Presenter Information
Name: Charles Nmai and Prakash Surali
Title: Dr. Charles Nmai and Dr. Shashiprakash (Prakash) Surali, BASF Construction Chemicals, LLC
Background: Dr. Charles Nmai, P.E., M.ASCE, FACI is Manager, Engineering Services within the Admixture Systems group of BASF Construction Chemicals, LLC, in Cleveland, Ohio, where he is responsible for providing technical leadership and strategic guidance in the marketing of admixtures and high-performance concrete technologies. Dr. Nmai also coordinates specification efforts and related activities in industry technical bodies for rapid acceptance of new technologies within the concrete industry. With extensive experience in admixtures, high-performance concretes, concrete durability and troubleshooting, he has authored/co-authored numerous papers and lectures frequently on these subjects. In addition, he has served on a number of expert panels for FHWA, IPRF and NCHRP research projects. He is currently an instructor for the “Troubleshooting Concrete Construction” seminar offered by the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and is actively involved in technology transfer activities related to self-consolidating concrete (SCC), having spearheaded the development of a comprehensive FHWA seminar on the technology to facilitate acceptance and use by State Departments of Transportation. Dr. Shashiprakash (Prakash) Surali, P.E., CDT is a Senior Engineer at BASF Construction Chemicals, LLC. in Cleveland, Ohio where he provides specification support to architects and engineers, advanced technical support to customers and, serves as technical consultant on marketing initiatives. As part of his responsibilities, he provides review of Concrete and Masonry Specifications to architects, engineers and specifiers. He obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Civil Engineering and Prestressed Concrete, respectively, from Bangalore University, Bangalore, India and his Doctoral Degree in the area of Concrete Technology from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. He has about 20 years of international experience in the areas of chemical admixtures, supplementary cementitious materials and durability of concrete. He has worked in research and development, testing, construction, and technical services. Prakash is a licensed professional engineer in the State of Texas and a certified Construction Documents Technologist. He is also an active member of ACI Committees 350, Environmental Structures and 362, Parking Structures. He has about 30 publications to his credit.
