Will Mars named 2022 Herzlich Award winner

Even in science, there are things that are difficult to measure with 100-percent accuracy. Passion, for instance. Heart, for another.

But it doesn't take advanced instrumentation or software to know for sure that Will Mars possesses both in abundance. And when it comes to the impact he has on the tire industry, there is no denying the correlation.

Mars, founder and president of Endurica L.L.C., has been selected as the recipient of the 2022 Harold Herzlich Distinguished Technology Achievement Medal. The award, given biennially during the International Tire Exhibition & Conference, recognizes individuals throughout the tire industry whose careers and accomplishments have left a lasting impact on tire design, development and manufacturing, impacts that have changed the industry for the better.

"Will Mars is accomplishing his mission of making a better way for rubber products to be developed and brought to market," Endurica Marketing Manager Pauline Glaza wrote in nominating Mars for the award. "Will is a humble man who believes science speaks for itself ... . That's why it's an honor to be able to submit this nomination on Will's behalf."

He will receive the award at ITEC on Sept. 14, the second day of the three-day conference and exhibition sponsored by Rubber News at the John S. Knight Convention Center in Akron. Mars will deliver a keynote address on Sept. 15.

Throughout a career that spans more than 30 years—including 16 with Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. before the founding of Endurica—Mars has focused on development testing and simulation methods. Specifically, he has focused on the application of experimental and computation mechanics in the pursuit of more durable, more reliable and better performing rubber products.

In addition to being a sought-after lecturer, Mars has served as editor in chief of both Rubber Chemistry and Technology and Tire Science and Technology. He holds four patents in the area of elastomer durability, and his work has appeared in more than 60 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

He has accomplished a number firsts, establishing a reputation for success in the rubber industry, including the authoring of Endurica fatigue life solver—the world's first commercially available simulation for fatigue analysis of rubber.

Mars was the first to conceive of critical plane analysis for computing fatigue in elastomers, enabling accurate analysis of multiaxial load histories that occur in tire service. He also was the first to propose and validate a model for R-ratio effects on fatigue in crystallizing rubber, a critical factor in determining the durability of tires because the sidewall often operates under R>0 conditions (ie nonrelaxing).

Regarding elastomer fatigue analysis, Mars was the first to develop an incremental calculation method for the rubber industry, enabling residual life calculations and digital twins, as well as simulation of FMVSS durability and high-speed protocols for tires.

He also was the first to successfully explain—using critical plane analysis—why cracks nucleate at an angle in nonrelaxing simple tension tests of strain crystallizing rubber.

Among his accomplishments, Mars has generalized Futamura's deformation index concept to explain fatigue differences arising due to stiffness changes in rubber. This is of particular use to compounders working to understand the tradeoffs between stiffness, mode of control and durability.

He's also demonstrated that transient rolling resistance behavior of a tire can be predicted from knowledge of steady state behavior, thermal inertia and viscoelastic temperature sensitivity. He's also shown that cutting experiments minimize crack tip dissipation fields, and therefore provides information about intrinsic strength/fatigue limit. Fatigue limit is important to selecting tire compounds that will have good endurance.

While the overall impact of Mars' accomplishments may be difficult to fully gauge, the potential for impact on the tire and rubbers industries is great.

According to Endurica, 4 percent of GDP goes toward the costs associated with poor durability or unexpected failure. When better design is woven into the product development process—particularly through the use of simulation—costs can be reduced by half.

When applied to the rubber industry, which generates around $200 billion in annual revenue, Endurica estimates that the cost savings could eclipse $4 billion a year.

In addition to the Herzlich Award, Mars has received the:

• 2020 Tibbetts award from the U.S. Small Business Administration, which recognizes outstanding accomplishments in creating cutting-edge technologies;
• 2017 Arnold Smith Special Service Award from the ACS Rubber Division;
• 2007 Sparks Thomas Award from the ACS Rubber Division for outstanding contributions and innovations in the field of elastomers by young scientists, technologists and engineers; and
• 1999 Henry Fuchs award of the SAE Fatigue Design & Evaluation committee, which honors outstanding graduate research in the field of fatigue prediction.

For more information about ITEC, its agenda or event registration, visit itec-tireshow.com.

Companies interested in exhibit space or sponsorship opportunities should contact Sales Director Christine Zernick at [email protected].