Researchers at the University of Washington’s (UW) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering have created an engaging, interactive web-based solution for training workers in the pavement construction industry.

The idea for such a tool originated with early work by professor Joe Mahoney in the late 1980s well before the rise in popularity of the World Wide Web. While they waited for technology to catch up, Mahoney and professor Steve Muench continued to develop training content based on their research. In 2002, Mahoney, Muench and senior research engineer George White began developing web-based, interactive delivery systems for this growing body of training material.

Several products were developed along the way for research sponsors including the National Asphalt Pavement Association and the Washington State Department of Transportation; the latter of which, in 2003, won a national award from the National Engineering Education Delivery System (NEEDS), for computer-based training. In addition, the University of Washington also entered into license agreements with a number of paving industry organizations and state departments of transportation.

Currently, these high-quality interactive training materials are the largest collection of digital media and information resources available on hot mix asphalt pavement construction materials, methods and practices.

Pavia Systems is marketing the modular, customizable online training service to paving companies, equipment manufacturers and transportation agencies around the world and expects to have an international impact on the paving industry. Whereas, traditional training requires one to spend hours of time in a classroom, Pavia’s online solution available at www.paviasystems.com provides one the convenience of personalized training 24 hours a day.

This story was originally published in 2008.

To see available technologies from research institutions, click here to visit the AUTM Innovation Marketplace.