History
The Section of Building Materials was formally established in 1952. It was the effect of the changes in the organization of the Committee on Civil Engineering of Polish Academy of Sciences. Professor Włodzimierz Skalmowski was appointed as the first Chairman of the Section. The real beginning of the Section activity can be dated, however, in year 1953, when the Commission of Concrete Technology was established by the Committee on Civil Engineering of PAS with professor Wenczesław Poniż as its Chairman. The Commission dealt with the problems of cement concrete designing. In particular, the Commission of Concrete Technology offered the critical overview of the known methods of concrete mix proportioning and the promotion of these recognised as the most effective. The members of the Commission were professors: Krystian Eyman, Tomasz Kluz, Bronisław Kopyciński, Władysław Kuczyński and Wacław Paszkowski. One of the later effects of this group activity was preparation of two volumes of the well-known Series „Concrete Construction” (by Arkady Publishers), namely: Volume I Concrete Technology (1963, in two parts), edited by professor Bronisław Bukowski and Volume VI Preparation, Transportation and Application of Concrete (1972), edited by professor Bronisław Kopyciński.
The Section of Building Materials was run under this name by professor Włodzimierz Skalmowski until 1969. This year, the next changes in the structure of the Committee took place and the Section of Construction Technology was established. The Section consisted of the Subsections of Building Chemistry, Building Physics and Sanitary Technology. The Chairman of the Section and also the Subsection of Building Chemistry, strongly connected to building materials science, was still professor Włodzimierz Skalmowski.
In 1972, already in the framework of the Committee on Civil Engineering and Hydroengineering, the Section of Physics and Chemistry of Buildings was established with professor Józef Kozierski as the Chairman. One of the groups within this Section was the Building Materials Group, run by professor Włodzimierz Skalmowski.
In 1975 the successive organisational changes brought the establishing of the Section of Materials Application in Construction; professor Władysław Muszyński was appointed as its Chairman. The initiative of the Section was to prepare the scientific expertise on Health Issues of Materials Used in Construction. The expertise was done in the years 1978-1980 under the chairmanship of professor Władysław Muszyński, the.The Section under this name functioned until 1996. The successive Chairmen were professors Władysław Muszyński (1972-1990), Zbigniew Mielczarek (1991-1992), Edward Szymański (1993-1998) and Lech Czarnecki (1999-2002).
The change in the character and range of the scientific activity of the society involved with construction materials science, which was observed over the years, was reflected in the new name taken by the Section in 2002, namely the Section of Building Materials Engineering. In 2002-2006 the Section was run by its previous Chairman, professor Lech Czarnecki. One of the most important initiatives of the Section in this period was the publication of the book Concrete According to the Standard PN-EN 206-1 – a Commentary. The book was prepared by the team of authors under the chairmanship of professor Lech Czarnecki and its publishing was highly appreciated among the society. The book was published in 2004, which means less than a year after issuing the first Polish edition of the new standard, as the common publication of Polish Cement Publishers and Polish Committee for Standardization.
In 2008, the Committee on Civil Engineering of PAS decided on establishing the Section of Building Materials Engineering and Buildings Physics. Professor Jacek Śliwiński was appointed as the Chairman of the Section for the years 2008-2010, while professor Janusz Szwabowski (Building Materials Engineering Group) and professor Piotr Klemm (Buildings Physics Group) took the positions of Vice-Chairmen and, simultaneously, the leaders of the Groups constituting the Section. The result of the last changes in the structure of the Committee was establishing, again, the Section of Building Materials Engineering for the years 2011-2014, with professor Jacek Śliwiński as the Chairman.
The text has been prepared, among others, on the basis of:
A collaborative publication:
50 Years of Activity of Committee on Civil Engineering and Hydroengineeringof PAS,
Warszawa 2002, ISSN 0137-5393
Aims and forms of activity of the Section
The basic aims of the activity of the Section can be listed as follows:
- integration of the society as well as the exchange of the information on the scientific and research activity of the teams led by the Section members and its results,
- identification of important and up-to-date research problems and dissipation of the knowledge on these problems in the society,
- fostering the possible initiatives in the range of expertises, publications, research projects, etc.,
- organization of the workshops for young scientists, including Ph.D. students.
The basic forms of activity of the Section are as follows:
- plenary meetings (3 or 4 within the year) with presentations of the important and up-to-date research topics, as well as the achievements of the Section members and their teams,
- work in groups dedicated to specific topics,
- collaboration with other Sections of the Committee in the range of the common interests.
The Section meetings are open events, it means that every member may invite the other persons according to his/her own recognition.
The purposes of the Section in the term 2016-2020
- preparation of the reports addressed to the society on:
- Building materials of new generation and present status of their implementation in the Polish construction,
- Present status and prospects of the use of the waste materials in the domestic building materials industry,
- preparation, as the collaborative work, of the manual for the civil engineers entitled Durability of Building Materials,
- organization of the workshop for the Ph.D. students and young scientists on theselected problems of physics and chemistry of the cement-based materials,
- constant patronage and co-operation in organization of the cyclic conferences:
- the conference Concrete Days – Tradition and Modernity, 2016, 2018 and 2020,
(organizer: Polish Cement Association), - the symposium Rheology in Concrete Technology, 2017 and 2017
(organizers: SilesianUniversityof Technology, Górażdże Cement S.A), - the conference Material Problems in Civil Engineering MATBUD, 2018
(organizer: CracovUniversityof Technology)
- the conference Concrete Days – Tradition and Modernity, 2016, 2018 and 2020,