully organised its first Evening Technical Lecture by Prof. Venkatesh Kodur and Dr. Ramkumar Natarajan at the Roof Top Hall, Hotel Grande Delmon, Panaji, Goa on Tuesday, 17th December 2019.

The event began at 6:30 pm with the Vice President, Mr. Sunny Surlaker welcoming the speakers on the dais and introducing them to the construction fraternity of Goa. The President and the Hon. Secretary presented a bouquet of flowers to welcome the speakers.

Hon. Secretary Mr. Sourabh Manjrekar made a presentation on the activities of India Chapter of ACI which included worldclass international conferences, ACI Certification Courses conducted by the chapter,a very active student chapters’ program, the construction supervisor’s training program, International Projects Award Program. He encouraged and invited the audience to join India Chapter of ACI and actively become part of the chapter’s programs.

Prof. Venkatesh Kodur made a very spirited presentation on “Strategies toEnhance Fire Resistance and Resiliency of Modern Concrete Structures”.  Dr. Ramkumar presented a lecture on “SlagCem” – a new construction material.

Dr. Venkatesh Kodur is a University Distinguished Professor of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan State University. He also serves as Director of the Centre on Structural Fire Engineering and Diagnostics at Michigan State University. His research interests include: Evaluation of fire resistance of structural systems through large scale fire experiments and numerical modeling and Characterization of materials under high temperature. His research contributions has led to the development of fundamental understanding on the fire behavior of material and structural systems and also resulted in numerous design approaches and innovative and cost-effective solutions for enhancing fire-resistance of structural systems.  He has published over 400 peer-reviewed papers in journals and conferences, and has given numerous invited key-note presentations.

The lecture function was widely attended by about 100+ delegates from Goa, Mumbai, Kolhapur, and Odisha.  The lectures were very well appreciated by the attendees.

As a gesture of appreciation, The President felicitated Dr. RamkumarNatarajan and Prof. Venkatesh Kodur by handing over a souvenir and a plaque.

Vice President, Mr. Sunny Surlaker proposed a Vote of Thanks. The function concluded with cocktails and dinner.