Amma Agbedor

Senior Canadian and Research Engineer
Ph.D., P.Eng.
Education | Engineering
Time at Asphalt Institute: 8 years

Dr. Amma Agbedor has been with the Asphalt Institute since 2018, serving as AI’s Senior Canadian & Research Engineer. She earned her Materials Engineering degree from McMaster University in 2007 before joining the paving industry. Amma later obtained her master’s and PhD degrees in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the University of Waterloo while working in Ontario’s road construction sector, where she is also a registered Professional Engineer. Recognized for her leadership and passion for advancing the asphalt industry, Amma received the “Bleeds Black Award” from the Ontario Asphalt Paving Council and was named one of Rock to Road’s Top 10 Under 40. She has also chaired several national committees, including the Canadian Asphalt User Producer Group and the Soils and Materials Committee through the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC). In addition to her technical and leadership roles, Amma contributes her expertise to the broader public as a science commentator and subject matter expert on Discovery Channel and Science Channel documentaries such as Abandoned Engineering, How Did They Build That, What on Earth, Discovered by Disaster, and more.

Amma is a member of the Board of Advisory for The Turkstra Chair in Urban Engineering at the University of Waterloo, where she continues to champion collaboration, research, and innovation in sustainable pavement engineering across Canada.

My Courses

Amma's Articles

Dr. Amma Agbedor, Ph.D., P.Eng. Archives - Asphalt magazine The magazine of the Asphalt Institute

  • Smart Asphalt: Rethinking moisture
    by Dr. Amma Agbedor, Ph.D., P.Eng. on August 6, 2026 at 2:14 pm

    Your pavement failedYour test didn’t see it coming Pull a core from a three-year-old pavement and find it falling apart in your hands, that is not how a pavement designed for 15-plus years of service is supposed to behave. That is exactly what the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) found when they investigated premature rutting on The post Smart Asphalt: Rethinking moisture appeared first on Asphalt magazine.

  • Canadian Winter: What the roads are already telling us
    by Dr. Amma Agbedor, Ph.D., P.Eng. on March 19, 2026 at 3:28 pm

    Winter 2025-2026 Almost twenty years of this work across Canadian climate zones, and seriously, this winter has given me more to document than most. Every weather watch, snowstorm warning, deep freeze warning… it obviously got me thinking about how it would impact our road infrastructure. In late January 2026, a polar vortex pushed wind chill The post Canadian Winter: What the roads are already telling us appeared first on Asphalt magazine.

  • Smart Asphalt: Screed design
    by Dr. Amma Agbedor, Ph.D., P.Eng. on September 3, 2025 at 2:38 pm

    Where compaction truly begins — and how screed plate design impacts pavement performance In asphalt paving, compaction is king. It’s widely accepted across the industry that compaction is the most important factor influencing long-term pavement performance: You can do everything else right — design, materials, plant mix — but if you don’t compact it properly, The post Smart Asphalt: Screed design appeared first on Asphalt magazine.

  • Smart Asphalt: Rutting test
    by Dr. Amma Agbedor, Ph.D., P.Eng. on February 15, 2025 at 7:25 pm

    If we don’t have a rutting problem, why do we have a new rutting test?  We have a new test in our lab at Asphalt Institute headquarters so of course I’m going to talk about it…  Rutting in asphalt pavement is a permanent deformation along wheel paths, appearing as grooves caused by repeated vehicle loads The post Smart Asphalt: Rutting test appeared first on Asphalt magazine.

  • Smart Asphalt: Workability
    by Dr. Amma Agbedor, Ph.D., P.Eng. on June 27, 2024 at 2:52 pm

    Advancing asphalt: A novel approach to assessing mixture workability What is workability?  Workability, in the context of material properties, refers to the ease with which a material can be shaped, formed, or manipulated into a desired form without fracturing or damaging the material. It’s an important property in various fields such as engineering, construction, and The post Smart Asphalt: Workability appeared first on Asphalt magazine.

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