Invited Guests – AfPA Master Class on Moisture Sensitivity

Dr Serji N. Amirkhanian

Professor of Transportation at Civil Engineering Department of Clemson University – South Carolina

Professor Serji Amirkhanian was the Mays Professor of Transportation at Civil Engineering Department of Clemson University until he started his international consulting activities starting June 2010. He was the Director of Research and development of Phoenix Industries, Las Vegas from 2011 until 2016. He is a Professor of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering at University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. He is also adjunct Professor of Civil Engineering at UNLV and ASU.

He has been conducting research (over 25 million dollars) in the area of asphalt mixtures, recycling, and polymers for approximately 30 years. He has published over 300 research papers and reports among several book chapters and has presented his research team findings in many conferences around the country and the world.

Dr. Amirkhanian started his teaching career in 1987 at Clemson University. His research area of interest is in construction materials, recycling issues and polymers. He has conducted many years of research in hot mix asphalt area for many private companies, SC DOT and Federal government.
Dr. Amirkhanian is a recognized international authority on the use of recycled and by-products in construction materials and has been conducting research in this area for many years. In 2000, he did establish the Asphalt Rubber Technology Service (ARTS). In recognition of his expertise, he has been elected to both the technical advisory board of the European Waste Tire Association and the technical advisory board of the Rubber Pavements Association (RPA) in the USA.He is a member of many national and international engineering associations (e.g., American Society of Civil Engineers, Transportation Research Board, Asphalt Association of Pavement Technologies, etc.).

He is conducting consulting work for various major national and international companies and for the World Bank. At this capacity he has been asked to review the existing flexible and rigid pavement design of a country and give recommendations to governmental agencies, contractors, consultants, and academia.

Dr David Newcomb

Division Head, Materials & Pavements Texas A&M Transportation Institute

Dr. Newcomb is the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Senior Research Engineer Division Head. He joined TTI in September 2011. He has been a Principle Investigator (PI) on two NCHRP projects dealing with aging of asphalt mixtures and the behavior of foamed asphalt mixtures. He is currently co-PI on another NCHRP project to provide an experimental design for the validation of cracking tests. Newcomb has also worked on projects for the asphalt pavement industry and the Texas Department of Transportation.

Prior to coming to TTI, Newcomb was employed by the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) from 1999 to 2011 as Vice President-Research and Technology. There, he was responsible for Research and Technology programs that assisted the membership in meeting the technical challenges and demands of the future. He also represented NAPA in technical partnerships with agencies that support pavement research and technology.
Before going to NAPA, Dr. Newcomb was an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering Department at the University of Minnesota, where he held the Miles Kersten Chair, and was the Technical Director of the Minnesota Road Research Project. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Washington in 1986, and his B.S. and M.S. degrees at Texas A&M University in 1977 and 1979, respectively.

During his career, Dr. Newcomb has published over 120 papers and reports related to the characterization and behavior of bituminous materials and the structural evaluation of pavement systems. The topics of these publications have included the non-destructive testing of pavement systems, the development of mechanistic-empirical design procedures, recycling of asphalt concrete, the use of waste materials in asphalt mixtures, and the use of polymer modifiers in asphalt concrete. He was awarded the Transportation Research Board’s Fred Burggraf Award in 1989 and the K.B. Woods Award in 2001.

Dr. Newcomb belongs to the Transportation Research Board, the International Society for Asphalt Pavements (ISAP), the American Society for Testing and Materials, and the Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists (AAPT). He is a past Chairman of ISAP and a past President of AAPT. He is a registered professional engineer in the state of Texas.

Dr Fan Yin, Ph.D., P.E.

National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT)

Dr. Fan Yin is an Assistant Research Professor at the National Center for Asphalt Technology. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University. His research expertise includes balanced mix design, advanced asphalt materials characterization, and sustainable pavement materials. Fan has served as a PI or Co-PI on research projects with over $4.0 million in grants. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Texas.

He has developed a Novel Method for Moisture Susceptibility and Rutting Evaluation Using Hamburg Wheel Tracking Test.

