History of the Society for Testing and Research of Materials and Structures of Serbia – DIMK Serbia -

The work of this Society in Serbia builds upon the work of the Association of Yugoslav Laboratories – SJL, and later the Yugoslav Society for Research and Testing of Materials and Structures – JUDIMK.

The Association of Yugoslav Laboratories was founded at the founding assembly held on May 10, 1952, in Belgrade. Thirteen eminent experts from Belgrade, Zagreb, Ljubljana, and Sarajevo participated in the work of the founding assembly, representing twelve institutes, departments, laboratories, and faculties. Eng. Milutin Maksimović, head of Department I of the Institute for Materials Testing of the Serbian Academy of Sciences, was elected president of the Association. The basic organizational concept of SJL was based on collective and individual membership, which has been maintained to this day. Immediately after its formation, SJL carried out a campaign to enroll as many laboratories, departments, and institutes as possible. In that period, around 40 potential collective members were recorded, including laboratories operating within companies as well as at construction sites. The initial response was such that only ten more laboratories joined.

Already at the founding Assembly, the aspiration was expressed for SJL, both organizationally and through its activities, to come as close as possible to RILEM. Therefore, at the founding assembly, a permanent delegate and representative of SJL in RILEM were elected. Such activity resulted in admission to RILEM membership on September 12, 1952, at the congress in The Hague. It should be particularly emphasized that at the XI Congress held in London in July 1958, Professor Julije Hahamović of the Faculty of Engineering in Sarajevo was elected president of RILEM. This created even more favorable conditions for the work of SJL, which resulted in the holding of the XII RILEM Congress from September 6 to 12, 1959, in what was then Yugoslavia. Representatives from 25 countries attended the Congress, and its activities took place in Belgrade, Zagreb, and Ljubljana, with numerous and substantial accompanying activities. 

In addition to membership in RILEM, SJL was a member of the then Association of Civil Engineers and Technicians of Yugoslavia (SGITJ). In this sense, a certain continuity still exists today, since DIMK is also a member of SGI Serbia. Through its activities in society, primarily in the field of advancing civil engineering, the Association became a very important factor among engineering organizations.

With the aim of promoting work and achievements in the field of materials and structures research, SJL initiated the publication of the journal “Bilten” (“Bulletin”). The decision was made at the VIII annual assembly held in May 1957 in Sarajevo. At the XI SJL Assembly held in Belgrade on April 27, 1963, three years after the X Assembly in Zagreb, the proposal of the editorial board of “Bilten” to change the journal’s name to “Materijali i konstrukcije” (“Materials and Structures”) was accepted. Alongside publishing activities, the organization of scientific-professional meetings also began, so as early as June 12, 1958, a conference titled “Materials and Structures in Residential Construction” was held in Belgrade. Organizing symposia, consultations, round tables, as well as other forms of dissemination of scientific thought, became a permanent form of the Society’s activity and has been preserved to this day

SJL had particularly significant activity during 1963 in connection with the catastrophic earthquake in Skopje. In the background of intensive works to eliminate the consequences of the catastrophic destruction, SJL experts from institutions and institutes in Skopje, Belgrade, Zagreb, Sarajevo, and Ljubljana recorded, and later scientifically processed and studied, material on the earthquake and its consequences. Thus, a very extensive study was created, which partly served as the basis for drafting the Temporary Technical Regulations for Construction in Seismic Areas.

As early as its founding in 1952, SJL set as one of its main tasks work on drafting various standards for materials testing, whether domestic standards or translations of foreign standards. Later, this activity expanded to the field of construction as a whole.

Back in 1960, at the Assembly in Zagreb, SJL made a decision to form expert committees within the Association, as a competent and objective professional organization, composed of experts from scientific organizations, faculties, industry, and state administration, for the purpose of drafting technical regulatory acts. Thus, during the sixties and up to the beginning of the seventies of the last century, a larger number of Yugoslav technical regulations were compiled and a large number of accompanying standards (JUS) were developed. Only some of the regulations worked on will be listed here: Regulations in the field of steel structures (1961), Yugoslav technical regulations for antiseismic construction (1964), Study on concrete corrosion (1963). 

In the period from 1967 until publication in 1970, work was carried out on an entire set of regulations for: prestressed concrete, concrete and reinforced concrete, walls, thermal insulation, sound insulation, wooden structures, composite structures, assembly of steel structures, and protection of steel structures from corrosion (a total of 9 regulations). This extensive work was successfully completed with the engagement of eminent experts from institutes, faculties, and other relevant organizations from the territory of all former republics. 

