Prof. Dhir is one of the most senior experts if it comes to concrete.He has taken an interest in the Nashik Fly Ash recycling project since its inception. He had been the key speaker on Fly Ash in concrete seminars and conferences all over the world. Just recently he visited Nashik again to supervise and advise on some testing regimes regarding DIRK's research and development work.

Professor Emertitus Ravindra Kumar Dhir OBE is an internationally acknowledged scholar and practitioner in concrete science, technology and construction. He was the founding Director of the Concrete Technology Unit (CTU) which he founded in 1988 within the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Dundee. He successfully pioneered an approach to research and its dissemination based on industrial partnership, through which the CTU has become a £15m Centre of Excellence with state of the art research facilities. This won him the awards from the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and the British Cement Association. He has also established a £450k Centre for the Development of SMEs in Concrete Construction and is currently working on two new initiatives, (a) UK/Far East Higher Education Collaboration and (b) Globalisation of research, supported by the Scottish Enterprise. Professor Dhir is acting currently as Director of the consultancy company Applying Concrete Technology Ltd.and President of the UK concrete Society.

Awards / Honours

• 1994. Honorary Fellowship of the Institute of Concrete Technology, for outstanding services to Concrete Technology and ability to relate research to industrial applications.
• 1998 and 1999. DTI's Secretary of State Award for innovative partnership with industry, with particular emphasis on environment sustainability, industrial innovation and quality of life, as well as dissemination of knowledge.
• 2000. OBE, for services of concrete technology.
• 2001. BCA Award, for targeting technology transfer.
• 2003. Beacon Award from the RMC Environmental Fund, for a sustainability programme.

Member, CIRIA Committee - Early Age Thermal Cracking
Member, CIRIA's Environment/Sustainability Advisory Panel
Member, Concrete Society Materials Group
Member, BSI/CEN TC51/WG12/TG5, Performance-based tests related to corrosion of reinforcement