The much-anticipated Traction Summit 2022 agenda has been released! With two days packed full of industry-leading content, this is an unmissable event for the tire and rubber industries.
The 2022 theme is "Sustainability in Tires: From Materials to Aftermarket." Meet the speakers from GM, Momentive, Bridgestone, Michelin, Pirelli, Discount Tire, Tyrata, Smithers, Carbon X, Department of Toxic Substance Control, and many more!
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Senior attorney providing leadership, advocacy, and counsel in the areas of environment, health, safety, sustainability and corporate law. Proven experience in developing effective advocacy strategies to shape global, federal and state policies; directing technical research; managing litigation; collaborating on strategic communications; and building and retaining highly effective teams.
Josh Guilliams, Vice President of Consultancy leads, Smithers’ technical consulting team based in Akron, Ohio. Josh manages client relationships and works with other Smithers experts on complex projects. He also conducts in-depth investigations of a wide variety of rubber materials and final products on behalf of clients.
Before joining the team at Smithers, Guilliams spent several years in leadership at Polymer Valley Chemicals, Inc., as Technical Director and Vice President of Technical Operations. Prior to his time at Polymer Valley Chemicals, he held technical and commercial roles at Hankook Tire, EASTMAN Chemical Corporation, LANXESS Corporation, and Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations.
bio coming soon
With a diverse background in environmental law, policy, communications, non-profits, and business, Andy provides a unique perspective on strategy and execution for realizing sustainability impacts. He holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia, a M.S.E.L. from Vermont Law School, and J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Karl Palmer has been named Deputy Director for DTSC’s Safer Consumer Products Program. Prior to this position he managed the Safer Consumer Products Branch, where he was responsible for developing, implementing, and enforcing California’s Safer Consumer Products regulations.
Karl has worked for DTSC for over 30 years in a wide array of management and technical positions, including managing programs in Pollution Prevention, Hazardous Waste Management, and Emergency Response. Karl received his Bachelor of Science in resource sciences from the University of California, Davis.
Punyaslok Rath (Punya) is a research scientist in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Missouri-Columbia (Mizzou), where he works at the Missouri Asphalt Pavement and Innovation Lab (MAPIL). His research focus is on asphalt materials, specifically in asphalt material characterization. Dr. Rath has worked in collaboration with many industry entities (state DOTs, agencies and companies) to promote sustainability through use of recycled materials in asphalt mixtures. He has worked extensively on dry process rubber-modification of asphalt mixtures and is one of the leading experts in the field. In addition, he is a member of number of civil engineering organizations and an active participant in the workings of research committees.
Fred Gersdorff is passionate about unlocking human potential in every person and views sustainability as a pursuit that puts people at the center of what we do. He has extensive business experience working in the medical devices, power distribution and automotive industries. Fred currently leads the sustainability efforts in GM’s Global Purchasing and Supply Chain organization. His educational background is in Chemistry with an MBA, and he is currently pursuing a PhD in Systems Engineering.
And CEO of Lehigh Technologies
Jason Stravinski has over two decades of leadership experience in various industries. Jason spearheaded expanding Lehigh’s manufacturing footprint outside the United States, worked on several M&A activities to secure the supply chain for the company, and is now working to drive the sustainability vision for end of life tires. Jason holds a degree in chemical engineering and business.
Tony Wibbeler leads Bolder Industries with not only a great passion for protecting our environment but also the commitment of a successful entrepreneur who is equally dedicated to solving real-world challenges for positive-planet impact. Bolder Industries creates innovative products to bring sustainability to the rubber and plastics industry. As a certified B-Corp, Tony cultivates a company culture that enhances the lives of his employees, community, and the planet.
