Report of the 2023 RILEM Spring Convention

2023 RILEM Spring Convention & 4th International Congress on Materials & Structural Stability (CMSS23)

5-10 March 2023, Rabat, Morocco

The 2023 RILEM Spring Convention & 4th International Congress on Materials & Structural Stability (CMSS23) officially started on Sunday 5^th March, at the Faculty of Science of the University Mohammed V in Rabat, Morocco, with the first of many Standing Committee meetings, the EAC.

Standing Committee EAC

The discussion focused on the review of the ROC&TOK webinars, i.e. the performance of the past events and the schedule of upcoming ones, and the assessment of the past and future RILEM Youth Council (RYC) activities.

Some moments of the EAC meeting on Sunday 5^th March. Images courtesy of D. Ciancio.

The agenda of Monday 6 March was busier than Sunday, with the meetings of the Standing Committees DAC and TAC, and those of the RILEM Technical Committees PHC : Performance testing of hydraulic cements  (kick-off meeting), 282-CCL : Calcined Clays as Supplementary Cementitious Materials , and 303-PFC : Performance requirements and testing of fresh printable cement-based materials .

Standing Committee DAC

The membership of some DAC members is coming to an end:

• Dr Hiroyuki Miyauchi, DAC Expert, will be replaced by Prof. Paulina Faria.
• Eduardo M.R. Fairbairn, Brazil National Convener, will be replaced by Prof. Romildo D. Toledo Filho.

RILEM would like to thank Dr. Miyauchi and Prof. Fairbairn for their commitment and dedication within RILEM. Other replacements will be discussed at the 77^th RILEM Annual Week.

Other items that were examined were the RYC initiatives, and some financial and internal management matters. Two RYC members, Dr Rouba JOUMBLAT, RYC representative for the Middle East and North Africa, and Alexandr SURKOV, RYC representative for East Europe and Central Asia, attended the DAC meeting for the first time, together with Joanitta Ndawula, RYC Chair. On this matter, stay tuned as DAC approved the proposal to launch a RYC symposium!

Some moments of the DAC meeting on Monday 6 March. The meeting was held in hybrid mode. Images courtesy of D. Ciancio.

Standing Committee TAC

Some TCs were closed as they terminated their activities and others were assigned a number. You will read more about these in the following weeks. Two new RILEM TC proposals have been approved:

• TC RCC : Rolled compacted concrete for pavement applications , to be chaired by Christian Paglia, Cluster C
• TC ACP : Active Control of Properties of Fresh and Hardening Cementitious Materials , to be chaired by Geert De Schutter, Cluster A.

Some moments of the TAC meeting on Monday 6 March. The meeting was held in hybrid mode. Images courtesy of D. Ciancio.

Laurent Izoret Deputy-Chair of the TC PHC during the Kick off meeting of this TC. Images courtesy of W. Schmidt.

Tuesday 7 March was another busy day with the Development meeting, Bureau meeting, and the meeting of the following TCs: ADC : Assessment of Additively Manufactured Concrete Materials and Structures , MAE : Mechanical performance and durability assessment of earthen elements and structures , PCC : Pumping of concrete , and BEC : Bio-stabilised earth-based construction: performance-approach for better resilience .

RILEM Bureau meeting

Probably the main item in the agenda was the election by RILEM subscribing members of the recommending committee members, who will have the role of selecting the candidates for the next RILEM Vice President, to start his/her position by the end of 2024. Prof. Liberato Ferrara presented some details of the 2024 RILEM Spring Convention, which will take place in Milan, Italy. Also, Alexandra Bertron described the preliminary program and details of the 78^th RILEM Annual Week, in Toulouse, France, in 2024. Dr Salman Soleimani-Dashtaki gave some feedbacks on the ongoing organization of next RILEM Week, In Vancouver, in Sept 2023

Finally, on Wednesday 8 March, the 4th International Congress on Materials & Structural Stability (CMSS23) kicked off. The numbers of CMSS23 are the following: 12 plenary lectures (30 min), 20 key-note lectures (15 min), 540 delegates from 52 countries, 370 of them attending in person and 170 online), 453 accepted abstracts, 150 oral communications and 140 displayed posters. In the morning, the official opening was chaired by Prof. Abdeljebbar Diouri, conference Chair.

