SILVER SPRING, MD - The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association is pleased to announce the naming of staff engineer Karthik Obla, Ph.D., P.E., FACI to vice president, technical services. He previously served as managing director, research and materials engineering.
Obla has more than 18 years of experience in concrete technology and has interests in quality control, mix optimization, specifications, use of recycled materials and durability. He oversees NRMCA's concrete laboratory and research program, having increased the laboratory's participation in funded research through federal and other funding agencies and contract testing for NRMCA members. He has made contributions in the Association's P2P initiative and focused on improving quality in ready mixed operations. He is a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute and a winner of ACI's Young Professional Achievement Award. Obla is an active member of various ACI, ASTM and TRB technical committees and serves as chairman for ASTM C09.49 - Pervious Concrete and ACI 232 - Fly Ash. He has published over 50 technical articles in journals and has presented in several international conferences.
"We are very happy to announce this news," said NRMCA President Robert Garbini. "Karthik's leadership role in raising the profile of our research laboratory is a significant positive development for NRMCA. He has shown outstanding ability in this and his other responsibilities and we look forward to his continued contributions to the Association and ready mixed concrete industry as well."
Prior to joining NRMCA in 2003, Obla was technical manager at Boral Material Technologies for several years. He holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and is a licensed professional engineer in the states of Michigan and Maryland. He served as vice president and president for the ACI San Antonio Chapter.