Sunday, April 19, 2009

Society & Sustainability: A Holistic Approach


Dr. Kumar Mehta is Professor Emeritus in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley. On his retirement in 1993, after 30 years of teaching and research in concrete technology, he was awarded the Berkeley Citation - the highest camus honor for contributions to his field and to the University. In 2006, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Coal Combustion Products Partnership in recognition of his
outstanding research for decades on the use of fly ash in structural concrete. He was also elected an Honorary Member of the American Concrete Institute. He is a member of the ACI Committee on Sustainable Development.

In response to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC’s) effort to find solutions in reducing atmospheric build up of green-house gases from man-made sources,
Kumar Mehta will present, on Septermber 20, 2009 in Santiago, Chile, a roadmap and will discuss the tools by which the carbon emissions attributable to the concrete industry can be cut by half in the next 20 years.

Dr. Mehta is also credited for the foundation design of the Iraivan (Shiva) Temple in Hawaii, the first all-stone Hindu temple in America.