Trio of Smithers experts to present at ITEC 2022

AKRON—Smithers has three of its top tire minds set to speak at the 2022 International Tire Exhibition and Conference, taking place this week Sept. 13-15 at the John S. Knight Center in downtown Akron.

All three of the presentations from the global testing, consulting and compliance firm will come during Wednesday afternoon's sessions.

Register here for ITEC 2022, organized by Rubber News.

Matt Kent, technical director, Smithers Tire and Wheel Test Center, will offer a talk on "High-Speed Uniformity Testing for Evolving Vehicle and Tire Development" Sept. 14 at 1:30 p.m.

Lori Knous, general manager of Smithers Akron labs, will offer her presentation on "Trends in Winter Tire Materials and Construction Features," Sept. 14 at 3 p.m.

And Josh Guilliams, vice president of consultancy at the Smithers, will discuss "Trends in Tire Development to Support Rolling Resistance Performance" Sept. 14 at 3:30 p.m.

"Smithers is nearing our 100-year anniversary of serving the evolving needs of the tire industry, and we're still dedicated to providing accurate data, on time, with excellent service to our valued clients," said Jim Popio, vice president, Smithers Materials Science and Engineering Division. "Josh, Lori and Matt each have a unique perspective on these specialized topics thanks to their long careers in the industry.

"I'm confident that their insights will invaluable to anyone who joins us at ITEC 2022."

• Kent's 1:30 p.m. talk will focus on high-speed uniformity testing, which offers data on flat-spotting, impact response and ride quality, analytics that are required for validation. HSU testing also can assist OEMs down the road with potential issues, according to Smithers.

EV tire makers are using this type of testing to dampen vibrations and resonance in tires. Kent will discuss common HSU methods and how they apply to OEMs, aftermarket customers, manufacturers and distributors.

Kent has more than two decades of experience in MTS Flat Tracs, acoustic, laser measurement, uniformity, spring rate and high- and low-speed durability testing machines.

• Knous will follow Kent at ITEC with her 3 p.m. talk on the evolution of the winter tire.

She will offer construction and materials information from a database of passenger car tires in the North American and European markets, and will compare the performance characteristics of winter tires to all-season, summer and high-performance passenger tires.

Her talk will feature dynamic mechanical analysis and how it can predict performance in winter traction.

At Smithers, Knous conducts both physical and analytical property testing, overseeing numerous engineers, chemists and technicians. She has a background in metallurgy, and business quality and development at Alpha Technologies and Allied Machine and Engineering Corp.

• With "Trends in Tire Development to Support Rolling Resistance Performance," Guilliams at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 14 will address the complex and scientifically difficult performance triangle characteristic of rolling resistance.

He will review information gleaned from the studies of more than 500 tires over the past five years, including data on DMA tangent delta predictors vs. rolling resistance coefficients from lab testing.

As well, his talk will feature material development that can contribute to rolling resistance for all-season, summer, winter, high performance, EV and truck, bus and radial tires.

Guilliams investigates all types of rubber materials on behalf of Smithers' clients. He previously worked at Polymer Valley Chemicals, Inc. and has served in posts at Hankook Tire, Eastman Chemical Corp., Lanxess Corp. and Bridgestone Americas.

The Smithers team will host Booth 516 on the exhibition floor at the John S. Knight Center.

For more information about Smithers, visit www.smithers.com.