2026 Minnesota Asphalt Conference Speakers

Heather Arends

Heather Arends, Manager, Mineral Potential Evaluation Section, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Heather Arends serves as Manager of the Mineral Potential Evaluation Section with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Her section is responsible for statewide aggregate resource mapping, aggregate leasing on state lands, mineral resource evaluation, stewardship of the state's approximately 12-million-acre mineral estate, and management of the Hibbing Drill Core Library. The section also supports efforts to diversify Minnesota's mineral economy.

Heather has nearly 30 years of experience with the DNR in geological mapping, mineral resource management, and mineral policy. She holds a bachelor's degree in geology from the University of Minnesota Morris and a Master of Science from the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Emil Bautista

Emil Bautista is a licensed professional engineer in Minnesota and currently serves as the Sustainability Engineer at the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) in the Office of Materials and Road Research (OMRR). In this role, he leads MnDOT’s Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) collection program, playing a key role in quantifying the carbon footprint of construction materials.

Mark Becker

Bio coming soon.

Phil Blankenship

Phil graduated in 1991 with a BS and 1993 with a MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Kentucky. From 1993-1995, he managed the Asphalt Binder Laboratory for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and was their Superpave Implementation Coordinator.

In 1995, Phil joined Koch Pavement Solutions as a Project Development Engineer for new highway technology. Then in 2007, he took on the role of Senior Research Engineer at Asphalt Institute.

In 2017, Phil founded Blankenship Asphalt Tech and Training (BATT) as a consulting engineering company that uses his agency, industry, and association combined experience. BATT lab is an asphalt testing laboratory with lab-to-pavement innovation and product commercialization.

He is a friend of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) committees, Past President of for the Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists (AAPT), Chair of ASTM Subcommittee D04.26 on Fundamental Mechanistic Testing and serves on ASTM D04 Exec Committee.

Phil enjoys working with youth and is a volunteer with his local church. He also volunteers with Scouting America where he has also been a course director for their national leadership courses and serves on the Council executive board. He resides in Richmond KY with his wife, Greta, of 32 years and children.

John Bormann

Bio coming soon.

Abbey Bryduck

Abbey Bryduck, M.A., M.B.A., is Executive Vice President of the Associated General Contractors of Minnesota. She previously served for more than eight years as Executive Director of the Minnesota Asphalt Pavement Association (MAPA), leading advocacy efforts on transportation funding, procurement policy, work zone safety, and workforce development. With more than 20 years of experience in government affairs, legislative policy, and infrastructure leadership, Abbey works to advance practical solutions that connect public policy with successful project delivery.

David Cist

David’s background in medical imaging has been easily applied to a career in geophysics. Armed with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, David worked 5 years in x-ray imaging research for Siemens Medical, then 3years on a Master’s in medical image reconstruction. He discovered Geophysics through an archaeology and never looked back. He completed a PhD in Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) while working for GSSI. David’s career focus has been about making products more intuitive and easier to use.

His latest fascination, asphalt paving, has yielded new discoveries in compaction as well as inventions of various QA/QC tools for the industry.

Nancy Daubenberger

Nancy Daubenberger has served as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation since May 2022.

Prior to her appointment, Nancy held several leadership and engineering roles during more than 25 years with the agency, including as Deputy Commissioner and Chief Engineer, Assistant Commissioner for Engineering Services, and State Bridge Engineer. She also previously held planning, project management and design roles with the MnDOT Bridge Office and Metro District. Before coming to MnDOT, she worked in consulting for six years, in both bridge and road design.

Nancy holds a master’s degree in civil engineering (with a structural emphasis) from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from North Dakota State University.

Jessie Diggins

Jessie Diggins is one of the toughest and most inspiring endurance athletes on the planet. A four-time Olympic medalist and the most decorated American cross-country skier in history, she made global headlines at the 2018 Winter Olympics, delivering a breathtaking, come-from-behind victory to win Team USA’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in women’s cross-country skiing. At 385, she holds the record for the most-ever World Cup competition starts, in which she reached the podium an astounding 90 times!

Known as the “Queen of Pain” for her extraordinary ability to push beyond limits in the most grueling moments, Jessie has built a legacy on resilience, grit, and sustained excellence over four Olympic Games spanning 15 years. A multiple-time World Champion and Overall World Cup winner, she has consistently performed at the highest level in one of the most physically and mentally demanding sports in the world.

But Jessie’s story goes far beyond the podium.

Behind her success is a deeply personal journey of overcoming adversity, including her battle with a life-threatening eating disorder, an experience that shaped her into the powerful advocate for mental health she has become. Today, she speaks openly about vulnerability, self-awareness, and the importance of building strength from within.

Off the snow, Jessie is also a passionate advocate for environmental sustainability, working with organizations like Share Winter and Protect Our Winters to protect access to outdoor sport for future generations.

On stage, Jessie brings the same energy and authenticity that define her racing. With a mix of humor, honesty, and hard-earned wisdom, she connects deeply with audiences, sharing lessons on resilience, teamwork, leadership, and how to perform at your best when it matters most.

Whether she’s describing life inside the “pain cave” or the mindset required to chase big goals, Jessie leaves audiences inspired, energized, and ready to push beyond their own limits.

Margaret Donahoe

Margaret Donahoe serves as Legislative Director for The Minnesota Transportation Alliance as well as Advocacy Coordinator for the Minnesota Public Transit Association. Ms. Donahoe has been working with MPTA since 2000 on advocacy and communications efforts.

