Leading By Example
NAPA’S Richard Willis to chair TRB Committee on Production and Use of Asphalt.
By Ty Johnson
Editorial Director
NAPA Vice President for Engineering, Research, and Technology Richard Willis was in a familiar position.
Not only was he back on campus at Auburn University, this time to give a keynote address as part of the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) Test Track Conference, but he was in front of a lecture hall with all eyes on him.
Before joining the NAPA staff, Willis was an associate research professor at Auburn, conducting experiments for NCAT at the forefront of asphalt pavement technologies, and he had returned to share another lesson.
He offered his take on what NCAT has accomplished over the years through a reframing of failing, pointing to other industries where leaders have suggested that true innovation can only be realized through failure.
“That’s where we find growth,” he said. “That’s where we can really learn how to make things happen in the future.”
But he said research can be meaningless without implementation, adding that the knowledge gained from failures on NCAT’s Test Track can help propel the industry forward.
He wrapped up his keynote by challenging attendees to take what they learn back to their agency and industry relationships and be willing to have conversations about focusing on a few achievable ideas.
Willis had already answered the call himself, having accepted the Chair of the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) AKM10 Committee over the winter.
TRB’s Production and Use of Asphalt Committee fits within the National Academies’ greater objective to develop new applications based on its collective research, giving Willis an upfront seat to the innovations of the future.
FROM IDEAS TO IMPLEMENTATION
TRB Committees, like NAPA committees, are made up of volunteers who review research papers, craft research problem statements, and develop content for TRB’s webinars and Annual Meeting, an event that brings more than 13,000 transportation professionals to Washington, D.C., every January. These volunteers must ask tough questions to identify what research needs to be completed to help both industry and agencies meet their goals. Many of these research problem statements developed by committees are taken to AASHTO, where they may become projects for the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. Sometimes these research problem statements are picked up and funded by other organizations such as the Consortium for Asphalt Pavement Research and Implementation (CAPRI), which Willis also chairs.
When Willis met with AKM10 at their Midyear Meeting in Baton Rouge, he challenged them to only bring research ideas with implementable outcomes. He said, “The committee is focused on production and use of asphalt. There is nothing more practical and implementation-focused than that.” Currently, the committee is focused on topics like tack coats, production temperatures at asphalt plants, recycling agents, and low carbon transportation materials.
“It’s just amazing the amount of knowledge that we have. If we could apply everything that we seem to know, we would have one amazing transportation system.”
TRB Communications Director Paul Mackie
In addition to chairing TRB AKM10 and CAPRI, Willis also serves as Program Manager for the Airport Asphalt Pavement Technology Program (AAPTP), a cooperative agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration now totaling over $15 million. Two of AAPTP’s goals are “to implement technologies and to solve problems identified by the program” and “to pursue the technology transfer of new solutions, practices, and recommendations as needed.” In other words, Willis is continuing his pursuit of taking concepts from reports and putting them into real practice.
Willis says, “Groups like TRB Committees, CAPRI, the AAPTP, and even the Balanced Mix Design Implementation Working Group are so important because we can partner with owners, researchers, and other parts of the asphalt industry to make a difference, to make our product better, and help write the story of where our industry is going.”
ACADEMIES & APPLICATIONS
The National Academies, as they are commonly known, comprise of the Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. For those who visit Washington, D.C., its headquarters is most commonly associated with the Albert Einstein Memorial that sits outside.
TRB is the largest of seven divisions within the Academy of Sciences. TRB Communications Director Paul Mackie’s job is raising awareness of the organization’s dozens of other events throughout the year while sharing achievements across TRB’s landscape. Some of the most tangible results of the research come in the form of daily publications on topics ranging from transit and air travel to its oldest calling: highway research.
“It’s amazing that we get it all out,” Mackie said, adding that there are about 150 staff members. “It’s not a big staff and I think a lot of people think TRB is so big and resource rich, but we’re really a very volunteer-driven organization, too.”
Mackie said TRB’s work depends on about 8,000 volunteers across its many divisions and subject matter areas. Many of those volunteers participate at the committee level, like Willis, while others participate at the Friends level.
“Often younger people or people newer to the professional world will sign up to become Friends. Mackie said, adding that it’s a common pathway toward membership. “We try to promote those good options and opportunities for younger people, who we see as the next generation of transportation leaders.”
The unique structure of the National Academies keeps it nimble, which may also explain its longevity, having been founded through a Congressional act signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863.
The scope of TRB’s work extends well beyond its 177 committees. One of its three departments is the Consensus Reports division, which produces roughly 10 reports per year, usually at the direction of Congress or a federal agency. Mackie said innovations like airplane-accessible wheelchairs have gotten their start through this research process, which includes a separate set of committees and responsibilities.
Another division, the Cooperative Research Program, writes most of TRB’s hundreds of reports a year, often based on research parameters and hypotheses from committees like AKM10. The panels assembled within Cooperative Research are organized into four topical areas: highways, airports, transit, and behavioral traffic safety.
Direct support of TRB’s committees comes from the Technical Activities division’s senior program officers – subject experts in their own right – who serve as liaisons between the committees and panels.
“They work with the committee. They facilitate. They organize the meetings throughout the year,” Mackie said. “The panels are typically the ones that write all those reports that come out every day. Those reports are usually very practical reports like almost like a how-to video on YouTube. The committees do have some reports, but mostly they’re meeting throughout the year and talking about the issues or research needs of their topical area. The committees are more focused on furthering knowledge about any given research topic.”
Part of that mission includes producing workshops for the TRB Annual Meeting, and specialty conferences throughout the year where more discussions on research needs are carried on.
The unique structure of the National Academies keeps it nimble, which may also explain its longevity, having been founded through a Congressional act signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863.
“It’s pretty amazing to me that TRB exists,” Mackie said. “It’s just amazing the amount of knowledge that we have. If we could apply everything that we seem to know, we would have one amazing transportation system.”