Opening of CMSS23 on Wed 8 March 2023. From the left: Prof. Abdeljebbar Diouri (Conference Chair, ASMATEC President), Prof. Mohammed Regragui (Dean of the Faculty of Science of Rabat), Prof. Farid El Bacha (President of the Mohammed V University in Rabat), Prof. Hassan Mahmoudi (Director of the Mohammadia School of Engineers, Rabat), Prof. Mohammed Sonebi (Scientific Committee Chair), Dr Nicolas Roussel (RILEM President). Image courtesy of CMSS23.

Delegates of CMSS23 in the Belmahi Amphitheatre, at the Faculty of Sciences of the Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco. Image courtesy of CMSS23.

The morning proceeded with two plenary lecturers by Prof. Karen Scrivener on “Strategy to reduce CO₂ emissions from concrete fast and at scale” and Prof. Nele De Belie on “Understanding the carbonation of concrete with supplementary cementitious materials”, followed by the lectures of the 2023 RILEM Colonnetti medallists: Dr Franco Zunino presenting “Physical chemistry of building materials - Ultra-Green concrete project” and Prof. Guoqing Geng presenting “How does new experimental method benefit our cement & concrete study”.

Prof. Enrico Sassoni, RILEM TAC Chair (in both pictures on the right) presenting Dr Franco Zunino (picture on the left) and Prof. Guoqing Geng (picture on the right) the RILEM Colonnetti medals and certificates. Image courtesy of CMSS23.

In the afternoon, the conference sessions continued at the Mohammadia School of Engineers, while simultaneously two more TCs held their meetings: PEM : Processing of earth-based materials and DCS : Data-driven concrete science. SCMM23 offered many more plenary, keynote and oral presentations until Friday 10 March. A detailed schedule of all the lectures is available here and the online abstract proceedings here.

Two workshops were also offered to the young delegates of the conference:

1. RILEM PhD and Post-doc workshop on 3D printing with concrete, chaired by Dr Nicolas Roussel and Prof. Rob Wolfs.
2. Springer workshop on publishing scientific research, chaired by Natalie Jacobs, Executive publisher at Springer.

The participants of the RILEM PhD and Post-doc workshop on 3D printing with concrete, chaired by Dr Nicolas Roussel, RILEM President, and Prof. Rob Wolfs. Image courtesy of I. Mai.

The gala dinner was offered at the palace Kabbaj, a majestic palace with the splendour of a royal mansion. The delegates were entertained by some musicians playing local traditional music and enjoyed some delicious Moroccan cuisine.

On the left: the RILEM Presidency together with the members of the CSMM23 organising committee; On the right, the venue of the CSMM23 gala dinner and the musicians in the background. Images courtesy of D. Ciancio.

This RILEM Spring convention was also the opportunity to present Prof. Konstantin Kovler the certificate of RILEM Honorary member and Dr Wolfram Schmidt the one of RILEM Fellow.

On the left: Dr Nicolas Roussel, RILEM President, presenting Prof. Konstantin Kovler the certificate of RILEM Honorary member; on the right, Prof. Hans Beushausen, DAC Chair, presenting Dr Wolfram Schmidt the certificate of RILEM Fellow. Images courtesy of D. Ciancio.

On Saturday 11 March, the delegates enjoyed a cultural excursion that took them through Volubilis up to Fes.

Delegates of CSMM23 enjoying the cultural visit on Saturday 11 March of Chellah, the oldest human settlement in Rabat. Image courtesy of CSMM23.

The next RILEM event will be the 77^th Annual Week Convention which will take place in Vancouver, Canada, from 4 to 8 September 2023. See you then, “inshallah”!