Professor Training Course

Professor training course group photo outside NCAT main facility

NCAT has a long-standing educational program for college and university civil engineering faculty that provides clear and up-to-date lecture and laboratory material for the asphalt portion of an undergraduate civil engineering materials course. 

Date and Location

Our 2025 course will be held July 7-12, 2025 at NCAT's main facility in Auburn, Alabama. Please contact Stacie Hunter for more information. 

Goals and Objectives

This program is designed to help increase the pool of qualified civil engineers and technologists knowledgeable in asphalt technology by providing faculty with appropriate educational material.

Program Content

This is a five-day course that takes place from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. each day. Intensive lectures, laboratory exercises, and discussions to understand all basic phases of asphalt technology for undergraduate instruction are covered. Topics include:

Asphalt Binder

  • - grades of asphalt
  • - performance graded binder tests and specifications

Aggregates

  • - aggregate characteristics
  • - quarrying operations
  • - processing and blending aggregates for asphalt mixtures

Other Materials

  • - reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP)
  • - recycled asphalt shingles (RAS)
  • - warm mix asphalt technologies (WMA)

Asphalt Mixtures

  • - desirable mixture properties
  • - types of mixes
  • - philosophy of mix design
  • - mix design methods (Superpave, balanced mix design)

Construction

  • - asphalt mixture facility operations
  • - equipment for production and placement
  • - laydown methods
  • - compaction methods
  • - quality control/quality assurance

Pavement Design

  • - pavement structure design
  • - pavement design software

Laboratory exercises include asphalt binder characterization tests, aggregate characterization tests, and asphalt mixture design and analysis.

Course Materials

Each participant is provided a copy of the NCAT textbook and other supporting documents. The participant will leave the course with lecture, homework, laboratory, and exam materials needed to teach asphalt technology to undergraduates.

Eligibility

There is no fee for the course or associated materials for any applicants living in the U.S. In addition, eligible faculty participants will receive a stipend to cover some housing, food, and transportation costs. To be eligible for the stipend, applicants must be living and working in the U.S. as a professor or instructor at a university, college or trade school. Recipients must attend the entire course in order to receive the stipend. Instructors from colleges outside the U.S. will also be considered for attendance for a $2500 fee and will not be eligible for the stipend. Endorsements from department heads and state asphalt association or state bituminous engineer are required.

Instructors

The staff at NCAT are the primary instructors.

Continuing Education

The course will provide 4.0 continuing education units or 40 professional development hours.

Location

This course is conducted at NCAT's research facility in Auburn, Alabama. Hotel accommodations are nearby; however, there is no public transportation in our area.

To learn more, contact Stacie Hunter.