Engineers, scientists, professors, students, government officials, and industry leaders thronged the venue in Mumbai, as the second edition of the R. N. Raikar Memorial International Conference mesmerised an audience of over 600 technocrats from around 30 nations, including host country – India.

Concrete stalwarts travelled across continents and seas to reach Mumbai where two full days of technology transfer took place with Indian and International experts presenting advances in concrete technology. Some of the countries participating in the event included USA, Canada, Mexico from the Americas, the UK, Italy, France, Spain, Norway, Netherlands, Turkey from Europe; UAE, Israel, Oman from the Middle East; Egypt from Africa; India, Bangladesh, Nepal from the Indian Region; and Korea, Singapore, China, Thailand, Australia, Japan from the Far East. 

R. N. Raikar, after whom the conference was named, had during his lifetime consistently strived to honour persons of Indian origin making exemplary contributions to the concrete field. In its blockbuster debut in 2013, the first R. N. Raikar Memorial International Conference had celebrated the achievements of Prof. Surendra P. Shah – one of the world’s greatest concrete technologists.  This second edition of the conference felicitated two concrete stalwarts – Prof. Nemkumar Banthia and Prof. P. A. Muhammed Basheer by organising the Banthia-Basheer International Symposium during the two-day concrete event.

Prof. Banthia has actively pursued research in the areas of cement-based and polymer-based fibre reinforced composites. He has developed a number of novel fibres for concrete and shotcrete reinforcement that are now being used in numerous large projects around the world. Prof. Basheer is most known for his seminal research on concrete materials. His patents have been successfully utilised worldwide by two spin-out companies. Both experts were felicitated for their contribution to education, research and technology transfer in the field of concrete and concrete structures.

The R. N. Raikar Memorial International Conference and the Banthia-Basheer International Symposium on Concrete Technology was organised by the India Chapter of American Concrete Institute (ICACI) and sponsored by the parent body, the American Concrete Institute (ACI). It had widespread appeal with top institutions too lending their support such as the Institute of Concrete Technology, London; Asian Concrete Foundation; Instituto Mexicano del Cemento y del Concreto, Mexico; Leeds University UK; Japan Concrete Institute; Korea Concrete Institute; International Union of Laboratories & Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures, France; Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI); Builders Association of India; Indian Concrete Institute; and Institute for Research, Development and Training of Construction Trade and Management, Bangalore.

Conference Chair, Dr. Surendra Manjrekar noted, “Indian leadership in cement and construction industry is crucial for global sustainable development. Thus the creation of this ‘Expressway’ of knowledge transfer assumes great importance. All our international delegates are essentially ‘technocrat ambassadors’ of their respective countries, and together we are creating an information pool to be handed over to our respective government bodies and private nation builders as a ready reckoner to assist in policy making. I believe our efforts will benefit proactive government bodies and industry, and these R. N. Raikar conferences, besides being of great academic importance, will definitely impact the lives of people of India and other participating countries.”

ICACI constituted an International Scientific Committee to vet the technical papers for the conference document. In a first, ICACI also set up a separate international editorial board to evaluate technical submissions by various participating countries, including India, for inclusion in the International journals of Construction & Building Materials (UK) and Cement and Concrete Research (USA).