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Agenda

The 2024 Agenda is here! See what's in store below.

Conference Day 1: August 13, 2024 Conference Day 2: August 14, 2024
Registration Open
Opening Remarks
Session I: Tire Industry Insights
Tire Sustainability: The Journey Continues
The path to a more sustainable product can take various directions depending on a number of key variables. In the tire industry, there have been progressive efforts over the past few decades to improve the overall environmental footprint. From recycling end-of-life tires to improving fuel efficiency through better rolling resistance to reducing the impact of tire wear particles, large strides have been made. However, the future of sustainability is still ripe with opportunities. Material developments, tire recycling, and manufacturing processes provide opportunities for continued improvement. Testing and validation has a critical role in reducing potentially negative unintended consequences. This presentation will kick off the 2024 conference by covering current sustainability trends in the industry and introduce some of the key topics that will be addressed during the Traction Summit.
 
Dr. James A. Popio | Vice President of Operations - North America, Smithers
Panel: Are We Talking About Sustainability
This panel will discuss how the automotive industry in the US and Globally can work together to create consistency & agreement.
  • Shared common definitions – industry consensus, what are the pieces that need to come together.
  • Clearly defined terms, goals etc
  • Globally accepted standards
Panelists:
  • Dr. John Baldwin – Chief Product & Technical Strategist, Discount Tire
  • June Satterfield Director Industry Standards and Government Regulations, Michelin North America
  • Jay Spears – Director of Standards and Regulation, The Americas, Continental Tire

John Baldwin, Ph.D. | Sr. Vice President, Discount Tire
Networking Break Sponsored by BKT
Session II: OEM Perspective: Sustainability & Current Mobility Trends
A Peak Into Rvivan's Carbon Footprint Strategy
Rivian was founded to help individuals and businesses solve a “once-in-a-planet” challenge. Developing and sharing the life cycle carbon footprints for our vehicles is an important part our sustainability strategy, allowing us to communicate our progress and provide transparency to our stakeholders. This presentation will provide an overview of the Rivian’s carbon footprints and how tires play a crucial role in our sustainability efforts
Nick Santero | Principal, Sustainability Science, Rivian
OEM Perspective: Sustainability Company Vision/Plan
Ashley Shields | Sustainability Coordinator, Honda Development & Manufacturing of America
Panel: Industry Collaboration- Current Mobility Trends
•    Future OEM needs from tires
•    OEM Sustainability goals how can the tire industry support 
•    Challenges, experiences industry wide opportunities for collaboration
•    EV impact on general automotive landscape, manufacturing, tires, lightweight materials
•    Impact electrification on tire requirements and design Sustainability 

Moderator: June Satterfield Director Industry Standards and Government Regulations, Michelin North America
Panelists:
Ashley Shields , Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, LLC
Nick Santero, Rivian 

 
June Satterfield | Director, Industry Standards and Government Regulations, Michelin North America, Inc.
Networking Lunch Sponsored byStackpole
Session III: What’s to Come: Regulatory Trends Impacting Tire Industry
Tire Regulatory Activity- The Effect on Development and Testing
While the tire industry is continually evolving, many internal and external factors are currently driving rapid change and innovation. Governments are looking more closely at environmental stewardship, which covers everything from more fuel-efficient tires to a review of the effects of raw materials like 6PPD to particle emissions in general. Tire treadwear characteristics are also being discussed not only from an emissions standpoint, but also from the perspective of understanding tire traction performance at varying levels of wear. The industry is balancing all of these important drivers of innovation with overall tire performance and safety for the consumer. This discussion will take a broad look at current global regulatory and research activities and how they are affecting both tire development and testing.
Joshua Guilliams | Vice President, Consulting Materials Science and Engineering, Smithers
Update on proposed rulemaking and regulatory activity
Abstract to come
Ken Rider | California Energy Commission
Energy Efficiency Standards for Replacement Tires
Low rolling resistance tires are one of the most impactful strategies for achieving energy efficiency gains and reducing short-term greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector, yet there are no statewide or federal policies adopted in the U.S. to spur greater usage in the replacement tire market. 

•    With federal efforts focused on Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, Washington is among several states working on or considering action to fill this policy gap for replacement tires. 

•    This presentation will give a brief update on Washington’s consideration of legislation to pursue replacement tire energy efficiency standards that would expand access to existing tire technology for all drivers.  

•    The presentation will be followed by a conversation with audience attendees about how government agencies can work together with industry experts to craft energy efficiency policies that save money for consumers, improve tire safety performance, and reduce pollution.         

Steven Hershkowitz | Transportation Electrification Policy Lead Energy Policy Office, Clean Transportation Washington State Department of Commerce
Networking Break
Session IV: Environmental Impact End of Life Solutions and Challenges
Environmentally Sustainable Solutions for recycling tires. The Tire Recycling Foundation (TRF)
In 2023, the two largest tire industry associations( US Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) and the Tire Industry Association (TIA)) partnered to identify, support and promote economically viable and environmentally sustainable solutions for recycling tires by convening stakeholders, facilitating fundraising for innovation, supporting R&D, identifying best practices, and providing education and technical assistance as needed to ensure that all tires manufactured are recycled into value added and sustainable products. This session will discuss how the Tire Recycling Foundation (TRF) is assuming a vital role in catalyzing the tire industry toward greater circularity by gathering the resources of industry stakeholders at the highest level.

