Jaques Bajer, president of Tire Systems Engineering Inc., and Armando Tornel Murillo, executive president of Mexican tire maker Empresas Tornel, will be inducted into the Tire Industry Hall of Fame in November, the Tire Industry Association (TIA) said.
The two men join six other individuals who will be inducted as ``historical contributors,'' a category added last year that recognizes people who have made significant contributions to the profession yet have been out of the industry for 20 years or more.
Mr. Bajer specializes in the design of advanced manufacturing systems for the economical mass production of tires, power transmission belts, lathe-cut seals and air springs, TIA said. He was involved in the development of the tire uniformity grading machine and low-profile tire while working for Ford Motor Co. He was a key figure in the radialization of the U.S. tire market, and he continues to advise companies in the tire and automotive industry.
Mr. Murillo, 97, began his involvement in the tire industry when his father sent him to the U.S. to study tire engineering and rubber technology. In 1933, he and his father founded Hulera El Centernario in Mexico.
The company launched a line of passenger radial tires in 1982 after producing passenger car inner tubes and truck, light truck and bus tires. The company operates five plants and employs 2,080 workers, from just 36 employees in 1933.
TIA said its historical contributors inductees this year are:
* Giovanni Pirelli, founder of Pirelli & C. S.p.A.;
* Jerry Shaw, editor of Tires, now known as Modern Tire Dealer;
* Charles and John Gates of International Rubber (Gates Rubber); and
* Phil Lans-dale and Don Carr, founders of 4day Tire Stores.
TIA also will present its 2006 Friend of the Industry Award to Ira Feldman, manager of the vehicles category management center of the U.S. Postal Service in Philadelphia.
The inductees will be honored at TIA's Breakfast with the President Oct. 31 in Las Vegas prior to the opening of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show. The breakfast runs from 6:45 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Caesars Palace Hotel Roman Ballroom. Tickets are $35 and available at www.tireindustry.org.