Goodyear's Ellis Jones one of keynoters at ITEC

AKRON—Ellis Jones, vice president and chief sustainability officer at Goodyear, will be a keynote speaker at the 2022 International Tire Exhibition & Conference (ITEC) scheduled for Sept. 13-15 in Akron.

Jones, who has been with Goodyear for 32 years, heads up sustainability, environmental, health, safety and business continuity. Prior to being named to his current position in 2021, he was manufacturing director for race tire manufacturing at Goodyear's Akron race tire plant, leading the lean cultural transformation in race tire manufacturing.

Throughout his career, Ellis has led organizational transformations in a number of areas, including regional manufacturing and supply-chain finance, global marketing finance, plant accounting and commercial tire finance.

Ellis joined Goodyear in 1989 after graduating from Hampton University with a degree in accounting. In 2015, Ellis received his master's degree in business operational excellence at the Ohio State University.

The topic of his speech was not disclosed.

ITEC 2022, to be held at the John S. Knight Center in downtown Akron, will feature a three-day expo and technical conference that will include more than 65 presentations covering such topics as sustainable materials; new technology for non-pneumatic tires and smart tires; next-generation reinforcing materials for rubber compounds; and challenges and opportunities in tires for electronic vehicles.

First held in 1994, this will be the 15th ITEC, and the first held in-person since 2018. It is the largest tire manufacturing show held in North America.

In addition to the conference sessions, organizers will award the Harold Herzlich Distinguished Technology Achievement Medal. It recognizes innovators in tire manufacturing, tire reliability or performance. It is given in honor of Harold Herzlich, who was the longtime technical editor of Rubber News and also is ITEC conference chairman emeritus.

ITEC 2022 also will have two special add-on events, including a Women's Breakfast and Panel Discussion on Sept. 15. The Tire Mechanics Short Course, a five-day educational and developmental course that provides engineers and scientists with an in-depth study around developments related to the tire engineering, returns to the agenda this year.

Registration for the three-day exhibition and conference, organized by Rubber News, is now open at itec-tireshow.com/visit/registration.

Registration provides free entry to the exhibition until Aug. 12, after which a $50 expo entrance fee applies. Registration fees for the technical conference, Women's Breakfast and Tire Mechanics Course can be viewed on the registration page.

Abstract submissions from potential speakers at the conference are being accepted until April 22 at itec-tireshow.com/conference/call-for-papers.

Those wishing to exhibit or explore sponsorship opportunities can contact Sales Director Christine Zernick at [email protected].