News Detail

We're Still ACI International

1/1/2008

Beginning in 1991, for 12 years the ACI logo included the word "International." In 2003, after discussions by the ACI Board of Direction, "International" was quietly dropped-not because of a desire on the part of the Institute to become less engaged around the world, but more in recognition that, as a truly international organization, ACI did not need to add an extra word to its title to prove that it was so. In fact, if anything, ACI has become even more broadly engaged around the world over the last 5 years.

ACI's international connections include our international chapters, our international partners, and providing leadership in building code development, as well as through individuals who serve within ACI's broad committee structure.

ACI currently has 33 chapters outside the borders of the U.S. and Canada, including chapters in Mexico, Central and South America, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Europe. We maintain regular personal contact with our international chapters through Chapter Roundtables, just as we do with chapters in North America.

As I mentioned in the November President's Memo, ACI Executive Vice President Bill Tolley and I, along with Manager of Chapter and Student Activities Tom Adams, attended a roundtable in Athens where we were joined by members from 10 chapters: China, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Italy, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. Bill, Tom, and I not only had a great time as we were well hosted by the Hellas (Greece) Chapter, we had a chance to work with some of the most enthusiastic ACI members that I know.

At the roundtable, we discussed a number of subjects, but perhaps the most important involved each chapter presenting an overview of their activities followed by an active discussion of how the chapters can work together on programs of mutual interest. Out of that discussion came a new format for the roundtables, and in 2009, when we meet again in that part of the world, the International Chapter Roundtable will be preceded by a 1-day technical seminar organized by the participating chapters that will include participation by the ACI President.

Beyond the chapters, we work closely with our International Partners. To date, ACI has signed memoranda of understanding with 14 international organizations. In most but not all cases, these agreements are with groups in countries that do not have an ACI chapter. In a number of cases, however, as with the Japan Concrete Institute, Korea Concrete Institute, and Taiwan Concrete Institute, ACI chapters played key roles in our partners' formation. In Japan and Korea, the new organization assumed the role of the ACI chapter, which then dissolved. A key goal of our international partner agreements is finding areas of mutual interest for cooperation, collaboration, and communication, which ties in with ACI's vision of a unified concrete community made up of equal partners worldwide. The agreements represent an important step toward achieving this goal.

Another area in which ACI is active is that of providing international leadership in concrete technology and building code development. ACI currently holds the secretariat of ISO/TC 71, the Technical Committee on Concrete, Reinforced Concrete, and Prestressed Concrete. The committee meets every 18 months at locations around the world. The next meeting is scheduled for March in Los Angeles, just before our next convention. As summarized by ACI Past President Jim Cagley in one of his President's Memos, the meetings provide a "tremendous opportunity for concrete experts from around the world to get together and discuss not only the preparation of standards, but common issues involving concrete and the use of concrete." This interaction can only strengthen the quality of concrete construction around the globe.

Finally, ACI maintains strong international connections through its committee structure. Those connections recognize the benefits that can be achieved through the broadest possible exchange of ideas. One of the best examples is ACI Committee 318, Structural Concrete Building Code. When the newly reconstituted committee, a committee with a long history of membership throughout the Americas, meets at the ACI Spring 2008 Convention in Los Angeles, it will have its first voting member from outside the Western Hemisphere.

We have gained, and continue to gain, a great deal from our international connections, and although our logo no longer carries the word, we are still ACI International!

David Darwin
American Concrete Institute
daved@ku.edu

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