Robert C. Rea, PE

Flexible Pavements and Quality Assurance Engineer  at Nebraska Department of Transportation

Robert is a University of Nebraska – Lincoln Graduate, born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska
in a family of 11. He has worked in the Heavy-Highway Industry for 35 years in both public
and private positions, with most of his tenure with the Nebraska Department of Transportation.
He has focused much of his last 15 years in areas of research and design of Asphalt pavement mixes with
high RAP contents and recycling agents containing rejuvenators, softeners, and antioxidants to promote
extreme long term aging resistance. He has served on many NCHRP technical panels.

He recently became a grandpa for the second time and enjoys spending time with his grand-daughter
and new grandson teaching them how to fish, build sand castles, boating, and building things, but they
are just getting started since they are just 2 years old and 4 months old.

Shawn Hammer

Quality Control Manager at Fisher Sand & Gravel-NM, Inc, Placitas, NM

Shawn is the quality control manager for Fisher Sand & Gravel in New Mexico where he oversees the operations the day to day operations of Fisher Sand & Gravel-NM, Inc.’s primary laboratory and various field laboratories and interact with various government agencies.

He has over 20 years’ experience in construction materials, laboratory testing procedures and quality control. He is Technical panel member of NMDOT Research Bureau and involved in projects to characterise the mechanical and rheological RAP Characterization of NMDOT Mixes, Field and Laboratory Evaluation of Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA), Development of A Balanced Asphalt Mixture Design Procedure for NM and Superpave 5 Lab Mix Design Procedure. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Associated Contractors of New Mexico (ACNM) and Contractor of Chairman of the Base and Pavement Committee of ACNM.

Andrew Papacostas

Principal Engineer at Pavements, Geotech. & Materials Engineering
Department of Transport Victoria

Andrew has 30 years’ experience as a civil engineer in the road building and maintenance industry, 24 years of which have been specialising in road pavement technology. Currently in his role as the VicRoads Principal Advisor – Pavement, Geotech. & Materials he is responsible for providing VicRoads with independent technical advice relating to pavement technology issues. Andrew has substantial experience and expertise in road construction and maintenance, specialising in pavement technology, which includes the design, rehabilitation, and maintenance of pavements, pavement strength and skid resistance testing, road condition data interpretation, aggregate and soils materials testing, preparation of design guides and standards.

Jason Jones

Principal Engineer (Asphalt & Surfacings) at Pavements, Materials & Geotechnical
Department of Transport and Main Roads Queensland

Jason Jones currently holds the position of Principal Engineer (Asphalt and Surfacings) with the Queensland Department of Transport an Main Roads and has over 20 years’ experience in the design, construction and maintenance of road pavements. He has a Bachelors’ degree in Civil Engineering, a Masters’ degree in Pavement Technology and is registered as a professional engineer in the state of Queensland.

Sean Dorahy

Pavement Manager (Asphalt Technology) at Transport for NSW

Sean Dorahy is the Pavement Manager (Asphalt Technology) at Transport for NSW with expertise in the areas of asphalt technology, flexible pavement investigation, design and construction. Sean first joined TfNSW (the then RTA) in 2011 and has worked in various areas of the organisation including road construction delivery, road maintenance, pavement engineering and materials testing. He received his Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Honours) from the University of Wollongong and holds a Masters of Pavement Technology from the Centre for Pavement Engineering Education.

Les Marchant

Manager Materials Engineering Main Roads Western Australia

Les Marchant is a civil engineer with 28 years of experience in road construction and maintenance with the State Government Road Agency, Main Roads Western Australia. He has a focus on road pavements and surfacings and has a background in managing road design and construct projects and outcome-based road maintenance contracts. Les currently manages the Materials Engineering Branch which provides geotechnical engineering, road pavement and surfacings engineering, specialised equipment calibration and quality compliance audit testing for Main Roads road and bridge construction projects across the State. He also oversees the Main Roads Western Australia Road Research and Innovation Program, and is a member of the national Austroads Pavement Task Force which oversees national research and development.