Grey Matters, NRMCA and Dubai Municipality hosted the 10th International Concrete Technology Forum in the Middle East at Roda Al Bustan Hotel in Dubai, UAE on the 21st – 22nd of November, 2018. The conference was a big success being sponsored by 13 companies with 246 attendees. The engagement of the people throughout the 2 days was remarkable; everyone showed interest in all presentations and panel discussions.

The International Concrete Technology Forum was endorsed by the “Concrete Sustainability Council”. The platinum sponsors were “Emirates Beton” and “Sika”; the gold sponsors were “Mapei”, “S.S.Lootah Ready Mix Concrete”, “Hydronix” and “Simatec”; the silver sponsors were “Cortec”, “Transgulf Readymix”, and “Testing”; and the bronze sponsors were “Cemex”, “Q Mix Ready Mix Manufacturing” and “RMB Readymix Concrete”.

Local, Regional and International speakers shared the latest developments and technologies of concrete including sustainability initiatives, durability, design, specifying, manufacturing and handling. 3D Printing Technology was an important topic that was presented for the first time. A 3D printer was supplied by Sika and prototype concrete samples were printed live in their stand. Emirates Beton has constructively presented the smear approach in managing the solid and water waste in their plants for the last twelve months. Numbers and values were shared to validate the idea of ultimate savings. Building Department of Dubai Municipality shared the updates of the “DM Calculator” that was launched earlier this year based on the “Dubai Sustainable Concrete Baseline”, followed by a Q/A panel. At the end of the first day, a graduation ceremony took place for the 5th batch of NRMCA Certified Concrete Professional Middle East (CCPfME).

On the second day, a panel discussion entitled “DM-DCLD Best Performance Award and Recent Scheme Updates” was held, where the Dubai Central Laboratory presented the current status of the classification of readymix and precast factories.

For the third year, the “Dubai Municipality Awards” for ready mix concrete and precast companies in Dubai took place and the winners were announced. Six awards were granted to the ready mix concrete and precast companies (3 levels of awards for each), evaluating the performance in achieving the Dubai Central Laboratory Certification under the Dubai Municipality Standard Specification, DMS 026.

The International Concrete Technology Forum is designed to provide networking and learning opportunities, where attendees received 10 professional development hours (PDH’s).

This event has proven to be the platform where all the industry meets annually and spends 2 days of intensive networking and exchanging technical as well as business related information. Researches, authorities, academics, engineers, architect, contractors, concrete producers, material suppliers and concrete industry professions attended the International Concrete Technology Forum and were part of this networking platform.

The 2019 Conference date will be announced end of January 2019.

Prepared by Sarah Zgheib