Prior to joining the Alliance, Margaret spent eight years working for the Minnesota Senate, the last three of those years as Committee Administrator for the Senate Transportation Budget Division. Her prior work experience also includes staff for the Transportation Study Board, a legislative commission established in the early 1990s to develop a 20-year transportation plan for the State of Minnesota.

David Farris

David Farris is Vice President of Business Optimization at Bituminous Roadways, where he focuses on finding practical ways to improve how the business. David’s background includes experience in quality control testing, asphalt mix design, and pavement engineering, giving him a strong technical foundation and firsthand understanding of the challenges facing the asphalt industry. He also has been on the forefront of sustainability in the asphalt pavement industry, working with NAPA on energy reduction strategies at asphalt plants, EPD generation, and the Energy Star Certification program for asphalt plants.

John Garrity

John is MnDOT's Bituminous Engineer and has been at MnDOT for 38 years.

Mike Heim

Mike Heim is a pavement engineering and market development professional with experience across state and federal transportation agencies and industry. He currently serves as Market Development Manager for Pavement Technologies, where he leads efforts to advance innovative asphalt solutions, including warm mix asphalt, through collaboration with DOTs, industry partners, and key stakeholders. His work focuses on specification development, technical training, research support, and technology deployment. Mike is a licensed Professional Engineer in New York State and holds a bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Clemson University.

Michael Johnson

Bio coming soon.

Greg Johnson

Bio coming soon.

Kevin Karner

Bio coming soon.

Matias Mendez Larrain

Matias Mendez Larrain is a licensed Professional Engineer in several states and holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with a focus on geotechnical engineering, pavements, and materials from the University of Oklahoma. He serves as a reviewer for technical publications and has authored several research and industry papers on pavement performance and geomaterials. Matias is the Senior Director of Geotechnical and Pavement Services at WSB, where he leads geotechnical, materials, and pavement engineering efforts. He oversees field investigation, laboratory testing, and engineering analysis, integrating subsurface conditions with material behavior to deliver practical, data-driven solutions. He works closely with transportation agencies and other industries to support the development and application of performance-based engineering approaches. He currently serves as President of the ASCE Geo-Institute Oklahoma Chapter and is a member of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Standing Committee on Geomaterials Behavior and Properties (AKH19). In his free time, Matias enjoys spending time with his wife, playing golf, and watching sports.

Susan Listberger

Bio coming soon.

Tom Olson

Tom Olson is the founding partner of Olson Construction Law. Tom has spent 39 years representing highway-heavy contractors in Minnesota and around the country. His vision, commitment and energy have provided important leadership both to his firm and to his clients. His focus has been to educate contractors, owners and consulting engineers on how to make their ‘best’ practices ‘better,’ and to help contractors fairly and cooperatively resolve issues on the jobsite, not in the courtroom.  Our mission is to powerfully advocate for the construction industry by enforcing contracts, partnering with industry professionals and educating the industry about better ways to manage change.

Rachel Quam

Bio coming soon.

Richard Shreck

As Astec’s Technical Services and Applications Director, Richard is Astec’s technical expert on asphalt mix design, cold and hot asphalt recycling, Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA), Warm Mix Asphalt, Cold Central Plant Recycling (CCPR) technologies, and all things asphalt. He assists Astec and Astec’s customers internationally in these areas, develops and teaches asphalt related technical training programs and speaks at conferences on behalf of Astec.

Prior to joining Astec in 2017 he served for thirty-six years as Executive Vice President of the Virginia Asphalt Association, the technically focused association representing the Asphalt Paving Industry in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Prior to joining VAA in 1981, Richard was Director of Engineering and Environmental Affairs at the Virginia Road and Transportation Builders Association (now Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance) for six years and a lobbyist on behalf of Virginia’s highway construction industry.

Richard has been an international asphalt consultant for more than 40 years working with government agencies and contractors in Japan, South Africa, Australia, Germany, Austria, Canada, and the United Kingdom. He is internationally known for his expertise in asphalt materials, paving, and mix design, QC/QA, Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA), Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA), and asphalt recycling technologies, techniques, and paving practices (cold & hot).

Michael Vrtis

Michael is a Research Engineer and has been with Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) since 2017. His work primarily focuses on asphalt pavements and pavement instrumentation at the MnROAD facility. Prior to joining MnDOT, Michael completed his Ph.D. at the National Center for Asphalt Technology at Auburn University. His love for pavements started as a student at the University of Utah, where he completed his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Outside of being a self-proclaimed "pavement nerd", he enjoys sports, spending time with family, and all things outdoors.

Grant Wollenhaupt

Grant Wollenhaupt, Chief Commercial Officer at XBE, brings extensive asphalt experience to guide the company’s commercial strategy, industry partnerships and operational alignment for heavy construction, bulk logistics and materials producers. Prior to that, he was the director of business development and vice president of strategy and innovation for Superior Bowen and director of business operations for R2R “Research for Roads.” His career reflects a blend of deep domain knowledge, customer-focused solution design, and a commitment to advancing productivity and profitability in the construction materials industry.

Ben Worel

Braun Intertec (7 years)

• Strategic Highway Research Program / Long Term Pavement Performance Regional Contractor

MnROAD Operations Engineer for the MnDOT (30 years)

• Day-to-day operations of MnROAD, development of research projects and partnerships.
• National Road Research Alliance (NRRA) Executive Director.