Extending the life spans of roads, developing environmentally sustainable solutions to pavement challenges and saving money. Those are the main goals of the city of Mesa in partnering with Fulton Schools Professor Hazan Ozer and ASU’s Southwest Pavement Technology Consortium, which Ozer directs. The project teams academic researchers, the construction industry and city leaders in applying new advances in road building and paving. The focus is on boosting the resilience of asphalt and other commonly used pavement materials and finding ways to curb the detrimental impacts of expanding heat islands. In addition to working with cities and construction companies, ASU engineering students will get opportunities to apply their research outside of the classroom.