View the Interactive Agenda and Conference Speakers
DAY 1 – Tuesday, December 8, 2026
| 8:00-9:00am | Registration | Exhibits Setup Day in Arizona Ballroom Memorial Union, Outside Turquoise Room | |||
| 9:00am-12:00pm | Workshop 1 Session: Session State & Local Agencies’ Perspective on Preserving & Maintaining Pavements Turquoise Room Moderator: Mo Rahman, Ergon Speakers: Nye McCarty, ADOT | Alana Lewicki, MCDOT | Ryan Stevens, City of Phoenix | Matt Manthey, City of Mesa | Scott Zipperich, City of Scottsdale | Javier Gurrola, City of Glendale 1. Why Pavement Preservation Matters to Agencies 2. Agency Goals & Performance Targets 3. Budget Reality 4. Pavement Management System (PMS) Driven Decisions 5. Treatment Selection Philosophy 6. Timing Is the Most Critical Factor 7. Delivery Challenges 8. Urban vs Rural Agency Needs 9. Public & Political Expectations 10. Measuring Success 11. Sustainability & Resiliency 12. Keys to a Successful Preservation Program | |||
| 12:00-2:00pm | Lunch at Arizona Ballroom with Exhibitors & Sponsors fun talk with Tim Murphy and AI presentation by Arash Hosseini, Qcell. | |||
| 2:00-5:00pm | Workshop 2 : Southwest Pavement Technology Consortium Showcase Turquoise Room Moderator: Tim Murphy Speakers: Hasan Ozer, The Consortium’s Progress Report: Accelerating Innovation and Implementation of Durable Pavement Solutions Parnian Ghasemi: Implementation Spotlight – Revising the MAG Asphalt Mixture Specifications through a Collaborative Effort. Panel Discussion: How Agency-Industry-Academia Alignment Builds Better Roads – The Performance Payoff. Panelists: Matt Manthey, Parnian Ghasemi, Alex Carter, Dominick Martinez. | |||
| 5:00-5:15pm | Walk to the Pavement Lab at ISTB2 Room 185 | |||
| 5:30-7:30pm | Open House with Students’ Posters, Research Updates, and Field Equipment Demos Refreshments available 850 S. McAllister Ave. ISTB2 Room 185 Pavement Laboratory |
DAY 2 – Wednesday, December 9, 2026
| 8:00-9:00am | Registration | Exhibits Open – Continental Breakfast Arizona Ballroom 221 | |
| OPENING SESSION: Ventana Ballroom 241 | ||
| 9:00-9:20am | ASU Welcome Address David Rosowsky, Senior Advisor to the President & Foundation Chair in Engineering | |
| 9:30-10:00am | Federal Highway Administration Anthony N. Sarhan, P.E. Deputy Division Administrator, Arizona Division Office | |
| 10:00-10:30am | ADOT Overview Matt Moul, Project Delivery Operations (PDO) Division Director | |
| 10:30-11:00am | McDOT Overview Jesse Gutierrez, Director / County Engineer | |
| 11:00-11:30am | National Center for Infrastructure Transformation Judy Perkins, Director and TAMUS Regents Professor | |
| 11:30-12:00pm | Lunch Preparation Arizona Ballroom 221 | ◆ STUDENT POSTER SESSION ASSEMBLY – Group 1 Turquoise Ballroom |
| 12:00-1:30pm | LUNCHEON: Arizona Ballroom 221 We Think We Know About Asphalt: Separating Myth from Reality Moderator & Lunch Speaker: Jhony Habbouche, Asphalt Institute ◆ Recognition of Sponsors and Exhibitors ◆ Industry Students Awards: Witczak, FORTA, Terracon | |
| TRACK 1 | TRACK 2 | |
| SESSION 1: TBD Ventana Ballroom 241 Moderator: Mo Rahman, Ergon | SESSION 2: AzTI Session Turquoise 220 Moderator: Hasan Ozer, ASU | |
| 1:30-1:55pm | Presentation: History on First Federally Funded Highway | Presentation |
| 2:00-2:25pm | Presentation: Route 66 Centennial Celebration Mike Skinner, Asphalt Pavement Alliance | Presentation |
| 2:30-2:55pm | Presentation: First Concrete Highway Larry Scofield, IGGA / ACPA | Presentation |
