2017 Awards Winners

A raft of major R&D and production investments were unveiled by Continental in 2016 – enough to propel the Hannover, Germany-based tire giant to a narrow victory over Hankook for the Tire Manufacturer of the Year crown.

“We are very excited about this award because it recognizes several technology projects and innovations that we have already realised, working consistently within the scope of our Vision 2025 long-term growth strategy,” explained Nikolai Setzer, member of the Executive Board of Continental Corporation in charge of Corporate Purchasing as well as the Tires Division. “At the same time, being awarded as the most innovative tire manufacturer is a great motivation for our global team – now more than 50,000 employees – to continue on this path, step by step.”

In Germany, developments included the completion of the new high-performance technical centre in Korbach and a US$40m project to establish a dedicated dandelion rubber research centre in Anklam. In September 2016, the first truck test tires containing dandelion rubber were revealed, with production expected to follow in 5-10 years. Another R&D centre is being built at Conti’s Lousado, Portugal, tire plant, focusing on a new range of agricultural tires, which will also be built at the site from 2017. Continental improved its Chinese-market testing capabilities by opening a new proving ground at the CATARC site in Yancheng. Finally, a new US$180m production hall has been added in Otrokovice, Czech Republic, for the production of truck and bus tires.

“I appreciate Continental’s positive attitude to investment in R&D and testing facilities in the EU and China for the future manufacturing of tires,” noted jury member, Professor Toshio Nishi of the Tokyo Institute of Technology. “Moreover, the company’s activities in the utilisation of dandelion rubber, including making real truck tires, are remarkable.”

Also shortlisted:
Hankook
Michelin
Yokohama

Professor Gert Heinrich once trained as a bricklayer, but it is in the building blocks of tire performance that he has become a world-leading authority. Beginning in the 1970s, he studied and then taught polymer physics at Jena and Halle/Merseburg in the former East Germany. When Germany was reunified in 1990, he spent 12 years leading materials research at Continental in Hannover, where he still lives. Research during that period was focused on the tire as part of a wider system – interacting with braking and stability systems, and the road. With today’s discussion of the tire’s role in future autonomous vehicles, this work may be seen as ahead of its time.

In 2003, a new chapter began with a joint appointment as a professor of polymer materials and rubber technology at the Technical University of Dresden, as well as director of the Institute of Polymer Materials at the Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research in the same city. Heinrich built the reputation of the research in Dresden to the prominence it enjoys today. He cooperated with major tire companies on projects large and small, and his teams have been responsible for new research into nanoparticles in elastomeric materials and the fracture mechanics of filled rubbers. He has supervised dozens of doctoral students who have gone on to apply their expertise at tire and rubber companies worldwide.

He retired from his position at the university in 2016, and is due to step down from his duties as Leibniz Institute director later in 2017.

Professor Heinrich has more than 450 journal papers to his name, making him one of the most published researchers in the EU. In just one example of the influence of his research, scientists at Goodyear said in a testimonial that, “In the domain of rubber friction, Professor Heinrich was key in reviving classical, fundamental investigations into the physics of sliding friction of rubber on rough road surfaces. His initial rubber friction theory motivated many scientists in both industry and academia to study rubber friction through experiments, analytical modelling or computer simulations. It is thanks to Professor Heinrich that a portfolio of new concepts and capabilities exists to study rubber friction, contact mechanics, tire traction or sealing applications with a significantly enhanced scientific baseline.”

They went on to say that, “Professor Heinrich is considered an undisputed authority in his field, from fundamental science and polymer theory right up to tire-related applications of rubber technology. His personality and behaviour are characterised by respect, honesty, integrity and an impressive level of scientific competence. Furthermore, he unifies the leadership traits of a scientific director, academic teacher and institutional manager in a unique manner.”

“This is a great honour for me personally, but also an indication that our group in Dresden has established a leading position in elastomer research,” said Professor Heinrich, on learning of his award.

“Although I’ve now retired from the university, the projects will continue in the future.

“The award also recognises the value of the work we did at Continental. There, as in Dresden, there was always a strong team behind me taking care of the details, and this award is for them, too.”

Professor Heinrich has previously received IOM3’s Colwyn Medal, the George Stafford Whitby Award from the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society, and the Carl Dietrich Harries Medal from the German Rubber Society. For more on his work, please refer to the October 2015 issue of Tire Technology International.

Five innovative technologies were shortlisted for this award, but it was Advanced 4D Nano Design that impressed the jury the most, delivering a third Tire Technology of the Year trophy for Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI).

Advanced 4D Nano Design makes it possible to perform highly realistic simulations of the complex internal structures and behaviours of rubber materials at the nano scale by combining cutting-edge analysis using synchrotron radiation and neutron beams and advanced simulation technology. As one of the achievements using this technology, a new tread rubber that doubled the wear performance of SRI’s standard tread rubber from 2011 was presented at the Tire Technology Conference in 2016. This technology is not only basic research in materials science, but also an innovative technology that is enabling SRI to efficiently develop next-generation tire materials.

Judge Stuart Cook, director of research at TARRC, UK said, “My voting was strongly influenced by the combined application by SRI of cutting-edge analytical techniques with a powerful simulation technology that really takes simulation and understanding of rubber compounds to the next level. As a practical application of this technology, to double the wear performance of a standard SRI tread compound is remarkable and provides a pointer for the future.”

Collecting the trophy in Hannover, SRI’s senior executive officer, Kozaburo Nakaseko commented, “We have made great progress in material innovation and the development of new manufacturing processes. This in turn has paved the way for the development of such high-performance tires as our Falken Ecorun A-A, which achieves the maximum A-A ranking under Europe’s tire labelling system, as well as durable, long-lasting performance technology. Utilising advanced research facilities on the cutting edge of super photon science, and a world-class supercomputer for ongoing structural analysis of rubber materials, Sumitomo Rubber Industries will continue to accelerate research. This will further our understanding of the internal structures and phenomena of rubber in greater detail so that we may succeed in developing tires with ever greater added value.”

Graham Heeps, editor of Tire Technology International and chairman of the judging panel, gave his assessment: “With advances such as purified natural rubber and detailed simulation of the tire’s complex chemistry, experts at SRI have established an enviable reputation in tire technology in the past few years. Advanced 4D Nano Design pushes the boundaries of tire science: it sheds new light on how materials interact, and opens the door to improved performance and new material developments. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.”

Also shortlisted:
Bridgestone – DriveGuard
EVE Rubber Institute/Ecombine/Versalis – ATCM liquid phase mixing
Mesnac/TMSI – Dynamic Footprint Test System
Yokohama – Aerodynamic tires