By the time road construction had started this year the Asphalt Institute’s first full-time Canadian regional engineer was already fielding questions, which is not a bad thing since Amma Wakefield wants to raise the position’s profile.
Headquartered in Lexington, Ky., the Asphalt Institute is an international trade association of petroleum asphalt producers, manufacturers and affiliated businesses, and Wakefield is one of a team of eight regional engineers. The rest are in the United States
Already well-known in Ontario as an asphalt expert and contributor to technical committees of industry associations such as the Ontario Asphalt Pavement Council, Wakefield has extensive experience in asphalt mix design, testing and troubleshooting and has conducted training on topics such as mix design, material testing and best practices for quality asphalt pavements.
She previously held a number of research and administrative positions with Aecon Materials Engineering, Lafarge Canada and Miller Paving Ltd.
In her latest role she will be providing technical and educational support to government transportation agencies and contractors. In early May, she conducted a mix design course in Nova Scotia, followed by a second presentation in New Brunswick on stone mastic asphalt because the province is “heavily invested in that material.”
“I will make my way west starting in July,” says Wakefield on her planned itinerary which includes meeting with transportation agencies and setting up training courses for contractors.
Based in London, Ont., Wakefield credits her career path to her father, who moved his family from Ghana to Canada when she was 11 so his children could have better career and educational opportunities.
“He encouraged me to be practical in my career choices,” she says.
Coupled with an aptitude for mathematics and science, that advice led her to enrol in the material engineering program at McMaster University after graduating from high school.
“It (the program) combines mechanical, chemical and civil engineering and provides a broad based introduction into those disciplines,” she explains.
In her third year she applied for and obtained a summer position with Aecon Materials Engineering because, as she says, “material engineering was the field I was studying and it only made sense to apply.”
After graduation she was hired as a graduate engineer at Aecon, staying there for two years, and then accepting a new position as a product development specialist for Lafarge Canada. Subsequently, she moved to Miller Paving Inc. where she rose to become manager of its materials research laboratory and design division.
In that capacity she received a lot of internal questions about asphalt mix production, asphalt mix quality, late placement and other performance issues.
“I started seeing a pattern in those questions,” she says.
Those inquiries were the inspiration for creating the Miller Quality Bulletin, an endeavour that involved writing and editing all the articles on her own time for three years.
In 2016, Wakefield’s career took another turn. She had previously obtained a Master of Applied Science degree at the University of Waterloo and Professor Susan Tighe, director of the university’s Centre for Pavement and Transportation Technology, urged her to complete her PhD.
Wakefield acted on that advice, which was the catalyst to return to Aecon because its Caledon facility and her Mississauga home were closer to the university. Some of her administrative duties included overall management of quality control technicians and reviewing construction materials test reports.
A low point for her — and the roadbuilding industry — was the auditor general’s critical report on pavement performance which was released that same year.
“It (the report) was a disappointment,” she says. “I care so much about this industry that I almost took it personally.”
As if to further deepen that disappointment, she received a lot of personal telephone calls from people who knew she was involved in construction, asking “What’s going on?”
Late in 2017 her career took yet another turn when she saw a posting by the Asphalt Institute for a full-time Canadian representative. A prerequisite for the position was 10 years’ experience, which Wakefield possessed. After flying to Lexington for an interview, she was hired in November and starting working in January.
“I sort of felt this was the position I had been working towards for my entire career,” says Wakefield, adding her supervisor at Aecon “wasn’t surprised” and didn’t try to dissuade her from leaving.
As her work requires crisscrossing the country and being away from home one week a month, Wakefield could have chosen anywhere in the country to live. But she and her husband Brent selected London because he is studying for his PhD at that city’s Western University.
“We bounce each other’s presentations off of each other,” says Wakefield, whose research at Waterloo involves measuring the properties and performance of asphalt mixtures and analyzing asphalt binders “recovered” from those mixtures.
The asphalt mixtures were collected from hot mix asphalt plants and highway construction sites.
“I don’t have to be in a classroom,” she says, when asked how she finds time to conduct that research plus her work for the Asphalt Institute.
Juggling the demands of career, family and university research isn’t easy, but Wakefield says she has a high energy level and does not waste time watching television. Her son has come to accept her one-week-a-month trips away from home, “as long as I bring him back a souvenir.”
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