Where Are They Now?

NCAT opened its doors three decades ago with a mission to provide innovative, relevant and implementable research, technology development and education that advances safe, durable and sustainable asphalt pavements. Along the way, more than 100 graduate students and post-doctoral researchers have been involved in NCAT research. Three such individuals have attributed much of their career success to their time spent at NCAT: Nick Murphy, James Winford, Jr., and Jason Wielinski.

Nick Murphy

Nick Murphy began his NCAT work as an undergraduate lab technician. Upon graduating, he was offered a graduate research assistant position under Dr. Ray Brown, Director of NCAT at that time. Mr. Murphy’s research was devoted to the early development of what would become the ignition method for determining the asphalt content of asphalt mixtures, standardized as ASTM D6307 and AASHTO T 308. In 1994, he received a Master of Science from Auburn University. As a Professional Engineer, he is currently the senior vice president of E.R. Snell Contractor, Inc. in Snellville, Georgia. His company includes 11 asphalt plants, an asphalt cement terminal, and a quality control lab. The company also performs grading, paving, and bridge installation. He and his wife Jennifer have three children, Taylor Kate, Cole, and Logan, ages 13, 11, and 8 respectively. He attributes his knowledge of materials to his time at NCAT and considers it to be the foundation of the career. Nick is grateful for the opportunities that his NCAT experience has afforded him and is thankful that Mr. Robert Johnson, the lab manager at the time, and Dr. Ray Brown saw his potential.

James Winford, Jr.

Dr. James (Jay) Winford is a Professional Engineer who comes from a family of asphalt enthusiasts, with his grandfather and father both being civil engineers. In the late 1980’s, he taught undergraduate materials classes while he worked on his PhD and conducted research on the influence of aggregate shapes and texture on permanent deformation of asphalt mixtures. He completed his doctorate in 1991 from Auburn University under the mentorship of Dr. Freddy Roberts, Dr. Ray Brown, and Mr. Ken Kandhal. Currently, Jay is the president and co-owner of Prairie Contractors in Louisiana. They operate three fixed base asphalt plants and have grown the company to include aggregate distribution, among other things. He and his wife Laura have two children, James and Katherine. While his children have grown and moved away, he and his wife reside in Opelousas, Louisiana where his company is headquartered. They also love spending time at their second home in New Orleans. Jay continued to contribute to NCAT over the years as past chairs of the Applications Steering Committee and Board of Directors, and he still serves as an Emeritus Member on the NCAT Board. Jay attributes much of his career growth to surrounding himself with peers in the asphalt industry who have challenged him along the way. He hopes to spend his retirement continuing to teach materials classes in civil engineering just as he did over 15 years ago while at NCAT.

Jason Wielinski

In 2005, Jason began his research at NCAT investigating ways to improve the stability of permeable asphalt base courses during construction. He graduated with a Master of Science from Auburn University in 2007. He and Alicia, his wife of eight years, now reside in Brownsburg, Indiana with their two children. His oldest child, Ava, is five years old and Alexander just turned four. Jason is a Professional Engineer and currently works as an asphalt research engineer at Heritage Research Group. He and his team have spent most of their time researching, designing, and constructing in-place recycling projects across the Midwest. The team has a passion for full depth reclamation, cold in-place recycling, and cold central plant recycling with asphalt emulsion. He has also served as the technical committee chair on the Asphalt Recycling and Reclamation Association Cold Recycling Subcommittee. His passion for the asphalt industry and its research began while he was a student at NCAT. Jason learned much from his peers in the lab and is especially thankful to Dr. David Timm for investing his time in him. Jason strives to emulate Dr. Timm’s professionalism, patience, and coaching style by mentoring the engineers and technicians on his team at Heritage Research Group.