Rubber Division honors industry innovators at Spring Technical Meeting

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Some of the top innovators and contributors across the rubber industry received recognition last month as the ACS Rubber Division concluded its Spring Technical Meeting.

Winners of the Science & Technology Awards came together in Columbus for the the meeting, April 29 to May 2, where they were honored during the event's awards banquet, sponsored by Alpha Technologies.

Netting the most prestigious of the awards, the Charles Goodyear Medal, was Katrina Cornish for her work in the natural rubber industry. This includes more than three decades of dedication to establishing a domestic source of natural rubber in the U.S.

"The purpose of the Charles Goodyear Medal is to perpetuate the memory Charles Goodyear, the discoverer of the vulcanization of rubber. The award honors individuals for an outstanding invention, innovation or development, which has resulted in a significant change or contribution to the nature of the rubber industry," according to the division.

The award is sponsored by HF Mixing Group, which now operates under one joint management team with HF TireTech Group under HF Group.

"As the chair (of the Rubber Divison), you have the chance to meet some of the most incredible people in this industry," Division Chairman Anthony Mariniello said at the banquet May 1. "And this year, I've been able to spend a lot of time with this year's recipient of the Charles Goodyear Medal.

"Dr. Katrina Cornish was selected for this prestigious award for her outstanding contributions in establishing critical domestic natural rubber sources and inventing new technologies for cultivating transgenetic plants and latex and rubber extractions," he said.

In receiving the award, Cornish thanked her students, fellow staff and "all the experts" who were "happy to help show me how to mix a rubber compound, for example. All of these things that I didn't know, that I came to know and became the person now giving advice to others."

At the time of receiving the medal, Cornish was a professor and Ohio eminent research scholar of bio-emergent materials at the Ohio State University. As of June 3, she is the director of the U.S. Arid Lands Agricultural Research Center in Maricopa, Ariz., a unit within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Cornish is only the second women to receive the Rubber Division's top honor. Judit Puskas was the first woman to receive the Charles Goodyear Medal in 2017. Cornish also is the first biologist to receive the award.

She thanked her husband and two sons, both of whom, she jokingly noted, chose not to pursue a life of academia.

"They'd like to go home at 5 o'clock, please. I know very few of you do that."

She also thanked a late friend and mentor, John Radin, another plant scientist who helped her get her footing in guayule back in the '80s.

"And also to Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., who's lobbying efforts got me my career position in rubber. And the rest is history, as we say."

Also recognized at the banquet were six other individuals who have made a lasting impact on the rubber industry.

"On behalf of Alpha Technologies, all of our global team members, congratulations to all of the award winners and thanks for your dedication to continuing to drive innovation in our industry," Jayson Humble, vice president of sales and marketing at Alpha Technologies said. "We think that all of our scientists globally are going to be building their work on your (abilities) to solve tomorrow's problems."

Greg Patnode is one of those people who believes in more. More innovation, more creativity and taking more chances.

It was, after all, this passion for pushing the industry further—his "passionate commercialization leadership" and advocacy for the industry—that allowed him to stand out for the Chemistry of Thermoplastic Elastomers Award, sponsored by Renkert Oil L.L.C.

"I am honored and humbled to accept the 2024 Chemistry of Thermoplastics Elastomers Award," Patnode, a retired process engineer and product designer at 3M, said during the awards ceremony. "I want to thank Rekert Oil for sponsoring the award and I would like to thank the ACS Rubber Division for this honor and to those who nominated me and supported this nomination."

Patnode joined the Tape Process Development Center at 3M as an expert in formulation, development and processing of elastomer and TPE-based adhesives in 2008. He has taught many courses on formulating and processing TPEs and elastomers since then.

Andreas Limper has contributed much to the rubber industry throughout his 30-year career, and his accomplishments have had real-world applications.

That is why he was selected as winner of the 2024 Fernley H. Banbury Award, Mariniello said, noting his "outstanding innovations in rubber processing technologies and successful conversions of fundamental rubber mixing research into real world products."

The award, sponsored by Ace Laboratories Inc., honors innovations in production equipment, instrumentation, control systems and improved processing technologies widely used in the manufacture of rubber or rubber-like goods.

"As a leader in technology development and innovation, Ace is proud to sponsor the Fernley Banbury award, which recognizes those who have made great impact on processing technology," Erick Sharp, CEO of Ace Laboratories, said in a recorded statement congratulating Limper. "Dr. Andreas Limper has revolutionized mixing and extrusion technology in our industry for decades to come."