Leveraging his past experiences in the field of medical devices and the recycling industry, Mr. Wibbeler founded Bolder Industries in 2011 to develop innovative, closed-loop solutions to reduce and recycle various waste streams starting with waste tires. He has led Bolder Industries to numerous business and innovation awards, including Environmental Leader’s “Top Product of the Year,” “Breakout Company of the Year,” from the Colorado Cleantech Industries Association, and “Energy Manufacturer of the Year” from the Colorado Manufacturing Awards.
Mr. Wibbeler graduated from Ball State University with a degree in Industrial Manufacturing Technology. He is on the Board of Colorado CleanTech Association, and BVSD’s charter school program. Outside the office, Tony loves to ski in the beautiful Colorado mountains, mountain bike, and cheer for the Denver Broncos with his wife and two sons.
Dr. Barry Takallou is a recognized expert in Rubber Modified Asphalt (RMA) and the production of crumb rubber for highway construction materials, synthetic turf fields and rubber molded products. For 24 years, he has been the President and CEO of CRM Company which owns and operates 8 tire recycling plants in the United States and Canada. CRM is the largest cryogenic crumb rubber manufacturing company globally.
During his 35 years of research and technical expertise, Dr. Takallou was instrumental in the development of Rubber Modified Asphalt in the state of California. Now, RMA is the pavement of choice for the California Department of Transportation. He authored numerous technical papers and participated as a speaker at numerous national and international symposiums. He has participated on the boards of many technical and trade societies. He is a leader in end-of-life tires (ELT) to value-added product industries and for the past 2 years, he has been appointed as the Chair of the ELT Committee by the Tire and Rubber Association of Canada (TRAC).
His active involvement in business and government led to his appointment as a Commissioner for the California Commission for Economic Development where he was instrumental providing his expertise in the manufacturing sector. Dr. Takallou holds Bachelors, Masters and a Ph.D. in civil engineering, specialized in asphalt rubber, and he is a registered Professional Engineer (PE) in the state of California.
Market research, strategy consulting and business development for life sciences, tires/automotive, and other industries.
Speaker Biography: Luc has over 25 years of experience in the tire industry. He started mid-nineties in the development and manufacturing of tires and has contributed to the transition from carbon black to full-silica tire technology, both from a compounding and manufacturing point of view. Post which he switched his role to tire raw material industry, in different technical-commercial roles. Currently he is the business development director at Momentive, for Tire and Rubber Silanes in EMIA.
Maureen Kline is Vice President, Public Affairs and Sustainability for Pirelli Tire North America, responsible for the US, Canada and Mexico. She is based in Rome, Georgia.
She is a board member of the US Tire Manufacturers Association and the Tire and Rubber Association of Canada. She is on the Corporate Responsibility Steering Committee of the Automotive Industry Action Group, and on the Standards Advisory Group of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board.
She writes a column on sustainability for www.Inc.com and is a frequent speaker on the topic. She teaches a course on Enterprise Sustainability within Clarkson University’s MS in Engineering Management program.
Previously she was based in Pirelli’s headquarters in Milan, Italy, where she coordinated government affairs for the company’s foreign subsidiaries, and before that was responsible for Pirelli’s international media relations.
Prior to her public affairs and communications career, Maureen worked as a journalist over a 15-year period. She was Milan correspondent for the Wall Street Journal Europe, Breaking Views, and Business Week, among others. She edited a blog on the topic of meritocracy, hosted by Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera. She wrote and co-hosted a TV talk show in Italy on business and finance, broadcast on the local channel Telelombardia.
Bio coming soon
Dr. Aaron Franklin is Chief Technology Officer at Tyrata and the Addy Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Duke University. After spending six years on the research staff at IBM, he joined the faculty at Duke in 2014. Tyrata’s IntelliTread™ technology began as a research project in Dr. Franklin’s lab at Duke and was translated into the successful startup company in 2018 with a team of experienced entrepreneurs. Dr. Franklin received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University in 2008 and his bachelor’s degree, also in Electrical Engineering, from Arizona State University in 2004. He is a prolific scientific contributor and inventor, with more than 90 publications and 50 issued patents.