Particularly significant was the engagement in drafting regulations in the field of reinforced and prestressed concrete, first published in 1971 – Rulebook BAB 71, which was later amended so that Rulebook BAB 87, published by JUDIMK and SDGKJ, entered into force.

At the beginning of the eighties, JUDIMK initiated cooperation with the Federal Institute for Standardization with the aim of setting up and shaping a new product certification system. For example, JUDIMK prepared the first order on mandatory certification of cement, certain concrete prefabricated elements, aggregates, and some waterproofing materials. The Society’s work on drafting so-called technical regulations continues to this day. It should be especially noted that in 1993, JUDIMK, together with SDGKJ and the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Belgrade, launched an initiative with the Federal Institute for Standardization to start translating Eurocodes and familiarizing the professional public with them. 

During the past decades, seventeen Congresses and Symposia on the application of modern achievements in our civil engineering in the field of materials and structures were held, namely:

• XII Congress and Symposium of SJL in Sarajevo, November 1966. Milutin Maksimović, B.Sc. Eng., who was also the first president of SJL in 1952, was elected president of the Governing Board.

• XIII Congress and Symposium of SJL in Bled, November 1969. Viktor Turnšek, B.Sc. Eng., who was also president of SJL in the period from 1957 to 1958, was elected president of the Governing Board.

• XIV Congress and Symposium of SJL, Haludovo – Malinska, October 1972. Stanko Manestar, B.Sc. Eng., was elected president of the Governing Board.

• XV Congress and Symposium of SJL, Ohrid, October 1975. Prof. Hololčev Krum, B.Sc. Eng., was elected president of the Governing Board.

• XVI Congress and Symposium of SJL, Vrnjačka Banja, November 1978. At this Congress, the Association of Yugoslav Laboratories changed its name to the Yugoslav Society for Testing and Research of Materials and Structures – JUDIMK. Prof. Dobrosav Jevtić, B.Sc. Eng., was elected president of the Governing Board, and his function was later assumed by Prof. Aleksandar Flašar.

• XVII Congress and Symposium of JUDIMK, Sarajevo – Ilidža, October 1982. Prof. Seid Ferušić, B.Sc. Eng., was elected president of JUDIMK, and his function was later assumed by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jože Vižintin.

• XVIII Congress and Symposium of JUDIMK, Portorož, October 1986. Dr. Andrej Zajc was elected president of the Governing Board.

• XIX Congress and Symposium of JUDIMK, Novi Sad, September 1990. Prof. Aleksandar Flašar was elected president of the Society.

• XX Congress and Symposium of JUDIMK, Cetinje, June 1996. Dr. Đorđe Uzelac was elected president of the Society.

• XXI Congress and Symposium of JUDIMK, Belgrade, September 1999. Prof. Dr. Mihailo Muravljov was elected president of the Society.

• XXII Congress and Symposium of JUDIMK, Niška Banja, October 2002. The term of office of the Society’s president, Prof. Dr. Mihailo Muravljov, was extended.

• XXIII Congress and Symposium of DIMK of Serbia and Montenegro, Novi Sad, October 2005. The term of office of the Society’s president, Prof. Dr. Mihailo Muravljov, was extended.

• XXIV Congress and Symposium of DIMK Serbia, Divčibare, October 2008. Prof. Dr. Vlastimir Radonjanin was elected president of the Society.

• XXV Congress and Symposium of DIMK Serbia, Tara, October 2011. Prof. Dr. Zoran Grdić was elected president of the Society.

• XXVI Congress and Symposium of DIMK Serbia, Vrnjačka banja, October 2014. Prof. Dr. Dragica Jevtić was elected president of the Society 

• XXVII Congress and Symposium of DIMK Serbia, Vršac, October 2017. Prof. Dr. Dragica Jevtić was re-elected president of the Society.

• XXVIII Congress and Symposium of DIMK Serbia, Divčibare, October 2022. Dr. Zagorka Radojević, B.Sc. Eng. of Technology, was elected president of the Society 

• At the DIMK Serbia Assembly on 26.12.2023.. Prof. Dr. Dimitrije Zakić was elected president of the Society

• At the DIMK Serbia Assembly on 17.06.2025.. Prof. Dr. Nenad Ristić was elected president of the Society