Since 1 January 2004 Marianne Grauers has been the new director of research at the VTI unit Highway Engineering, VBA, and is a member of the management group of the Institute. The unit has a staff of about fifteen people, and research comprises models for analytical design and design with respect to bearing capacity, degradation, wear etc. A considerable proportion of the research is concerned with materials and material properties, and the unit has good access to equipment and laboratories for measurement and testing, both at full scale and in the laboratory environment.

Marianne Grauers was previously employed at NCC where she held a number of posts and worked as specialist, project manager and head of department in different parts of the group over the past nine years.

- It is stimulating to have a new working environment and also to move to Linköping. I had worked at NCC since 1994, most recently in Stockholm, but I was born and grew up in Göteborg and stayed in the city until 1998. I therefore have good networks in both Göteborg and Stockholm, says Marianne Grauers.

Marianne took a civil engineering degree at Chalmers University of Technology and received a doctorate there in 1993 for her thesis on concrete structures. Concrete is her specialist area.

- After my thesis I went to France on a post-doc scholarship and worked there for one year in Lyon at Laboratoire Bétons et Structures. Apart from purely research jobs I worked on projects for both industry and the authorities. This gave me a good insight into corporate culture and processes associated with meetings in southern Europe, which proved very useful, especially in my work at NCC on EU projects. I expect it will also come in useful here at VTI where we take part in several EU projects.

- In the first few years at NCC I was formally employed as a bridge designer, but in practice it was mainly a matter of specialist tasks associated with concrete. After a few years I was appointed head of the Civil Engineering Department at NCC Engineering in Stockholm.

- As a project manager at NCC Engingeering I was involved in several EU projects, also as chair of the Steering Committee. The greatest challenge, however, was the job as coordinator in a project for the development of self compacting concrete, continues Marianne Grauers. This went on from 1997 until 2000. The method we developed as a substitute for the old vibration technique has really brought about a revolutionary change in the manufacture of concrete which produces both a better quality concrete and a better working environment. The technique has become established in the market, and Sweden is very advanced as regards changing to this new method of compaction.

- Most recently I also worked at management level on issues affecting the whole group. For R&D I was responsible for quality and environmental certification, responsible for implementation and marketing of research results, and for monitoring the patents and trade marks of NCC.