Mike Southern

Mike is a chemistry graduate of the Royal Holloway College, London University, who dedicated over 30 years to the technical support of bitumen and its downstream products.
Following seven years with Colas Roads, working on polymer modified binder rheology, emulsion development and ISO 9000 Quality Assurance Systems, Mike joined Shell Bitumen UK as Senior Development Engineer. There he provided technical support for the UK bitumen business, binder quality and R&D project management.
In 1994, he moved to the Bitumen Marketing Division at Shell International Oil Products, where for over nine years his main responsibilities included manufacturing liaison, R&D project management and product HSE support. During this time he also chaired the Eurobitume HSE Committee.
Mike joined Eurobitume as its Technical Director in 2005 and upon his retirement in July 2022, served as the Senior Technical Advisor. His main focus was on Technical and HSE, and among other activities he acted as Secretary of the HSE Committee and as a member of the Technical Committee for Eurobitume.
During his time with Eurobitume, Mike’s contributions were especially important during the lead up to the International Agency Research on Cancer’s (IARC) review of bitumen for their monograph in 2011. His work representing Eurobitume and the bitumen industry overall for this effort became pronounced when IARC launched their Epidemiology Study and then their subsequent nested case control study of asphalt workers in Europe.
Mike’s previous work with the Asphalt Institute when NIOSH published their health hazard review in 2001, and the DECOS industry regulatory comment period in 2005 helped prepare Mike and our industry for what was to follow with IARC. He was also the Eurobitume representative and authoritative voice during the Institute’s work to design and implement dermal cancer assays for paving and roofing grade asphalts prior to the IARC monograph.
He has served the industry well for decades of work with the German MAK commission and the EU interests in specifications as well as organizational changes within the industry and Eurobitume. Mike has also served as the Eurobitume representative to the Institute’s HSE committee.
Mike Southern’s commitment to the industry makes him a perfect recipient for the Institute’s Distinguished Service award.