Industry “Green” Veteran Receives Auburn Award
BY Sandy Lender
A.J. Ronyak receives first honorary alumni status from Auburn University for work with odor solutions asphalt technology
Auburn University has awarded its first honorary alumni status through the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering to A.J. Ronyak, the proprietor of Asphalt Solutions, Alva, Florida, for his innovations and continuing partnership with the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT). This award may be new but the technology and innovation behind it have been garnering attention for a while.
In 1996, Bob Thompson of Thompson-McCully Co. in Michigan brought Ronyak on board at his Rawsonville, Michigan, division. Ronyak instituted some repairs, to the tune of $278,000, at the Rawsonville plant for Thompson, and ran the plant rated at 750 tons per hour (TPH) full tilt most of the time. “There were times I had it going up to 1,000 tons an hour,” Ronyak said. “In my last season there, from April 18 to November 22, I produced 998,000 tons of hot-mix asphalt. That broke every company record.”
Casey Waid, development officer of Auburn University’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, Auburn, Alabama, shared the university plans to bestow more of these honorary alumni status awards on an annual basis, to highlight people who have contributed to the industry. A.J. Ronyak received the first in the fall 2024. Ronyak graduated from Gilmour Academy, Gates Mills, Ohio, in 1978, and obtained his degree in graphic design from The Art Institute of Atlanta in 1980.
But Ronyak had another project going on the side to help his employer and our industry. He was developing a product that would remove odor from asphalt.
“I was spraying [an odor masking agent popular at the time] in the stack to mitigate the smell, but it wasn’t working,” Ronyak explained. He modified a specialized nozzle to atomize the liquid product that was intended to solve the odor problem neighbors were experiencing, but it still didn’t reduce the scent of industry.
One day, while considering the problem, A.J. took out a pack of gum and had his “aha!” moment. Why couldn’t he take the oils that make gum smell so good and inject something similar into the liquid asphalt cement (AC) to make it smell good? Or to eliminate the asphalt smell altogether?
He started to experiment on his own time, using shipping containers in the yard as his lab. When he had a solution that tested out great during production, he revealed it to Thompson. The company owner couldn’t believe his nose and immediately contacted the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) at Auburn University on Ronyak’s behalf.
Thompson referred to the process as a story “not only about a successful outcome but, more importantly, a great story of a wonderful relationship.” He remembered the neighbors in the area complaining to the DNR about an asphalt smell, spurring him and Ronyak to look for benign solutions. When Ronyak solved the problem for their company, Thompson went to NCAT for that institution’s “blessing.”
Many rounds of testing later, Ronyak’s odor solution includes international distributors, customers and partners. His solution is a success and a benefit to communities not only because it eliminates odors but also because it has been shown to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Ronyak was ahead of his time when it comes to aiding the asphalt industry on its road to net zero. He even modified the concept to produce AG-ODOR Orange Juice, which is a cold-press, custom-blended additive that virtually eliminates offensive odors in a wide variety of agricultural applications.
“A product like the AS Cherry and AS Pine have been tried and tested not just at NCAT, but in the field and worldwide, proving their value to the whole supply chain.”—Glenn Elliott
“It’s a well-deserved award for A.J.’s dedication to the industry,” Odor Solutions Representative Glenn Elliott said. “A product like the AS Cherry and AS Pine have been tried and tested not just at NCAT, but in the field and worldwide, proving their value to the whole supply chain. When you apply this technology at the asphalt plant, a product like what he offers is a game-changer, helping contractors get along with the neighbors or move through the permitting process a little easier. What he’s created is phenomenal and it’s great to see him being recognized for his contributions to our industry.”
The honorary alumni status from Auburn University follows a list of achievements. Ronyak currently holds two United States patents—Patent US 6,461,421 B1 issued Oct. 8, 2002, and Patent US 6,987,201 B1 issued Jan. 17, 2006—and Canadian Patent 2,391,172 granted and issued April 7, 2009, and European Patent Specification EP 1,235,768 B1 issued March 16, 2005. In 2004, Ronyak received a NOVA award for his AS Cherry fume-free HMA product.
Check out this YouTube video where AsphaltPro editor Sandy Lender reads chapter four from her latest book, Capture Your Dream, featuring the story of A.J. Ronyak: