Who We Are
We are a full-service pavement engineering consulting firm that provides effective solutions for the design, evaluation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of roadway and airport pavements. Since our founding in 1994, we have worked with clients at the state, federal, and local levels in the United States and abroad, and we are a recognized leader in our industry. We help our clients identify cost-effective strategies that reduce the overall life-cycle cost of preserving the pavement network while incorporating the latest pavement-related designs and technologies into organizational practice.
Company Mission
We apply our pavement engineering expertise to find appropriate and effective solutions for agencies responsible for the design, maintenance, and rehabilitation of pavement facilities. We work together with clients as a team, seeking practical solutions to solve our clients’ problems.
Recent News & Insights
Leadership
Founders
Kathryn (Katie) Zimmerman, P.E.
Executive Vice President
The founding President and current Executive Vice President of APTech, Katie Zimmerman has earned an international reputation for her work in the use of asset management programs for pavements, bridges, and ancillary assets to improve transportation agency decisions. Her expertise and deep knowledge make her a valuable resource to agencies as they seek to better determine their needs; target the use of asset data for planning, programming, budgeting, and investment decisions; and improve agency transparency and accountability. A pioneer in the asset management field, Katie has assisted state, local, and regional transportation agencies with the preparation of asset management plans, the implementation of pavement management tools, and the development of guidance documents. She has also led several influential national research efforts in pavement and asset management.
Throughout her career, Katie has placed a high priority on giving back to her profession and community. Professionally, she has been active in the Transportation Research Board (TRB), a unit of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. She has served as the Chair of the TRB Pavement Management Committee and Chair of the TRB Transportation Asset Management Committee. In addition, Katie served as the Chair of the TRB Management and Leadership Section and currently serves as Chair of TRB’s Policy and Organization Group, which includes participation on the TRB Technical Advisory Council. She served on the Alumni Board for the University of Illinois’ Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department, including one term as its President. Katie was recognized by the CEE Alumni Association with both the Young Alumni Award and the Distinguished Alumni Award. She also was the recipient of three prestigious Instructor of Excellence Awards from the Federal Highway Administration’s National Highway Institute.
Within the Champaign-Urbana area, Katie has served as a coach for youth sports teams and as a board member for several not-for-profits related to children. Katie is currently serving as the Secretary for the Don Moyer Boy’s and Girl’s Club Board of Directors and is always seeking ways to be a positive influence and give back to her community.
One of the personal benefits to Katie’s involvement in asset management has been the opportunities it has provided to travel throughout the United States and around the world. Katie is proud to be able to say that she has worked in all 50 states and is currently working her way towards visiting all the continents – Antarctica is the last one on her list! She has inherited her mother’s love of Europe and visits as often as she can. Her friends and family are important to her and she enjoys time with her son, her granddaughter, and the many people she has met along the way.
David Peshkin, P.E.
Vice President | Chief Engineer
A founder, Vice President and Chief Engineer of APTech, David Peshkin is an accomplished pavement engineer with extensive experience in pavement evaluation, pavement design, and pavement maintenance and rehabilitation techniques. In collaboration with his colleagues, David works on pavement evaluation projects, including examining pavement performance, modeling future conditions, and developing rehabilitation recommendations. He has also played a leading role nationwide in researching and presenting on preventive maintenance. Because of his deep knowledge and experience in the pavement engineering field, David is frequently sought out as a technical expert or as an expert witness on complex pavement-related litigations.
Like many in the profession, David followed a circuitous route to pavement engineering. His journey began with a B.A. in History, which was followed by 2 years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Central African Republic and another 4 years working in the Peace Corps office in Morocco. A townie at heart, he eventually returned to Champaign-Urbana to study civil engineering. Now David is enjoying his third decade with APTech, applying his experience to research, analysis and forensics, and technology transfer challenges, both in the United States and around the world. Working on both airfield and roadway projects keeps him engaged with great clients and partners in interesting projects. It also makes David a natural and an invaluable resource to APTech as its Chief Engineer.
Margaret (Maggie) Covalt, P.E.
Vice President
A founder and Vice President of APTech, Maggie pursued her undergraduate and graduate degrees in civil engineering in a very purposeful way but stumbled upon a path after school that provided her with the best possible application of those degrees. Upon graduation, she was hired by the U.S. Corps of Engineers to test and demonstrate the fledgling MicroPAVER (now called PAVER) pavement management software. Maggie’s responsibilities included traveling throughout the U.S. to attend conferences, teach attendees the basics of pavement management, and introduce them to PAVER. She quickly discovered that she enjoyed her participation in airport pavement management and in airport conferences such as those held by the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO). This was due to the participants’ passion for everything and anything aviation, their dedication and commitment to their airports, and their ready acceptance of, and respect for, a young female engineer.
Fast forward to today and now Maggie has been involved in airport pavement engineering and pavement management for more than 35 years. Her expertise is in statewide airport pavement management system (APMS) applications, and she has worked with more than thirty states on their APMS to help them proactively maintain and preserve their critical airport pavement infrastructure. And since it was through NASAO that Maggie found her passion and delivered her very first presentation, it gave her immense satisfaction and professional pride when her decades-long dedication to the use of airport pavement management at the state level culminated in receiving the NASAO President’s award.
Management
Monty Wade, P.E.
