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The Conference on Our World in Concrete & Structures
Singapore
Brief Milestone since 1976
The idea to provide a platform for academicians, professors, researchers, practitioners,
architects, builders, contractors, developers, engineers, manufacturers, ready-mixed concrete
producers and suppliers, technologists and all those interested and involved in concrete to
gather together and to meet regularly and exchange views on the latest progress and
development made in concrete technology was conceived in 1975.
The initial responses were not encouraging especially from the professionals in Singapore, but
the ready-mixed concrete industry saw the 'goodness' of the idea and answered the 'call' to
sponsor a one-day seminar on Our World in Concrete as presented by CI-Premier Conference
Organisation. This sponsorship support paved the way for more indepth discussion with the
academicians and the idea became reality when Professor Lee Seng Lip, then the head of the
department of civil engineering at the then University of Singapore consented to be the
Seminar Advisor to formulate the technical programme.
The inaugural seminar was held on 28 August 1976 with Professor T Y Lin and Professor Lee
Seng Lip providing the first keynote papers.
It has since gone a long way and the support from the professionals and other allied sectors of
the industry started to come in and the one-day seminar on concrete technology was enlarged
to a two-day conference to include discussions in concrete structures as well.
The Conference initiated the idea of the creation of a concrete institute in Singapore and in
1978, the Singapore Concrete Institute was formed. Only in 1984 the Singapore Concrete
Institute and the American Concrete Institute officially joined in the ranks as sponsors of the
Conference.
In 1983 the Conference Concrete Awards scheme was instituted but only in 1984, three
RMCAS Awards were bestowed on original and outstanding papers presented at the
Conference.
In 1986, the Cement Manufacturers Association of Singapore and the Prestressed and
Precast Society of Singapore join the sponsoring group.
In 1988, the Conference became truly international when the Japan Concrete Institute
became its first overseas support Organisation. Since then 13 other concrete and
engineering associations, institutes, societies from around the world, are giving their support
making the conference a truly international event.
In 1996, the Conference came of age and introduced the first 'Young Concrete Researcher
Award.
In 1997, the Singapore Granite Suppliers' Association joined the sponsorship of the
Conference.
1998 saw the expansion of the event to embrace the first CONCRETE WEEK of SI NGAPORE
incorporating the Concrete Industry Dinner, pre- and post- conference symposia, workshops
and specialty events lasting for a whole week.
The Conference celebrated its 25th Anniversary at the turn of the twentieth century with four
Concrete Industry Recognition Awards presented at the grand Conference Industry Dinner.
The first CONFERENCE LECTURE was introduced.
The new millennium gave the Conference new dimensions. The support and contribution of many
Professionals, Professors and Organisations are now measured, not in years, but decades, and the
Conference decided to 'dedicate' the Conference as an honour and recognition to their contribution
and support. In 2001, the conference was dedicated to Prof Franco Mola, Politecnic di Milano, Italy
and in 2002, the dedication was made to Prof G M Sabnis, Howard University, USA.
In 2003, the Conference was dedicated to the JAPAN CONCRETE INSTITUTE for their 17 years of
support and contribution, JCI sponsored a keynote speaker to each of past conference and also
sponsored the JCI-OWICS Award for an original and outstanding paper presented at the
Conference since 1991.
Prof S Ikeda, the one who linked the JCI to OWICS was accorded the honour to deliver the
CONFERENCE LECTURE 2003.
For 15 years of continuous support and contribution towards the success of the Conference, the
2004 Conference was dedicated to the INDIAN CONCRETE INSTITUTE in 2004 and the President
Prof M C Tandon was in attendance to present the ICI-OWICS Dedication Lecture.
Mr C R Alimchandani, another stalwart of the Conference series, delivered the 2004
CONFERENCE LECTURE.
Prof Emeritus Seng Lip Lee returned to deliver the 30th Anniversary Lecture and the celebration was
marked with the full attendance of the 4 previous Conference Lecturers, viz: Prof F Mola, Prof G M
Sabnis, Prof S Ikeda and Mr C R Alimchandani and they joined the ranks of Honorary Chairmen.
