Industry Leadership
Eurobitume President in 2024-2025, Asphalt Institute Technical Advisory Committee Chair from 2019-2022, and active technical contributor across ISAP, TRB, CTAA, AAPT and E&E Congresses.
About Pavel Kriz
Senior asphalt technology judgment you can build on.
Pavel Kriz, PhD, P.Eng., brings 25+ years of asphalt and bitumen technology leadership across research and development, refinery support, product quality, laboratory leadership, customer technical service, marketing-facing support, specifications, industry advocacy, and capability building.
Founder
Experience translated into client value.
Pavel's work connects asphalt and bitumen science with the strategic decisions faced by refiners, producers, terminals, laboratories, agencies, contractors and infrastructure stakeholders: what to make, how to control it, how to defend it, and how to build stronger technical capability.
Pavel Kriz, PhD, P.Eng., is the founder of Kriz Asphalt Technology and an internationally recognized asphalt and bitumen technology leader. His career has bridged binder science, refinery-aware product strategy, company strategy and technical vision, laboratory leadership, customer and agency support, specifications, quality systems, technical advocacy, and capability development.
His technical foundation is unusually broad: crude and feedstock effects, refinery-related asphalt quality, binder rheology, phase compatibility, physical hardening, polymer-modified asphalt, Superpave and MSCR specifications, RAP and virgin binder diffusion, laboratory test variability, multi-laboratory asphalt QA, Lean Six Sigma process improvement, sustainability, and technical communication.
Pavel earned his PhD in Bituminous Materials from the University of Calgary after earlier training in chemical engineering and petroleum/refining-related materials science. His early research examined glass transition, low-temperature behavior, physical hardening, phase stability, wax crystallization, and asphaltene behavior - the material-science base behind much of his later industry work.
In 2009 he joined Imperial Oil, an ExxonMobil affiliate, in Sarnia, Ontario. His work grew from asphalt research into laboratory and people leadership, safe laboratory operations, crude and refining support, product-quality strategy, customer technical service, industry advocacy, and global technical mentorship. He later held the ExxonMobil Principal Asphalt Engineer role, providing senior technical direction for asphalt strategy, product vision, specifications, product quality, customer support, and global technical capability within one of the world's largest energy and asphalt supply organizations.
His public industry leadership includes service as Eurobitume President in 2024-2025 and Chair of the Asphalt Institute Technical Advisory Committee from 2019-2022, with technical activity across ISAP, TRB, CTAA, AAPT and E&E Congresses. One of his most visible standards contributions was helping advance phase angle from a rheological insight into AASHTO asphalt binder specification practice.
Key achievements include methods for asphalt crude-slate and property optimization, continuous-improvement-based production optimization, global asphalt laboratory QA programs, RAP and virgin binder diffusion work, phase-stability research, and phase-angle specification leadership. Pavel has authored or co-authored more than 30 technical papers, contributed to more than 100 total technical papers, patents, presentations and industry outputs, and is an inventor or co-inventor on multiple asphalt-related patents.
His technical work and industry service have been recognized by the Asphalt Institute, Canadian Technical Asphalt Association and Ontario Asphalt Pavement Council, including Asphalt Institute President's Awards, CTAA Norman W. McLeod Awards, the CTAA Elaine Thompson Editor's Award, and the OAPC Earl Kee Volunteer of the Year Award.
Leadership and recognition
Technical credibility built in public and across industry.
Strategy And Standards Impact
Principal-level asphalt strategy, product vision, product-quality leadership, customer and agency support, and a driving role in phase-angle binder specification work that helped move advanced rheology into AASHTO practice.
Awards and Recognition
Recognition from the Asphalt Institute, Canadian Technical Asphalt Association and Ontario Asphalt Pavement Council, including AI President's Awards, CTAA Norman W. McLeod Awards, the CTAA Elaine Thompson Editor's Award and OAPC Earl Kee Volunteer of the Year Award.
Career timeline
From refinery chemistry to global asphalt leadership.
Chemical engineering and petroleum/refining educationUniversity of Chemistry and Technology in Prague, with international research experience at DTU.
PhD in Bituminous MaterialsUniversity of Calgary research in asphalt binder behavior, rheology and low-temperature performance.
Imperial Oil / ExxonMobil asphalt researchResearch, laboratory leadership, customer support, refining support, technical training and asphalt and bitumen technology development.
ExxonMobil Principal Asphalt EngineerSenior technical guidance across asphalt binder technology, specifications, quality, global capability and stakeholder engagement.
Eurobitume, Asphalt Institute, ISAP, TRB, CTAA, AAPT, E&EIndustry leadership, technical committees, publications, standards advocacy and technical communication.
Founder, Kriz Asphalt TechnologyIndependent asphalt and bitumen technology advisory, expert review, training, QA programs, process optimization and practical support.
Build on senior asphalt and bitumen expertise.
Kriz Asphalt Technology makes Pavel's asphalt and bitumen technology expertise available directly to organizations building stronger products, sharper operations, better data confidence, stronger stakeholder credibility, and deeper internal capability.