The Tire Society has announced the Keynote Speaker, Plenary Lecturer and the Call for Papers, to be considered for presentation at the 42^nd Annual Conference, to be held from 12-13 September, 2023 at the University of Akron, Ohio. The conference is attended by engineers and scientists from the tyre and vehicle industries, academia and government agencies from around the world, to share advances, discuss and learn about innovations that will drive the tyre industry in the years ahead. 

Keynote speaker
This year’s keynote speaker will be David Johansen, Vice-President – Technical at Sumitomo Rubber USA. Johansen has over 25 years of industry experience, joining Sumitomo in 2015, and prior to that, Goodyear, with expertise in tyre design, vehicle testing and simulation, and manufacturing. He has held a number of leadership positions over the years at Sumitomo and Goodyear, including Manager of Tyre Design at Sumitomo from 2017 through 2019, just prior to assuming his current position. He holds a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University and is a member of US Tire Manufacturers Association.

Plenary lecture
The second day of the conference will be anchored by the plenary lecture featuring Burkhard Wies, Vice President – Innovation and Applied Research R&D Tyres at Continental AG. The topic of his talk will be ‘Challenges and Opportunities of Intelligent Tyres to Support Vehicle Performance and Services’. Dr Wies has held a number of management positions in tyre development and industrialisation for replacement and original equipment, since he joined Continental in 1999. Prior to that, he was a tyre development engineer and section head at Uniroyal Englebert Gmh in Aachen, Germany. He is a Program Committee member of VDI (German Association of Engineers) and, for 18 years, was Program Manager for Tires-Suspension- Road VDI-Congress. Dr Wies is a member of the Tire Society Executive Committee Board. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Technical University RWTH Aachen and lectures at Leibniz University, Hannover, Germany.

Call for papers
The Tire Society actively encourages students and young professionals to participate, with markedly reduced fees and as presenters, providing opportunities to gain experience, develop leadership skills and network with professionals. Full-time university students are invited to submit their original research for presentation and consideration for publication in the Tire Science and Technology Journal, and so will be eligible for a cash award. Visit here for more details: https://www.tiresociety.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/01/1st-Student-Call-for-Papers-2023-v3.pdf 

For the second year running, students can participate at the conference site in person in the Poster Session. The poster presentation provides an opportunity for student presenters to meet and interact in person with scientists and leaders from the tyre industry. Besides the poster, the students would prepare a two-minute video summarising their poster, which will be played within the conference. And, with the submission of a technical note, the student would be placed in competition for consideration for the best poster presentation cash award. Would-be manuscript or poster student presenters have until 29 April, 2023 to be considered.

Presenters at the conference can submit abstracts for consideration through 29 April, 2023 for presentations where the content can be conveyed in 15-20 minutes, including a question/answer period. The theme of the conference is ‘The Intelligent Tire’ but submissions can cover advances on wide ranging topics, including tyre performance and vehicle systems, tyre materials, tyre/road interaction, emerging technology and tyre industry trends, data science and virtual design. Manuscripts will be considered for publication in the Tire Science and Technology Journal.

For more information about the conference, contact conference@tiresociety.org or for more information about the Tire Society, visit www.tiresociety.org

Pyrum Innovations AG has announced that its Supervisory Board has extended the contract with Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Kai Winkelmann until 31 March 2030 to ensure continuity in the management of the company.

Winkelmann joined the firm in February 2021, and on 1 April 2022, he was initially named to the Executive Board as CFO. He has so far played a major role in obtaining the company's funding during his tenure at Pyrum, including last year's successful capital raise. Winkelmann is in charge of Finance, Compliance and IT in his role on the Executive Board.

Alf Schmidt, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, said, “We are pleased about the contract extension of Kai Winkelmann, who has proven his skills and in-depth expertise in the financial sector and at the management level in recent years. Over the last four years, he has made a significant contribution to the development of the necessary administrative structures and to the success of the company, and has promoted its rapid further development. We have confidence in his foresight and are convinced that Winkelmann will continue to play a central role in the successful implementation of the company’s goals in the years to come.”

Bridgestone Corporation (Bridgestone) has been selected once again to continue as a constituent of three internationally renowned environmental, social and governance (ESG) indexes: the MSCI ESG Leaders Indexes, the FTSE4Good Index Series and the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World).