Limper, who said he felt "really honored" to receive the award, thanked the Rubber Division and Ace Laboratories, but made sure to thank his family, too.

"I must say thank you to my wife first," he said, noting that family life at home is usually noisy between three sons and barking dogs.

"Perhaps my professional life was more relaxing than being at home," he joked.

Throughout his career, Limper has made contributions in the development of the biggest producers of rubber mixing equipment; tandem mixing technology (in concert with Continental Tire); and development of the twin extruder for downstream mixing lines.

He also was former CEO of the HF Mixing Group, where he now serves as an R&D consultant, and worked as a professor for the University of Paderborn in Germany, leading development of tire manufacturing, rubber mixing and rubber extrusion.

Bridgestone's advancement of guayule is among the tire maker's most celebrated achievements. And David Dierig, manager and plant breeder/geneticist for the agro operations at Bridgestone Americas Inc., has played a significant role in helping to bring that technology forward.

It is for this his vision, leadership and accomplishments in this area that he was named the recipient of the 2024 Bioelastomer Award, sponsored by the ACS Rubber Division.

"I spent my whole career working on this rubber-producing plant," Dierig said, "and it has been a real passion of mine to see it come to where it is today. I am very honored by the award."

Bridgestone has invested more than $100 million in its efforts to commercialize guayule as an alternative to hevea natural rubber. In the process, it is working with growers in the southern U.S. to help further cultivate the plant. Dierig has played a critical role in helping the growers transition their crops.

Radek Stocek made significant advancements in the physical characterization of elastomers, particularly for his work in fatigue crack growth and cut-and-chip wear.

It's this work that has netted Stocek the 2024 Sparks-Thomas Award, sponsored by Edurica L.L.C. The award perpetuates the memory of William J. Sparks and Robert M. Thomas, chemists who developed butyl rubber, "by recognizing and encouraging outstanding scientific contributions and innovations in the field of elastomers by younger chemists, technologists and engineers."

In accepting the recognition, Stocek said he was "grateful" to be honored with "such a great award."

He thanked his family as well as three men in the rubber industry who have supported him throughout his career.

Professor Gert Heinrich from the Technical University of Dresden in Germany, Stocek said, "believed in me from the first moment, that I can do something." He also thanked Will Mars, founder and president of Endurica, and Chris Robertson, founder and principal consultant at Polymer Technology Services L.L.C.

Stocek is a general manager at Polymer Research Lab S.R.O. and head of rubber development at Tomas Bata University.

Namita R. Choundhury, a polymer scientist who works at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, has been instrumental in the advancement of women in academic science and enhancing university policy guidelines on equal employment and other issues facing women faculty and students, according to letters of nomination.

For this, Choudhury received the George Stafford Whitby Award for Distringuished Teaching and Research for her work "in biomimetic and non-protein-based elastomers and distinguished contributions to the advancement of knowledge and research in polymer and elastomer science," according to the Rubber Division.

The award, sponsored by Cabot Corp., is issued in memory of George S. Whitby, head of the rubber laboratory at the University of Akron and, for many years, the only person teaching rubber chemistry in the U.S.

"This award recognizes outstanding contributions to chemical, material and polymer science education through teaching and innovative research," Mariniello said.

Choudhury said she was "humbled" to receive such an award, thanking her parents for providing her with her education, her husband, son, several mentors and colleagues for their unwavering support throughout her career.

"To all my colleagues, friends and ... my students," she said, "this award goes to them, too."

And in the "spirit of the award," Choudhury encouraged younger generations to "strive for excellence," and said not to hesitate when treading into unknown territory when you have the skills to push through.

Andrew Chapman has displayed "exceptional technical competency" with his research on vulcanization and aging of rubber, filler reinforcement, rubber recycling and rubber compounding for tires, earning him the Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology Award.

The award, sponsored by Lion Elastomer, perpetuates the memory of Melvin Mooney, the developer of the Mooney viscometer and other testing equipment.

Chapman has worked in chemistry as well as physical and chemical processes, such as reinforcement of rubber by fillers, rubber-to-metal binding and the leaching of rubber ingredients.

"It is a very great honor and a bit of a surprise," Chapman said of his being selected as winner of the award.

Like many in the rubber industry, Chapman said he first became acquainted with the name Mooney through his use of the Mooney viscometer and "very extensive use of the Mooney Rivlin equation."

In addition to thanking the Rubber Division and Lion Elastomers, Chapman thanked his wife, Kasia, "for her patience and support over the last 35 years of doing this work."

Erin Pustay Beaven, Rubber News Staff, contributed to this report.