HAMBURG, Germany—Equipment and machinery maker HF TireTech Group has appointed Gerard Nijman as head of extrusion process engineering at Harburg-Freudenberger Maschinenbau.
Nijman, who took up the role at HF last July, previously worked for Vredestein Banden B.V. and Apollo Tyres, which took over Vredestein in 2009. He is a noted expert in the field of rubber processing and has also been involved in the development of innovative automotive technologies.
Nijman did his Ph.D. project on the origin of molecular orientation in injection molded products at the University Twente in Netherlands. In 1987, he started in the technology section of Vredestein Banden, eventually becoming head of this unit.
According to HF, Nijman played a key role in several significant projects in the area of the "tire manufacturing factory." These, it said, have included work relating to extrusion lines for tread, sidewalls and apex profiles as well as a mixing plant for silica compounds.
In 2003, he was in charge of the concept development and industrialization of the "active front spoiler" system for a premium sports car brand. The molded rubber part developed self-adjusts to optimal performance positions depending on the speed of the car.
Nijman returned to the technology section of Apollo Tyres, where he was the principal senior specialist on extrusion worldwide responsible for the extrusion technology.
He has published several articles and book chapters on rubber mixing and processing and holds more than 20 patents.
Nijman gives lectures, leads courses and offers presentations on several aspects of rubber mixing, rheology and processing at the DIK (German Rubber Institute) in Hannover, the University of Twente and at rubber conferences around the world.
During the 2017 TireTech Expo, Nijman will present a paper titled "A rheologically optimized extrusion line for tire components."