AKRON (Aug. 15, 2006) — Maurizio Boiocchi, senior vice president and director of global research and development for Pirelli Pneumatici S.p.A., will be the keynote speaker at this year's International Tire Exhibition & Conference (ITEC), Sept. 12-14 in Akron.
Mr. Boiocchi will speak at 11 a.m. Sept. 12. His topic was not disclosed.
ITEC 2006, the sixth biennial event, will be held in the John S. Knight Center in downtown Akron. This is the first time ITEC, organized biennially by Rubber & Plastics News (a sister publication of Tire Business), has scheduled a keynote speaker.
A 36-year veteran of Pirelli, Mr. Boiocchi is known for his role in helping the company become a force in high and ultra-high performance passenger tires. After joining the company as a tire engineer, he became manager of advanced car tire development for the Italian firm in 1990. Five years later he was given responsibility for car tire research and development (R&D), and in 1997 became director of R&D and a member of the management board at Pirelli Reifenwerke K.G. in Germany.
During Mr. Boiocchi's tenure as R&D head, Pirelli has developed notable products such as the P6, P6000, PZero, Scorpion Zero and Winter Sport tires. He also played a key role in the development of Pirelli's automated manufacturing system for tires—Modular Integrated Robotized System—and its associated innovative mixing process, Continuous Compound Mixing.
He has 28 patents in the area of tire design, materials and processes.
To register for the meeting or for more information, click on the ITEC icon at www.rubbernews.com.
Mr. Boiocchi will join Francesco Gori, Pirelli Pneumatici chairman and managing director, as keynoters in Akron the week of Sept. 11. Mr. Gori will address the 2006 annual meeting of the Tire Society on Sept. 11; that meeting is being held in conjunction with ITEC.