The 30th Conference in 2005 was dedicated to the 5 support Organisations in Singapore viz:
The Ready-Mixed Concrete Association of Singapore
The American Concrete Institute-Singapore Chapter
The Singapore Concrete Institute
The Prestressed & Precast Concrete Society
The Cement Association of Singapore
With this special recognition, the 7 Organisations viz: the RMCAS, ACI-SC, SCI, PPCS, CAS, JCI
and ICI were made OWICS Organisation Advisors;
W R Grace Singapore Pte Ltd and BASF Construction Chemicals Singapore Pte Ltd were specially
recognised as OWICS Corporate Advisors.
The following Individuals received the special recognition as OWICS Advisors, viz
Yukio Aoyagi, Japan; Ken Day, Australia; Willie Kay, Singapore; Robert G Lee, USA; Steven Loh,
Singapore Hoe-Peng Lim, Singapore; Kiat-Huat Seow, Singapore; Chris Stanley, Hong Kong; and
Teng Hooi Tan, Singapore.
5 Concrete Awards were bestowed on original and outstanding technical papers, and the W R
Grace Young Concrete Researcher Award 2005 was awarded to Mr Kyaw Myint-Lay, National
University of Singapore.
After three decades, the OWICS Conference went into a new dimension to give special recognition
to a prominent engineer who had made significant contribution to the concrete in the Country. The
31 st Conference in 2006 identified and honoured Mr Lau Joo Meng, the deputy CEO (Building) of the
Housing and Development Board, Singapore for his outstanding efforts and contribution in placing
Singapore in the world map for the 'Housing for the People' programme.
The conference was honoured with his rendition of 4 major lectures viz:
*Blueprints for Success - Singapore's Public Housing Development
*System and Technology Development for our Quality Public Housing
*Maintenance and Performance Strategy for Public Housing Development
*Innovative Research & Development in a World Class Public Housing
including the launching of his publication.
The Concrete Quiz for tertiary Institutions was terminated and the 'slot' was replaced by an
interesting ROUND TABLE DIALOGUE on 'Housing for the Nation', sponsored by the Singapore
Concrete Institute.
Other highlights of the 2006 conference included the 6 keynote lectures from Prof F Mola, Italy and
Mr C R Alimchandani, India, both are Hon. OWICS Advisors, Mr Chris Stanley Hong Kong, an
OWICS Advisor; Dr 0 Wallevik, Icelan, Prof F Tomsawa, President of Japan Concrete Institute and
Mr Bishwadip Sen, Presdient of Indian Concrete Institute.
8 Concrete Awards were accorded to original and outstanding technical papers including the
WRGrace Young Concrete Researcher Award to Ms Sayoko Tachibana, Kanazawa University,
Japan for her paper on 'Experimental study on the impact behavior and performance of reinforced
concrete beam with some absorbing materials.
Another milestone in the conference agenda was the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding
between the Singapore Concrete Institute and the Indian Concrete Institute.
In view of the many other international conferences of specialty topics initiated from OWICS, viz
Conferences on "Inspection, Appraisal, Repairs and Maintenance of Structures", the "Fibre
Reinforced Materials", the "Conceptual Approach to Structures Design", the "Recent Advances in
Concrete Technology", "The Concrete Future" and others, the steering committee created the
OWICS LECTURE SERIES which will be featured in these specialty conferences. The speaker of
the OWICS LECTURE must be one of the ADVISORS of OWICS (be it an Honorary Chairmen,
Organisation, Corporate or Individual Advisor).
To kick-start the series, Dr C T Tam, who was instrumental in establishing the Conference Series on
"Inspection, Appraisal, Repairs and Maintenance of Structures" (celebrating its ten presentation in
Hong Kong in October 2006) presented the first OWICS LECTURE on "Uncertainties in Assessing
In-Situ Concrete Strength"
The second OWICS LECTURE entitled "Recent development of hybrid technology in the
construction of prestressed concrete bridges" was presented by Prof Shoji Ikeda (an Hon. OWICS
Advisor) at the inaugural International Conference on RECENT ADVANCES IN CONCRETE
TECHNOLOGY on 19-21 September 2007 in Washington DC, U.S.A.
56 papers (the Conference Lecture 2007, 10 keynote papers and 45 technical papers) from 21
countries (Algeria, Australia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland,
India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan,
United Kingdom and USA) focused on ready-mixed technology and all other aspects of concrete
and structural design, construction, materials, etc were presented and published in Volume XXVI
of the Proceedings referenced by ISBN.