Bridgestone has been a part of the MSCI ESG Leaders Indexes for two years in a row since 2023, the DJSI World for three years in a row since 2022 and the FTSE4Good Index Series for seven years in a row from 2018. Bridgestone's specific Mid Term Business Plan (2024-2026) has been steadily implemented, putting sustainability at the centre of its operations. The company's 2020 vision and Mid-Long Term Business Strategy served as the foundation for the plan.

According to the company statement, “Setting forth the vision of ‘Toward 2050, Bridgestone continues to provide social value and customer value as a sustainable solutions company’, Bridgestone links its business to the realisation of carbon neutrality, a circular economy and nature positivity across the entire value chain. From the ‘produce and sell’ phase and the ‘use’ of its products through to their ‘renewal’ to raw materials, Bridgestone aims to build a foundation for creating sustainability value.”

The following initiatives have contributed to Bridgestone's inclusion in these indexes:

• Contributing to a circular economy and attaining carbon neutrality by using ENLITEN technology to make tyres from recycled and renewable resources, using BCMA and switching to ‘Green & Smart’ manufacturing at Bridgestone locations to increase resource productivity and energy efficiency.
• Encouragement of nature positivity through initiatives for the sustainable use of water resources and natural rubber that are closely related to the commercial operations of the firm, including strengthening assistance for natural rubber smallholders.
• Strengthening of a thorough structure and procedure for human rights due diligence that aims to identify, mitigate, avoid and disclose human rights concerns.
• Visualisation and disclosure of the impact of social contribution actions that are in line with the global goals.

German automotive company and tyre major Continental has been added another feather to its cap with bagging the ‘Tire Manufacturer of the Year’ at this year’s Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence at this year’s Tire Technology Expo.

With this, Continental becomes the only tyre maker to have won two concurrent awards – Tire Manufacturer of the Year and Environmental Achievement of the Year – Manufacturing. The company’s Lousado facility in Portugal was also recognised for manufacturing tyres CO2-neutrally since last year.

Edwin Goudswaard, Head of Research & Development, Continental Tires, said, "We are especially proud to be the only manufacturer to be honoured twice at the Tire Technology Awards in an extremely competitive field. Both awards highlight our strong commitment to sustainable tire development and manufacturing. In such a highly competitive market, this success demonstrates our innovative prowess and our ability to actively shape the future of the industry."

Interestingly, this also marks it the fourth time that the German company has bagged the Tire Manufacturer of the Year award. The awards took into consideration tyre makers globally and were evaluated by a jury of 27 independent industry experts.

Going forward, Continental has outlined its ambition to switch all of its tyre plants to fully carbon-neutral production processes by 2040 at the latest.

Hankook Tire & Technology (Hankook Tire) has appointed Jongseon Ahn and Sanghoon Lee as Executive Directors and new Co-CEOs, following a resolution passed at the Annual General Meeting and Board of Directors meeting held on 26 March.

Ahn will be in charge of Hankook Tire's global innovation, R&D, procurement, production and quality, while Lee will be in charge of global sales and marketing initiatives to strengthen the premium positioning of the company's unified global brand, Hankook, as well as the supply of original equipment (OE) tyres for new vehicles. In addition to the leadership nominations, shareholders approved all eight agenda items at the Annual General Meeting, including the approval of the consolidated financial accounts, partial revisions to the Articles of Incorporation and director appointments.

Ahn has extensive leadership expertise and a proven track record of advancing technology innovation in the operational holding firm, Hankook & Company. He oversaw general management and spearheaded innovative initiatives in 2021 while serving as COO of Hankook & Company and Head of ES (Energy Solution) Business Headquarters. He became the CEO in 2022 and oversaw the company's expansion of premium Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) battery sales into important international markets, which greatly increased profitability and strengthened the company's platform for long-term success.

Lee's vast worldwide leadership experience serves as the foundation for his profound understanding of marketing and global sales strategy. He has held important regional leadership positions in China and Europe since 2018, during which time he has played a crucial role in bolstering the company's premium brand positioning internationally and continuously promoting creative business performance, both of which have greatly increased revenue. At the conclusion of last year, he was nominated as Hankook Tire's Co-CEO due to his success and leadership.