BRUSSELS, Belgium (July 20)—Bridgestone Europe N.V./S.A. has appointed Franco Annunziato managing director of its Technical Centre Europe.
Annunziato replaces Alberto Laurenti—who is retiring after 36 years of service with Bridgestone, 30 of which were spent at the tech center. Laurenti will continue to provide support in a consulting capacity, with respect to continuing work on the recently opened European Proving Ground.
Annunziato is a mechanical engineering graduate of Rome University, where he specialized in transportation technology. He joined Bridgestone in November 1982 as a processing and retreading engineer for truck and bus tires. He moved up the ladder to director of tire development by May 2002.