NRMCA’s Research, Engineering & Standards Committee has formed a Research Task Group to assist with the collaboration. The task group, chaired by Bruce Blair, President of Consumers Concrete in Kalamazoo, MI, has developed a list of needed concrete materials research topics, which is now available on the RMC Research & Education Foundation’s website along with other submittal guidance at https://rmc-foundation.org/submit-a-proposal/. While not a guarantee for funding of a particular topic or proposal, the list will give researchers interested in concrete materials research topics a better sense of what is needed by the industry at any current point in time and will be updated on a regular basis. The hope is that it will also generate more relevant and higher quality proposals for the Foundation and industry. The list, however, is not 
exclusive and only covers concrete materials research topics. The Foundation’s mission is to fund both research and education projects to increase the quality, sustainability and professionalism in the industry and researchers and consultants are welcome to submit ideas on a variety of topics that fit within that mission.
In addition to providing and updating the list of research needs, the Research Task Group will review conceptual proposals submitted. If there is sufficient interest and confirmation that the proposal is consistent with the research needs, the applicant will be invited to submit a full proposal which will be entered into the Foundation’s three-tiered approvals process. The task group may provide feedback on the direction of the research after the project is funded. The Task Group may review and comment on interim and final reports.
For more information on the RMC Research & Education Foundation’s programs and activities, visit www.rmc-foundation.org. For more information on NRMCA’s Research, Engineering & Standards Committee and its Research Task Group, contact Karthik Obla at [email protected] or visit https://www.nrmca.org/about-nrmca/committees/#res.
