In the late 1970's CANMET initiated a major program of transfer of technology in the area of concrete, cementitious materials, and chemical admixtures. To achieve this, CANMET initiated a series of international conferences on the above subjects. In 1987, it initiated a new series of conferences on Durability of Concrete. The first conference in this series was sponsored by ACI and CANMET and was named Katharine and Bryant Conference On Durability of Concrete, and was held in Atlanta, USA, in 1987. Subsequently, these conference were named CANMET/ACI conference. The second conference in this series was held in Montreal in 1991. This was followed by the third conference in 1994 in Nice, France, the fourth conference in 1997 in Sydney, Australia, the fifth conference in 2000 in Barcelona, Spain, and the sixth conference in 2003 in Thessoloniki, Greece. The last conference in this series, the Seventh CANMET/ACI International on Durability of Concrete was held in 2006 in Montreal, Canada. After, this series of conferences was discontinued because of several administrative and policy changes at CANMET. Then in 2008, during a conference in China, a meeting was held between Harald Justnes, Stephan Jacobson and Per Jahren, all of Norway and myself to explore if the above series of conferences could be revived under a new sponsorship. This new series is a result of that important meeting in China. I am delighted that SINTEF and the University of Trondheim have seen fit to undertake the sponsorship of the conferences. I earnestly hope that this new series of conferences will be as successful as were the CANMET/ACI Conferences On Durability. I offer the New Organizing Committee my best wishes and a good start. Mohan Malhotra Chair, Committee for the organization of International Conferences formerly CANMET/ACI Conferences.

Mohan Malhotra
Chair, Committee for the organization of International Conferences formerly CANMET/ACI Conferences.