By Miles Moore, Senior Washington Reporter
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (Jan. 16, 2013) —The role of tires in the Mars Science Laboratory "Curiosity" Rover Cruise Mission Landing will be the topic of the keynote speech at the 29th Annual Clemson University Tire Industry Conference.
The conference will be held April 24-26 at the Westin Hilton Head Resort & Spa on Hilton Head Island.
Bobak Ferdowski, American systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will be the keynote speaker at the April 25 luncheon.
Jacob Peled, executive chairman of Pelmar Engineering Ltd., will also cover the use of tires in aviation at the Clemson Conference. His speech, "Aircraft Tire Production: New Horizons," will be part of the April 26 session.
The conference will feature a wide range of topics, including technology, industry advocacy, new products, environmental issues, chemicals and raw materials.
Leading off the Wednesday, April 24 program will be Dennis McGavis, Goodyear director of EHS sustainability, speaking on "Environmental Strategy: Goodyear's and the Tire Industry's Sustainability Efforts to Date."
Following McGavis will be James A. Popio, Smithers Rapra director of engineering, on "The Current State of the National Rolling Resistance Alignment Laboratory," an important aspect of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's tire fuel efficiency labeling standard.
John Adcox, a Ph.D. candidate in automotive engineering at Clemson, will speak April 24 on "Experimental Validation of the Interaction of Anti-Lock Braking Systems with Tire Torsional Dynamics." John Reese, vice president of reinforcement materials marketing at Cabot Corp., will cover "Cabot Reinforcement Materials Development: A New Series of Low Hysteresis Products for Various Tire Tread Applications."
Closing the April 24 presentations will be Dennis M. Byrne, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Akron, speaking on "The Economy, International Trade and the Tire Industry."
Leading off the April 25 morning session will be Tracey Norberg, senior vice president and corporate counsel at the Rubber Manufacturers Association, speaking on a topic to be announced.
Following Ms. Norberg will be Roy Littlefield, executive vice president of the Tire Industry Association, on "Where Does the Presidential Election and the Fiscal Cliff Leave the Tire Industry?" Completing the presentations on industry advocacy will be Pascal Couasnon, director of the Michelin Group's Competitions Department, also speaking on a topic to be announced.
The April 25 afternoon session will be devoted to issues surrounding chemicals and raw materials. Opening the program will be R. Christopher Napier, global specialty polymers applications engineer for ExxonMobil Corp., delivering the results of the "11th Worldwide Tire Survey, Tire Rolling Resistance."
Joshua Guilliams, regional technical marketing manager-NAFTA for LANXESS Corp., will speak on "Bromobutyl Rubber: Enhanced Tire Traction and Safety Performance." Following Guilliams will be Douglas J. Major, director of product support for Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd., speaking on "Designing Tire Materials for the Future: Simulation at the Nano Level."
J.D. Wang, CEO and president of reRubber L.L.C., will discuss "Fine Mesh Rubber Markets." Closing the April 25 program will be Mark A. Weih, executive vice president of Terramix, speaking on "Investigation and Performance of Model Tire Compounds Incorporating Devulcanized Rubber Based on Styrene-Butadiene Rubber, Polyisoprene Rubber and Natural Rubber."
Truck tires and other products will comprise the agenda on April 26. Besides Jacob Peled, the speakers will be:
• Patrick Keating, manager of technical engineering at Yokohama Tire Corp., on "Taking it to the Streets: Yokohama's Experience with Using Web Tools for End-User Education;"
• Robert Braswell, technical director of the American Trucking Associations' Technology Maintenance Council, on "User-Driven Successes at Developing voluntary Best Practices for Commercial Tire Maintenance, Specification and Management;"
• Al Cohn, director of new market development and engineering support at Pressure Systems International, on "Commercial Truck Tires: Maximizing Tire Removal Miles, Increasing Vehicle Fuel Economy & Maximizing Retreadability;" and
• Anvar Buranov, president and CEO of NovaBioRubber Green Technologies Inc., on "Commercialization of a New Green Technology for Processing Taraxacum kok-saghyz (Russian Dandelion)."
Registration fees for the conference are $995 per person, or $895 each for two or more from the same company or organization. Clemson is offering a $100 discount on each registration made by Jan. 31.
The Westin Hilton Head Resort & Spa is offering a special conference per-room rate of $149 per night until March 25. Be sure to specify that you are attending the Clemson Tire Conference when you reserve rooms.
For registration assistance or further information, call 1-800-258-1017 or visit the conference's website.
To reach this reporter: [email protected]; 202-662-7211.