| 3:00-3:30pm | Networking Break Arizona Ballroom 221 | ◆ STUDENT POSTER SESSION ASSEMBLY – Group 2 Turquoise Ballroom |
| GENERAL SESSION: Adventures in Asphaltland Ventana Ballroom 241 Moderator: Jhony Habbouche, Asphalt Institute | ||
| 3:30-5:00pm | Presentation Title: Asphalt Binder Evolution: Who and What Made It Happen. Robert McGennis, HF SinClair (retired) Presentation Title: Asphalt Mix Design: How Did We Get Here and Where are We Going? Gerry Huber, Heritage Research Group (retired) Panel Discussions: McGennis, Huber, and Habbouche | |
| 5:00-7:00pm | ◆ RECEPTION ◆ BEST IN ARIZONA PAVEMENT AWARDS Arizona Ballroom Presenter and Moderator: Tim Murphy, Murphy Pavement Technology, Inc. Please join us in celebrating Best in Arizona pavement project winners. Student Posters, Door Prizes, Refreshments Open Bar, All conference attendees are invited to attend. |
DAY 3 – Thursday, December 10, 2026
| 7:00-8:00am | Registration – Exhibits Open – Continental Breakfast Arizona Ballroom 221 | |
| GENERAL SESSION: TBD Ventana Ballroom 241 Moderators: Joe Phillips, Terracon | ||
| 8:00-8:25am | Developing an Epoxy Treatment for Cracked Concrete Pavements Laura Bourne, Red Brick Consulting / Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport | |
| 8:30-8:55am | Cal Portland, Implementing Supplemental Cementitious Materials for Concrete Lauro Rivas, Cal Portland | |
| 9:00-9:25am | Concrete Sealants / Patching Materials / Polyester Concrete Edward Yost, Meridian Infrastructure | |
| 9:30-9:55am | Concrete Petrography – Insights for Alternative and Blended Cements and SCM’s Aisyah Abdkahar, Terracon | |
| 10:00-10:30am | Networking Break Arizona Ballroom 221 | |
| TRACK 1 | TRACK 2 | |
| SESSION 3: Practical Use and Applications of Recycling Ventana Ballroom 241 Moderator: Nye McCarty, ADOT | SESSION 4: Geotechnical Matters Turquoise 220 Moderator: Patrice Brun, ADOT | |
| 10:30-12:00pm | CIR from a Contractor Perspective Aaron Luchesi, Nesbitt CIR methodologies and Project Selection from an Agency Perspective – Actual Project Examples – Benefits & Cost Savings Matt Manthey, City of Mesa HIR from a Contractor Perspective Todd Gonser, Cutler HIR methodologies and Project Selection from an Agency Perspective – Actual Project Examples – Benefits & Cost Savings Jorge Duran, MCDOT | Microcrack Monitoring with Lightweight Deflectometer – Chemical Stabilized Soils George Tannoury, Terracon Building Better Road Foundations by Taking Advantage of Emerging Technologies Soheil Nazarian, University of Texas, El Passo Presentation Title: Claudia Zapata, ASU |
| 12:00-1:30pm | LUNCHEON: Arizona Ballroom 221 Moderator: Steve Trussel Lunch Speaker: Kohinoor Kar, Arizona Department of Transportation ◆ Community Service Awards ◆ Student Poster Awards | |
| SESSION 5: Topic Low Volume Roads Ventana Ballroom 241 Moderator: Angeli Jayme, ASU | ||
| 1:30-2:00pm | Nationwide Services for large Federal Programs and Projects, Military Teams and Programs, Cities, Counties, MPOs, and Federal Tribes Kenneth Atkins, Atkins Engineering Assoc. | |
| 2:00-2:30pm | Presentation Halil Ceylan, Iowa State University | |
| GENERAL SESSION: TBD Ventana Ballroom 241 Moderator: Jesús A Sandoval-Gil, ADOT | ||
| 2:35-3:35pm | Presentation: Construction Safety Brian Legan, University of New Mexico | |
| 3:40pm | END OF CONFERENCE – Grand Prize Drawing |
Questions about the event?
Contact Dr. Ramadan Salim at [email protected]
Contact Zeynep Elabiad at [email protected]