OW07 Conference was dedicated to Mr Chris Stanley, for his significant support and contribution to
OWICS for over 20 years and he will deliver the CONFERENCE LECTURE entitled, 'Concrete can
be beautiful - the role of surface finishes in enhancing the appearance of concrete'
In response to the theme READY-MIXED CONCRETE TECNOLOGY, Mr Stanley delivered a
second paper on 'Ready Mixed Concrete in the 21st Century.
To support Mr Stanley, there were 10 other keynote presentations by Prof Y Tsuji representing
the Japan Concrete Institute; Prof F Mola, Italy; Mr C R Alimchandani, India; Dr 0 Wallevik,
Iceland; Prof N Otsuki, Japan, Prof P Stepanek, Czech Republic; Prof Issam Harik, USA; Mr
Desmond King, Singapore, Prof M Collepardi, Italy and Mr Ken Day, Australia.
The Conference created two new Awards for original and highly commendable papers presented.
ELKEM Materials S.E.A. sponsored one and HOLCIM sponsored the other but qualified that the
award was for papers on "Sustainability". A total of 11 concrete awards are available at OW07
Conference, however only 6 papers were nominated.
The READY MIXED CONCRETE ASSOCIATION OF SINGAPORE 'hosted' the SPECIAL
READY-MIXED CONCRETE ROUND TABLE DIALOGUE, where a selected panel answered
and discussed Ready-mixed concrete for the tropics, Ready-mixed concrete for infrastructure
development, New construction materials for ready-mixed concrete, Ready-mixed concrete - a
global perspective, New test methods and Production and quality control
Elkem Materials S.E.A. gave the support as the SILVER CO-SPONSOR with Max Frank GmbH
& Co KG and ConTech Pte Ltd as Exhibitors
THE OW08 CONFERENCE was dedicated to Prof Nobuaki Otsuki, Tokyo Institute of
Technology, Japan in recognition of his support & contribution continuously for the past fifteen
years. He delivered the OW08 CONFERENCE LECTURE on the topic "30 years' research on the
durability of port & harbor structures".
In his honour 'a special dedication session' by his past graduates was presented, viz:
Takahiko Amino, Toa Corporation, Japan; Melito A Baccay, Technological University of the
Philippines, Philippines; Ronaldo S Gallardo, De La Salle University, Philippines; P
Kamhangrittirong, Kasetsart University, Thailand; Keiyu Kawaai, Chiyoda Corporation, Japan;
Tsuyoshi Saito, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
The special emphasis theme for OW08 on "SUSTAINABILlTY" received great support from the
industry with the theme lecture on 'Sustainable Construction and Development' delivered by Prof
Holger Wallbaum ETH, Switzerland (Dr Wallbaum was invited by Holcim Singapore Pte Ltd this
occasion and joined the Conference's 'Round Table Dialogue' on Sustainability, too.
OWICS-2009 on 16-18 August continues this focus with GREEN CONCRETE as its theme. As
indicated in the web page of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association of U.S.A.,
concrete is increasingly being recognized for its strong environmental benefits in support of
creative and effective sustainable development. When considering the lifetime environmental
impact of a building material -- extraction, production, construction, operation, demolition and
recycling -- concrete is an excellent choice to meet these goals. Concrete has been the
construction material of choice and it is the view of many that it will continue to play the lead
role in building infrastructure for future generations. Our built environment must be able to
accommodate our modern and demanding lifestyles whilst ensuring that the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs is not compromised.
The conference is dedicated to Mr Ken Day, Consultant, Australia in recognition of his support
and contribution to OWICS for more than twenty-five years.
He will deliver the OW09 CONFERENCE LECTURE on the theme topic "GREEN CONCRETE"
The concrete world is in a period of turmoil with buzzwords being sustainability; greenhouse gas;
carbon taxes; high strength; low variability; self-compaction; fine particles; cement replacement;
geopolymers; P2P; fibres; e-crete and i-crete. What will the future bring-FUTURECRETE? Ken
Day will polish up his crystal ball and attempt to provide some answers at OWICS 09.
Er John S Y Tan, Conference Director
(Updated 05 August 2009) |
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