With just four weeks to go until Tire Technology Expo 2017 gets underway in Hannover, Germany, the shortlisted nominations for this year’s Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence have been revealed!
The awards are decided by the votes of a 26-strong panel of experts from the tire industry and academia. The winners will be announced during the Expo at a Gala Dinner in the beautiful Kuppelsaal at the Hannover Congress Centrum, on the evening of February 15.
A theme running through this year’s shortlist is the adoption of the latest consumer electronics developments and cutting-edge information technology into tire design and manufacturing. Bridgestone’s Examation tire manufacturing technology, for example, incorporates artificial intelligence. In the Tire Supplier category, Comerio Ercole is using virtual reality to help plan calendering lines. Meanwhile Yokohama, whose two nominations include for Tire Technology of the Year, has employed the latest computational fluid dynamics software to reduce the drag of new tire designs.
Environmental issues remain a focus for the industry and in the Environmental Achievement category, two tire makers and two suppliers will battle for honors with four impressive initiatives.
Elsewhere the Tire Manufacturer of the Year award will be closely fought between four global tire makers, two of which – Hankook and Michelin – have opened new, flagship R&D facilities in the past 12 months.
The shortlist in full:
Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year
• Bartell Machinery Systems – BeadView
• Bridgestone – Examation
• Kobe Steel – Librota-GS tire uniformity machine
• Mitsubishi – MR-EX intermeshing mixer
• ROmiLL – NSR Preheater
Environmental Achievement of the Year
• Cooper Tire – Guayule tire research
• Nokian Tyres – Biomass power plant
• Rubreco/RPC – Devulcanization technology
• Versalis/Genomatica – Renewable butadiene research
Tire Technology of the Year
• Bridgestone – DriveGuard
• EVE Rubber Institute/Ecombine/Versalis – ATCM liquid phase mixing
• Mesnac/TMSI – Dynamic Footprint Test System
• Sumitomo Rubber Industries – Advanced 4D Nano Design
• Yokohama – Aerodynamic tires
Tire Industry Supplier of the Year
• Comerio Ercole
• Computype
• GL Messtechnik
• VMI Group
Tire Manufacturer of the Year
• Continental
• Hankook
• Michelin
• Yokohama
In addition, the 2017 Young Scientist Prize and Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented on the night. These two prizes are subject to separate judging processes.
The awards are coordinated by Tire Technology International magazine, which is published by UKIP Media & Events, the organizer of Tire Technology Expo. For full details of 2016’s winners, click here.
Click here for more information on Tire Technology Expo 2017.
