Materials Division

"Planning Today, for Tomorrow's Challenges"

The Materials Division supplies technical leadership and training in building and maintaining a safe and efficient transportation system through the assessment of highway construction materials and the application of innovative engineering.

The Materials Division is organized into a Central Office and nine district offices. 

The district materials engineers represent the state materials engineer in matters pertaining to sampling, inspection, field-testing, construction, maintenance materials, soil surveys and pavement design. 

The division is separated into three major areas:  preliminary engineering, operations and support services.

• Materials Division documents and downloads
• New products information
• Materials certification schools information

Contact Information

Mailing and Shipping Address
6200 Elko Tract Road
Sandston, Virginia 23150

Personnel and Areas of Expertise

Andy Babish, P.E.  804-328-3102
State Materials Engineer 

John Schuler, P.E. 804-328-3106
Assistant State Materials Engineer
Concrete, aggregates, quality assurance and structures programs 

Affan Habib, P.E. 804-328-3129
Assistant State Materials Engineer
Geotechnical engineering services, soils testing, buried structures, and chemistry

Angela Beyke, P.E. 804-328-3173
Assistant State Materials Engineer
Pavement design and evaluation and asphalt mixtures 

Sean (Xinjun) Li, Ph.D., P.E.  804-328-3130
Concrete Program Manager
Aggregates, cement, concrete testing, concrete curing compounds, epoxies, neoprene pads, reinforcing steel, bolts, fly ash, slag, and all physical laboratory tests

Keith Williams  804-328-3135
Assistant Concrete Program Manager
Aggregates, cement certification, concrete admixtures, concrete patching materials, polymer crack sealers for concrete, chemical anchors, epoxies, neoprene pads, fly ash, slag, silica fume, concrete coatings, concrete fibers, epoxy coatings for reinforcing steel, expanded polystyrene, pipe gaskets and loop sealants 

Laura Hisey  804-328-3165
Quality Assurance Manager
Materials notebooks, source of materials, precast concrete, concrete pipe, corrugated metal pipe, HDPE pipe, miscellaneous material suppliers, gray iron casting manufacturers / suppliers, AMRL accreditation, new products information 

Wansoo Kim, Ph.D., P.E. 804-328-3140
Soils, Aggregates, and Buried Structures Program Manager
Soils testing, buried structures design, geosynthetics, central mix aggregate program, soil and aggregate density program

Paul Baldwin  804-328-3142
Soils Laboratory Supervisor and State Radiation Safety Officer
Bonded weigh program, soils testing, central mix aggregate program, portable nuclear gauge program, density program 

Biraj Gautam, P.E. 804-328-3076
Senior Geotechnical Engineer
Soils testing, buried structures design, geosynthetics, central mix aggregate program, soil and aggregate density program

Ramesh Neupane, Ph.D., P.E. 804-328-3172
Geotechnical Engineering Program Manager
Geotechnical engineering and geology, geotechnical contracts manager, landslide monitoring, rock / soil slopes and sinkholes, groundwater investigations and studies, in-situ testing, technical assistance for Alternative Project Delivery, Public-Private Partnerships, Structure and Bridge, Construction, and Maintenance divisions in geotechnical matterss

Danial Esmaili, Ph.D., P.E.  804-328-3144
Senior Geotechnical Engineer
Geotechnical engineering, landslide monitoring, rock / soil slopes and sinkholes, in-situ testing, technical Assistance for Alternative Project Delivery, Public-Private Partnerships, Structure and Bridge, Construction, and Maintenance divisions in geotechnical matters 

Raju Acharya, Ph.D., P.E.  804-328-3009
Senior Geotechnical Engineer
Geotechnical engineering, rock / soil slopes and sinkholes, in-situ testing, technical assistance for Alternative Project Delivery, Public-Private Partnerships, Structure and Bridge, Construction, and Maintenance divisions in geotechnical matters

Mourad Bouhajja  804-328-3137
Asphalt Program Manager
Asphalt Pavement Field Engineers, paving and asphalt materials, field pavement evaluation and forensics 

Candice Entwisle 804-328-3028
Assistant Asphalt Program Manager
Asphalt materials, liquid binders, asphalt mix design and testing

Jim Swisher  804-328-3121
Chief Chemist
Sign sheeting, pavement markings, bridge paints / coatings, cement and fly ash, metal alloys, hazardous waste, treated wood, glass beads, delineators, water testing, road salt, lime, aluminum, silicone sealants, hot pour joint sealers, fence materials and posts, agricultural lime

Jessica Lewis  804-328-3122
Chemistry Laboratory Supervisor
Sign sheeting, pavement markings, bridge paints / coatings, cement and fly ash, metal alloys, hazardous waste, treated wood, glass beads, delineators, water testing, road salt, lime, aluminum, silicone sealants, hot pour joint sealers, fence materials and posts, agricultural lime

Girum Merine, P.E.  804-328-3129
Pavement Design and Evaluation Program Manager 
Pavement design and evaluation, destructive and non-destructive testing of pavements, Strategic Highway Research Program, ride specification analysis, pavement specification and standard, pavement training

Bipad Saha, P.E.  804-328-3175
Pavement Engineer
Design and evaluation of asphalt and concrete pavements, destructive and non-destructive testing of pavement materials and systems, ride specification analysis, pavement and specification training 

Michael Wells, P.E.  804-328-3174
Pavement Engineer 
Design and evaluation of asphalt and concrete pavements, destructive and non-destructive testing of pavement materials and systems, ride specification analysis, pavement and specification training 

Mesbah Ahmed, P.E.  804-328-3154
Pavement Engineer 
Design and evaluation of asphalt and concrete pavements, destructive and non-destructive testing of pavement materials and systems, ride specification analysis, pavement and specification training 

Jeremy Clary, P.E.  804-328-3160
Structural Materials Program Manager
Prestressed concrete, guardrail, structural steel fabrication, stay-in-place metal decking, non-destructive testing of structural steel (ultrasonic and radiographic), welder qualifications, commercial test lab contracts, project documentation and record keeping
   

District Materials Engineers

Bristol: Steven Mullins, P.E.  276-669-9951

Culpeper: Haroon Shami, P.E.   540-829-7563 

Fredericksburg: Kwame Adu-Gyamfi, Ph.D, P.E.  540-899-4303

Hampton Roads: Miranda Kidd 540-769-9575

Lynchburg: Don French, P.E.  434-856-8104

Northern Virginia: David Shiells, P.E.  703-259-1998

Richmond: Thomas "Tommy" Schinkel, P.E.  804-524-6211
 
Salem: Travis S. Higgs, P.E.  540-387-5338
 
Staunton: Chaz Weaver, P.E.  540-746-8801