LEAP 2024-2025 Class - Asphalt Emulsion Manufacturers Association

LEAP 2024-2025 Class

Amy Morhart

Sr. Chemical Technologist, Cenovus Energy

Amy is a Senior Chemical Technologist for Cenovus Asphalt’s Technical Services and Innovation group, working in the lab for 18 years. She is an Asphalt Institute, certified national binder and emulsion technician. Some of my duties include quality control testing of emulsions and asphalt, development of new emulsions, as well as testing and reporting micro-surfacing mix evaluations. Amy enjoys playing pickleball, kayaking/paddle boarding, and cross-country skiing, when not in the lab.

Zach Robinson

Mix Design Group Leader, Heritage Research Group

Zach is the mix design group leader at Heritage Research Group in Indianapolis, Indiana. He attended Indiana University – Purdue University of Indianapolis where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. Over the past 8 years at Heritage, Zach has partnered with multiple agencies and contractors throughout the Midwest supporting CIR, FDR, and CCPR treatments utilizing engineered asphalt emulsion. His experience includes specification development, pavement sampling, project selection and candidacy, mix design, and quality control testing.

Nolan Graham

Emulsion Products Sales, Reed & Graham, Inc

Nolan was born and raised in the Bay Area where he grew up around the Asphalt Emulsion industry. He then attended the University of Colorado, Boulder prior to working in Commercial Real Estate. Following two years in the Real Estate industry, Nolan returned to work for his family at Reed & Graham, Inc where he is their Emulsion Product Salesperson.

Christine Hagele

Logistics Manager, Russell Standard

Christine is a Pennsylvania native, currently residing in Pittsburgh PA. She has over 15 years of experience in trucking and began her career in “over-the-road” trucking, specializing in bulk, van, and intermodal trucking. She found Russell Standard 7 years ago to start working in asphalt and emulsions as the logistics manager. When not at work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and 3 dogs.

Angela Young

Market Segment Manager, BASF

Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Angela studied marketing at Lehigh University. She is a member of BASF's Commercial & Sales Professional Development Program where she had 3–8 month rotations ranging from inside sales for their spray foam business, communications for their ag business and acted as a regional category buyer in procurement. From there, Angela spent 2ish years as an analyst for BASF's distribution team for the dispersions & resins business and the moved into her current role 1.5 years ago to focus on marketing efforts for their infrastructure business (traffic paint, latex modified concrete for bridges and asphalt). She lives in Charlotte, NC with her husband, Alex, and newly adopted puppy, June, and cat, Tito. She enjoy traveling/having new experiences, live music and camping/hiking.

Swathi Mayi Theeda

Asphalt Binder Engineer, Asphalt Testing Solutions & Engineering, LLC

Swathi is Asphalt Binder Engineer with ATS, based out of Jacksonville, FL. Currently, she is in transition to overseeing and developing all aspects of asphalt research at ATS including business development, product development testing programs, and research proposals. She is responsible for consulting with new and existing clients to provide impactful solutions after simultaneous consideration of current product development status, target geographies, production conditions, and other critical variables critical to advance the technology readiness level of the products. Previously in this role, she completely set up an AASHTO re:source accredited asphalt binder and emulsion testing lab from scratch at ATS. Prior to ATS, Swathi worked as R&D Engineer with Blacklidge Emulsions Inc. at Gulfport, MS, where she was primarily responsible for developing and leading research projects in pursuit of new and innovative premium asphalt and related products. In addition, she also provided technical support during product introduction or post-use by the customers, troubleshooted technical issues, and provided resolutions whenever applicable. Swathi received her master’s degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M University with focus on construction materials (asphalt materials), and bachelor’s in civil engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) with primary focus on cement concrete materials. During her graduate work, she was part of an effort to implement a chip seal binder specification in the state of Texas while she pursued research work on various concrete technologies during her undergraduate studies. When she is not working with asphalt, you can find her doing CrossFit or hiking in one of the national parks or creating new art pieces/DIYing around the house!

Luis Torres Figueroa

Regional Technical Manager, Western Emulsions, Inc.

Luis has been working with Western Emulsions/Idaho Asphalt for 9 years; the last 5 in his current role as Regional Technical Manager, overseeing product quality at 5 facilities in the western states. He also manages two AASHTO-accredited testing laboratories. Luis graduated with a bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Puerto Rico and the University of Arizona, respectively. Luis is located in Tucson, AZ, and in his free time, he enjoys listening to music, reading, the outdoors and spending time with his german shepherd/husky mix dog, Astro.

Jordan Vaughn

Talent Acquisition Partner, Heritage Construction and Materials

Jordan is the Talent Acquisition Partner for Heritage Construction and Materials (HC+M), a division of The Heritage Group family of businesses. In her role, she partners with all levels of management to hire exceptional candidates to join the company, as well as helping with talent strategy for future growth. Jordan holds a Bachelors of Science in Accounting from Ball State University and competed on the Women's Basketball team while there. Her husband Aaron and her are parents to three children: Rilee, Ainsley, and Archie. Outside of work, Jordan loves to coach her daughter Rilee’s basketball team as well as spend time with her family.

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