With little over a month to go until Tire Technology Expo 2020 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 30-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 26.
Materials innovation is again at the heart of this year’s shortlist as the tire industry addresses the often conflicting challenges of better tire performance and reduced environmental footprint. As such, there are several nominations for new materials initiatives by tire makers and expert suppliers in the Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year, Tire Technology of the Year and Environmental Achievement of the Year categories. In the Tire Technology of the Year category, materials technology also dominates, plus there are developments in the logistics and software arenas.
And as always, the Tire Manufacturer of the Year award will be closely fought between six global tire makers. In the last year, these manufacturers have publicly ramped up efforts to improve the sustainability of their products as well as refreshing their offerings to cater for an increasingly automated vehicle market. Notably Michelin released its airless tire Uptis, SRI developed an energy harvester system, while Bridgestone launched its lightweight materials tech Enliten.
The shortlist in full:
Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year
Continental – C Series bladder.
VMI – Synchro Crown Drum.
Inmess – High-speed automatic measuring equipment for molds.
Münch Chemie – Permanent mold release coating MK-1629.
UTH – TRP Reworker.
Environmental Achievement of the Year
Kordsa/Continental – Cokoon.
Bridgestone Argentina – Loma Negra Water Synergy.
Aerox – Aerox Injector.
RubberJet Valley – High-pressure Water Jet Technology.
Cold Jet – ASP-T: Automated Surface Preparation for the Tire Industry.
Green Distillation Technologies/CarbonScape.
Tire Technology of the Year
Michelin – Uptis.
Continental – Cut-resistant compound.
NASA – Shape-memory alloy.
Bridgestone – Enliten.
FineLine – Vulcanized RFID barcode bead label.
Revvo Technologies – Software platform.
Alliance Tire Europe – 398 MPT High Speed Flotation Truck Tire.
Tire Industry Supplier of the Year
Comerio Ercole.
SinoARP.
Eastman.
Cabot Corporation.
Uzer Makina.
Tire Manufacturer of the Year
Goodyear.
Continental.
Michelin.
SRI.
Bridgestone.
Pirelli.
In addition, the 2020 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 UKi Media & Events, the organizer of Tire Technology Expo. For full details of 2019’s winners, click here.
For more information on Tire Technology Expo 2020, head to www.tiretechnology-expo.com.
