The inaugural event for Women of Asphalt – Hawaii Branch was a tour of the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) bituminous lab on November 19, 2024.
The event start with a 30-minute tour of the bituminous lab by Brandon Lima, the bituminous mixture & binder supervising technician, bituminous materials section (HWY-LB) for the State of Hawaii DOT. He provided the attendees with an insight to how asphalt and binder samples get processed and tested in the lab.
Lunch followed, which was a mini bento from Sugoi. The dessert was pastries from Liliha Bakery.
An overview of the Hawaii Branch was presented by Jon Young, Executive Director, HAPI. He began by stating the goal of a branch is to establish a partnership between Women of Asphalt (WofA) and the State Asphalt Pavement Association (SAPA) to provide a mutually beneficial partnership. This partnership will provide value to the industry by advocating for women in the workforce. HAPI is Hawaii’s SAPA.
He went on to explain that each branch is required to 1) have a chairwoman (Kaipolani Chang) and a vice-chairwoman (Sheila Sunio); 2) two meetings a year (which will be at HAPI meeting), and 3) two to three events a year.
For the immediate future, Young will continue to maintain the web page and conduct registration for events.
The event was a success and as one attendee commented “I know this is the start of a successful collaboration for our mana wahine in the industry!”
Lab Tour – Brandon Lima
Preparing the group for the tour Aggregate Testing Room Mixture Testing Room Binder and Emulsion Testing Room
WofA Hawaii Branch Overview
Group Photo Jon Young Presenting Overview