Eric Harm Retiring From IDOT
A good friend, ILLINI, and supporter of research at the Illinois Center for Transportation, Eric Harm, announced he will be retiring at the end of this year.
Mr. Harm received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in January 1979, and his Master of Science in Engineering degree from the University of California at Berkeley in June 1980.
He worked summers for the Illinois Department of Transportation in District 4 (Peoria) while attending college, and was permanently hired at the Bureau of Materials and Physical Research in August 1980 as a Civil Engineer I.
As one of the first engineers hired to replace the retiring workforce of engineers who constructed the interstate system, he quickly rose through the ranks at the Bureau of Materials and Physical Research. He spent time as the Bituminous Operations Engineer and the Engineer of Physical Research, and in 1998, he was appointed Bureau Chief of Materials and Physical Research. In 2002, Mr. Harm left the Bureau of Materials and Physical Research when he was appointed Deputy Director, Assistant to the Chief Engineer of Highways.
During his tenure with the Department, Mr. Harm has been a strong advocate at the state and national levels for materials and pavement issues of concern to Illinois. He has fostered relations with the construction industries within the state, inviting them to actively participate in discussions with IDOT on materials, pavement design, and pavement selection.
On the national level, he has been invited to participate on National Cooperative Highway Research Program projects such as "Quality Characteristics of Hot-Mix Asphalt Pavements for Use in Performance-Related Specifications," "SUPERPAVE Support and Performance Models Management," and an international scanning tour on Warm Mix Asphalt Technology, as well as the Transportation Research Board's SUPERPAVE Committee and its Committee for Pavement Technology Review and Evaluation. Mr. Harm also served on the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Official's Subcommittee on Materials.
While serving as the Engineer of Physical Research, he was elected by his peers to serve as the vice-chair of AASHTO's Research Advisory Committee for a period of 4 years. He has served for more than 15 years as one of the few state research engineers on the AASHTO Standing Committee on Research, which advises the AASHTO Board of Directors on research needs and votes on the national transportation research agenda. His voluntary involvement in these external activities has enabled him to raise Illinois's issues and concerns at a national level. However, it is his command of the technical issues, coupled with his ability to relate to people, that has ensured that Illinois's issues and concerns have been heard and addressed.
Future plans have not been announced, but we are sure he will remain active in highway engineering/research in some fashion while enjoying retirement in Florida. We wish Eric the best!