Co-presenter: John Sheerin, Director, End-of-Life Tire Programs, US Tire Manufacturers Association
Dick Gust | CEO, Tire Industry Association
Repurposing Tires into Sustainable Plastics: An Automotive OEM Case Study
•    Overview of Hyundai global sustainability goals and strategies
•    Repurposing scrap tires as a filler in hard plastics
•    Tire design and environmental remediation
 
Amanda Nummy | Senior Polymer Materials Engineer, Hyundai Motor Group
The Sustainable Revolution in Retreading and its Impact on Fleets
•    Overview of the US retread market, including results from our annual state of the industry survey of our members
•    2024 Forecast for retreading and a mid-year check-in
•    Overview of external issues impacting the US retread industry
•    Financial case study for fleets’ use of retreaded tires 
•    A look at the sustainability benefits of retreading and some of TRIB's and our members’ efforts to highlight sustainability in retreading
•    A discussion on the future of retreading, including technological advancements in the field
 
David Stevens | Managing Director, TRIB
California Safer Consumer Products Program: 6PPD and other tire-related work
The mission of the Safer Consumer Products (SCP) Program within California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control is to advance the design, development, and use of products that are chemically safer for people and the environment.  The SCP program utilizes a novel approach to regulate chemicals in consumer products, including the requirement for manufacturers to conduct an Alternative Analysis to evaluate safer alternatives in the products that SCP regulates, such as motor vehicle tires containing 6PPD. This presentation will provide an overview of the SCP program with updates on 6PPD, and other tire-related work.
 
Alyssa Demko | Environmental Scientist, DTSC (California Department of Toxic Substances Control)
Speaker Q & A : Coming Automotive Regulations and Impact on Tire Manufacturers Regulations to Watch US and Abroad: Policies and the Impact on the Tire Industry
•    Environmental Concerns
•    Relevant regulations Case studies of technological progress in carbon reduction and decarbonization 
•    Tire Recycling & Manufacturing - Reduced energy use and waste in manufacturing?
•    Improved recycling and reclamation of tire material at end of life (or extension of life by retreading) 
•    General corporate governance towards low carbon footprint

 
Networking Reception
Morning Refreshments
Opening Remarks
Session V: Tire Performance and Sustainability
EV Tire Performance | The impact on Customer Satisfaction (J.D. Power)
The rate of transformation in the automotive industry is accelerating. With EVs now representing the fastest growing sector of the industry and the ecosystem being reshaped by new players, change is inevitable. Join this session from J.D. Power as we learn how the automotive tire industry is performing based on customer satisfaction, where the biggest challenges and opportunities exist, and ultimately, the customer expectations.
Ashley Edgar | Senior Director, Automotive Supplier Benchmarking and Alternative Mobility , J.D. Power
The Impact of Electric Vehicles on Tire Sustainability
•    The impact of the performances, rolling resistance and wear on tire sustainability for electric vehicles.
•    Factors outside of tire performance, which influence the role of rolling resistance and wear on tire sustainability for electric.

Co-presenter- Jim Frady, Passenger & Light Truck Tire Development Director, Michelin 
Russell Shepherd | Director of Technical Communications, Michelin
Silane Functionalized Liquid Rubber for Electric Vehicle Tires
Kuraray has developed a series of liquid rubber products with molecular weights ranging from a few thousands to a hundred thousand. These polymers, which consist of isoprene, butadiene, and styrene can be used by tire manufacturers to achieve improvements in processing and tire performance. This presentation includes newly developed liquid rubbers having reactive silane group in the polymer chain which can interact with silica in tire formulations. These liquid rubbers offer, for example, advantaged vehicle fuel economy through reduction in tire rolling resistance. Kuraray will present the latest result of the study using silane functionalized liquid rubbers which suggests that those materials improve wear resistance and rolling resistance in treads and fatigue resistance in sidewalls in electric vehicle tires.
Erich Klein | Market Manager, Kuraray
Networking Break
Sumitomo Rubber Industries Has Developed an Innovative Concept for the Future Mobility of Society. Active Tread is the Next Step in SRI'S Sustainability Vision
Tire grip is an interaction between tread pattern, tread compound and road surface.  Changes in road surface due to weather conditions affect tire performance.  Sumitomo Rubber Industries has developed an innovative concept utilizing ionic bonds within the tread compound that provide different physical property profiles based on weather conditions, enabling grip to be consistent.  This concept and key concerns during development will be introduced.
David Johansen | Vice President of Technical, Sumitomo Rubber USA
Leveraging AI to Gain Value in the Tire Industry
The tradeoff between CO2 reduction from lack of tailpipe emissions from Electric Vehicles (EV), and the potential increase in environmental impact from tire wear from EVs compared to Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles is a topic of considerable debate. Furthermore, the complexities of this problem, the dynamic nature of the automotive industry, and the concern for the environment make these topics both salient and complicated. A professor at Georgia State University, in collaboration with representatives from Orion Engineered Carbons, led six teams of graduate students with limited tire, automotive, or rubber subject matter expertise through a semester-long project to address these kinds of questions. The teams of students, all of which studying Data Science and Analytics, leveraged a snapshot of tire inventory data from multiple countries, combined with advanced modeling techniques, to determine the factors that tend to influence tire performance. The analytical techniques applied to this and other types of complex business problems will be discussed, along with ways for framing questions to solve with advanced data science methods, and the value of leveraging these types of skills.
Beverly Wright, PhD, CAP | VP-Data Science & AI , Wavicle Data Solutions
Round Table: Sustainability Overview- Achieving A Circular Economy
•    Joint industry efforts.
•    Designing for circularity (developing tires for both optimal performance and longevity)
•    Improved tire service life, reduced emissions, greater vehicle fuel/battery economy
•    Maintaining natural resources and the environment and ethical business practices.
•    Sourcing of new, improved and safer chemicals and materials for tire production
•    Alternative materials that are renewable and not fossil-fuel-based, bio-based rubbers
•    New fillers, polymers, processing aids and their impact on sustainability
•    Reduced reliance on traditional Southeast Asia-based natural rubber supply
•    Identifying challenges and steps forward


Session Speakers
Closing Remarks and End of Conference