New Year Greetings for 2016
Hirozo Mihashi
President
I would like to wish you a Happy New Year.
At the beginning of the year, I hope all the Japan Concrete Institute (JCI) members and readers of this journal have a healthy and happy new year in 2016.
The year of 2015 was a very special year as we celebrated the 50th anniversary of JCI. We were grateful that we could hold the anniversary ceremony and banquet with many participants including honorary members and representatives from the partner organizations with academic agreements from all over the world on July 12th, JCI's foundation day. I would like to mention that we published the names of Lifetime Members which were newly established to celebrate the 50th anniversary at the ceremony in order to express our respects. On July 13th, two International Symposiums and the second ACI-JCI Joint Seminar were held. It was the first endeavor for us to prepare and hold three international symposiums and seminars with different themes at the same period of time. Also International Conference on the Regeneration and Conservation of Concrete Structures was held in Nagasaki at the beginning of June. Through these events, we realized the potential of our organization which has been supported by senior people's efforts for many years since the founding of JCI 50 years ago.
I want to inform you that we have put effort in developing a framework for contributions in the academic and technical fields. Especially I would like to focus on the certification and training of authorized concrete engineers, chief concrete engineers, and concrete diagnosis and maintenance engineers, as one of our essential activities which supports engineers who are engaged in concrete production, construction, and maintenance of concrete structures with the goal of improving reliability in society. As you know, concrete is the basic material for infrastructures and buildings in Japan. The role we have played to improve and develop its technology is growing increasingly in importance. The Japanese Government has processed a plan (Building National Resilience) for keeping its citizens safe and secure from natural disasters like the earthquakes that have occurred recently. The importance of maintaining and managing infrastructures, that were built many years ago, damaged, and deteriorated cannot be ignored.
In view of the situation, we held a joint lecture last year with a theme, "Plans and Activities that Contribute to Building National Resilience in the Field of Concrete Engineering and Future Tasks", with Japan Prestressed Concrete Institute and Japan Reinforcing Bar Joints Institute as one of the 50th anniversary events. This year, we will hold a lecture on March 22nd with a theme, "The Present Situation of Maintenance and Management of Concrete Structures." We would like you to participate in the lecture.
I think that it is no exaggeration to say that the level of specialized knowledge and technological capabilities of Japanese concrete engineers are leading the concrete industry in the world. We try to engage in many activities to help concrete engineers succeed in developing a high level of capability. We instituted the title of Fellow Member for members who have worked for us for over 30 years during our 50th anniversary. We are proceeding with some plans that will give these Fellow Members chances to display their experience and techniques in various ways. We will publish information about these plans in the journals and on the website. Please consider applying for the Fellow Membership which requires the personal statement.
In closing of the New Year greeting, I appreciate your support to the growth and development of Japan Concrete Institute.
