Ilker Boz, Ph.D., P.E.

Research Interests:

• Characterization of Bituminous Materials
• Balanced Mix Design
• Pavement Preservation and Rehabilitation
• Pavement Surface Characteristics
• Innovative and Sustainable Pavement Materials and Systems
• Nondestructive Evaluation of Asphalt Mixtures and Pavements
• Recycling, Pavement Instrumentation, and Monitoring
• Pavement Design and Analysis

Education:

• M. Eng., Civil Engineering, Penn State University
• Ph.D., Civil Engineering, Penn State University

Registrations:

• Registered Professional Engineer, Commonwealth of Virginia

Memberships:

• TRB Standing Committee on Asphalt Pavement Design and Construction (2025-Present)
• TRB AKD30, Standing Committee on Low Volume Roads, Member (2020 – 2025)
• TRB AKM30, Standing Committee on Asphalt Materials Selection and Mix Design, Member (2023 – 2025)
• VDOT’s Pavement Preservation and Management Subcommittee, Executive Secretary, (2018-Present)
• Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists (2018 – Present)
• International Road Federation (Lifetime)
• Consortium For Asphalt Pavement Research and Implementation (CAPRI), Research Roadmap Subcommittee, Member (2023 – Present)
• VDOT’s Balanced Mixture Design Technical Committee, Member (2018-2023)
• NCHRP Project 9-73: Sample Storage Time Impact on Performance Properties for Balanced Mix Design (BMD), Panel Member.
• CAPRI Project: Field Evaluation of Long-Term Cracking Performance of High RAM Asphalt Mixtures, Panel Chair.
• NCHRP Project 14-16: Rumble and Mumble Strip Preservation Treatment Options, Panel Member.
• American Society of Civil Engineers (Past)
• International Society for Asphalt Pavements (Past)
• American Society for Testing and Materials (Past)
• Association of Modified Asphalt Producers (2025-Present)

Awards:

• VTRC Horizon Award, 2024
• VTRC Jack H. Dillard Best Paper Award, "Mechanistic-Based Evaluation of Performance Thresholds for Balanced Mix Design Asphalt Surface Mixtures" (with Habbouche, S. Diefenderfer, Underwood and Othman), 2024
• Best Paper Award – Runner Up, “Evaluation of Alternative Approaches to Restore the Rheology of Recycled Asphalt Binders”, by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) AKM20 Standing Committee on Binders for Flexible Pavement 2024
• Walter J. Emmons Award for Best Paper, Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists, 2023
• VTRC Jack H. Dillard Best Paper Award, "Simple and Practical Tests for Rutting Evaluation of Asphalt Mixtures in the Balanced Mix Design Process" (with S. Diefenderfer and J. Habbouche), 2023.
• Horizon Award, for Researcher who has made a Significant Impact on the State of Practice in Transportation, Virginia Transportation Research Council, 2022.
• Blue Ribbon Award, given for the Transportation Research Board (TRB) AKD30 Standing Committee on Low Volume Roads, member, 2022.
• VTRC Jack H. Dillard Best Paper Award, "Balanced Mix Design for Surface Asphalt Mixtures: Phase I: Initial Roadmap Development and Specification Verification" (with S. Diefenderfer and J. Habbouche), 2021.
• Post-doctoral Research Fellowship, Michigan State University, 2017.
• Best paper award, International Road Federation, 1^st Europe and Central Asia Regional Congress, 2015.
• International Road Federation Fellowship, 2014.

National Research Projects:

• Co-Principal Investigator (VTRC's Principal Investigator), NCHRP Project, 9-70 Guidelines for Incorporating Aging Effects on Balanced Mix Design for Quality Assurance, 2025- 2027
• Principal Investigator, NCHRP IDEA Project 245, Simple and Rapid Tests for Assessing Quality and Consistency of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) for Recycled Asphalt Mixture Applications, 2023 - 2025.
• Researcher, FHWA (693JJ323NF00012), Development and Deployment of Innovative Asphalt Pavement Technologizes, 2023 - 2026.
• Task Leader, FHWA, Relationship of Asphalt Mix Gradation to Macrotexture and Safety, 2021 - 2024.
• Researcher, NCHRP Project 09-62, Rapid Tests and Specifications for Construction of Asphalt-Treated Cold Recycled Pavements, 2017 - 2022.

Current Projects

Reports

Team Membership