APTech is elated to welcome Steve Karamihas, Ph.D., to the firm as a key member of our State and National Agencies program. Steve brings an impressive background in pavement surface characteristics and vehicle dynamics. He boasts more than 30 years of experience in pavement profiling research, test track studies and investigations, specialized equipment development, and training and education.

“We are excited to welcome Steve to the team,” said Kurt Smith, APTech’s State and National Agencies Program Director. “He is a nationally recognized expert in pavement-vehicle interactions and is already contributing to several of our projects.”

Prior to APTech

Before joining APTech, Steve enjoyed a long career with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, where he forged an expertise in measuring and analyzing pavement profiles, surface textures, and vehicle dynamics. His recent work includes leadership on the National Cooperative Highway Research Program Project 10-93, where he served as the Principal Investigator to develop a methodology for measuring, characterizing, and reporting pavement roughness for profile measurements collected at low speeds and at stopped or near-stopped conditions. In addition, Steve has over 70 industry-related publications and holds a patent for the method of correcting the roughness of pavement.

Steve is actively involved in developing testing standards and practices—including contributions to several AASHTO standards—along with creating analytical procedures and software tools for evaluating these interactions. This involvement includes serving on multiple committees, including as chair for the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Vehicle Performance Steering Committee and SAE Vehicle Dynamics Standards Committee. He also co-authored the renowned Little Book of Profiling, first published in 1998, and he is currently working on a 2024 update.

Immediate Contributions

In the short time Steve has been with APTech, he has already made significant contributions to several major projects. For example, Steve is working with the Illinois Department of Transportation in their ICART test track activities and establishing the agency’s pavement surface characteristics program.

When Steve is not at APTech, he can either be found following nerdy pursuits related to prime numbers, theoretical derivation of dynamics models and signal analysis methods, or playing softball, darts, or table tennis.

Check out our applied research resources to learn more about the work being done by Steve and our State and National Agencies program.