President
Monty Wade joined APTech in 1997, only 18 months after the company opened, and now serves as President, CEO, and Board of Directors Chair. He brought with him a solid background in pavement engineering and at APTech he continued to refine his expertise and gain invaluable experience. It did not take Monty long to become a leader both within APTech and in the pavement engineering community at a national level. He actively participated in and contributed to the successful growth of the company and as President continues to provide solid leadership as the company celebrates its 25th year of business.
During his technical career spanning more than 25 years, Monty has worked on commercial airfields and military facilities across North America in the areas of pavement evaluation and design, pavement management systems, forensic investigations, research, and technology transfer. Monty has contributed to the pavement engineering community as a whole in many ways, including as past Chair of the Airport Consultants Council (ACC) Engineering Committee and as an instructor for workshops and webinars for various organizations on pavement-related topics such as airport pavement design and PCN determinations. Monty is a registered Professional Engineer in thirteen states and nine Canadian provinces.
Monty’s passion for leading the company and for his involvement in the engineering community comes from the people he encounters. He values the guidance and leadership skills he has learned from APTech’s founders along the way and the trust they have instilled in him to take the company to new heights. He thoroughly enjoys his daily interactions and friendships with APTech staff as they work together to foster growth in a family-oriented environment. He values the professional relationships he has made in the engineering and airport communities throughout the years, many of which have created lifelong friendships. These interactions and relationships continue to be his driving force for creating a better company for its employees and its clients.
Kurt Smith, P.E.
Vice President | State and National Agencies Program Director
Kurt Smith brought with him a strong resume in pavement engineering when he joined APTech within 8 months of it opening its doors. With more than three decades of experience in the areas of pavement design, evaluation, and rehabilitation, Kurt has amassed a keen understanding of pavement behavior. Over the years, he has led nationwide studies on pavement performance and pavement rehabilitation effectiveness and has conducted numerous pavement evaluation projects on both highway and airfield facilities. Kurt is recognized at the national level for his extensive expertise in concrete materials and concrete pavements, and serves as the Chair of the American Concrete Institute (ACI)’s Committee 325, Concrete Pavements.
In addition to being a Vice President at APTech, Kurt oversees pavement research and training projects for our state and national highway transportation clients as APTech’s State and National Agencies Program Director. Kurt is currently leading several major Federal Highway Administration initiatives, including the Sustainable Pavements Program, the Pavement Surface Characteristics Program, and the Implementation of Best Practices for Concrete Pavements project. He has also been integral in research projects for several state departments of transportation, including Michigan, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Kyle Potvin, P.E.
State Airport Agencies Program Director
Kyle Potvin’s passion for aviation started around the time he learned to walk while growing up in a small, lakeside town in Michigan. Spending many weekends with his grandfather at the local airport—a short turf runway with one hangar and a shack for a terminal—he often took the controls of his grandfather’s plane while flying around the area.
Today, Kyle is the Program Director of the State Aviation Agencies program at APTech. He has been involved with airport pavement management system projects for 28 state aviation agencies, 26 commercial airports, and 7 military installations. He has conducted more than 1,300 Pavement Condition Index (PCI) inspections over his career and is a recognized expert in the field. Kyle is a voting member of the ASTM Committee responsible for standards covering pavement management systems, pavement testing methods, and PCI inspection, and he is a member of the TRB Standing Committee on Pavement Systems—AFD10.
Mark Gardner, P.E.
Local Municipalities and Private Agencies Program Director
When Mark Gardner was a child, his mother proudly observed his immediate interest in seeing how things worked and redesigning them to work better—an interest that led him to identify engineering as his way forward, a path from which he has never deviated. In his nearly four decades of pavement engineering, Mark has amassed extensive experience with roadway pavement evaluation, design, and management, which serves him well as APTech’s Program Director for the Local Municipalities and Private Agencies group. Mark's expertise includes coordinating pavement distress surveys (automated and manual) using the PCI method, linking georeferenced roadway asset data to geographic information systems for visualization and reporting, and developing practical maintenance and rehabilitation plans for local agencies. Mark has also presented budget and performance forecasts to county boards and commissions, resulting in increased agency funding.
Mark takes particular interest in pavement maintenance and management to provide a safe, smooth ride on the weekend, overnight motorcycling and biking trips he organizes throughout the year.
Genevieve Long, P.E., LEED AP
Department of Defense and Commercial Airports Program Director
Gen Long is the Program Director for APTech’s Commercial Airport and Department of Defense group. She is approaching her 20th year with APTech and has focused her career on airport pavement engineering. Gen is a registered Professional Engineer and is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional. Gen’s technical expertise includes pavement management, evaluation, design, and training, with her career focus being on the airport industry.
Gen has served as Project Manager and technical expert for airport pavement management and pavement evaluation and design projects across North America. Many of these projects include a structural analysis component in addition to PCI inspections, PAVER pavement management database updates, GIS map integration, and recommending maintenance and rehabilitation activities. Gen also has extensive pavement evaluation and design experience, including analyzing FWD deflection data, calculating PCNs, developing pavement design alternatives, conducting life-cycle analyses, and training clients in these various pavement management, evaluation, and design items. She is currently the Vice Chair of the Airport Consultants Council (ACC) Engineering Committee and has served as an instructor for the ACC multi-day Airport Pavement Design, Evaluation, and Analysis workshop.
Gen didn’t take a commercial flight until high school, but quickly fell in love with travel and has found working with commercial airport clients across North America (and beyond) to be a wonderful experience. Even when not on-site looking at airport pavements or meeting with clients, she still feels connected with so many people and places. Further, Gen has been fortunate to be able to share the experience of travel with her family and already has the next Generation hooked on aviation!
