David Ball of David Ball Group plc elected as president of the Concrete Society

Aug. 10, 2010 - PRLog -- David Ball, chairman of the David Ball Group plc (incorporating PUDLO), has been elected as president of the Concrete Society taking over the role from Professor Ravindra Dhir.

Mr Ball has been a member of the Concrete Society for 15 years and a director since 2005. He also heads the Society’s International Development Group.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Ball said: “I am honoured and delighted to be appointed as the Concrete Society’s new president in these particularly challenging times for construction. I feel especially pleased as a representative of the manufacturing sector to be entrusted with the role and to follow an illustrious line of consulting engineers and academics who have steered the society so ably as past presidents.”

In his inaugural speech, Mr Ball spoke about the challenges of the year ahead, outlining areas where he is keen to drive development as president. These include enhancing the experience of membership, improving education and training in the industry - the Society is already developing a range of new industry qualifications for concrete technologists and engineers to PhD level - and raising the profile of the Society both domestically and internationally. He is also dedicated to pushing forward with the society’s work to demonstrate the sustainable credentials of concrete as a building material.

Mr Ball has just completed a two-year term as chair of the Concrete Bridge Development Group, chairing its technical working group which developed and wrote the seminal ‘Guide to Testing and Monitoring the Durability of Concrete Structures’. He is a member of the Basement Information Centre and serves on the BSI technical committee for BS8102 (‘Code of Practice for Protection of Below Ground Structures against Water from the Ground’). He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management and a Fellow of the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).

Mr Ball has been a passionate advocate of concrete engineering for over 40 years during a career dedicated to advancing materials technology for construction and industrial applications.