Lehigh Technologies expands R&D capabilities
ERJ staff report (TP)
Atlanta, Georgia – Lehigh Technologies Inc., a “leading” sustainable materials company, announced that it has strengthened its state-of-the-art research and development capabilities, adding Chad Jasiunas as Technical Manager for Functional Materials and investing significantly in new mixing and analytical equipment for its Application and Development Center (ADC). This expansion enables Lehigh to drive further adoption of its sustainable micronised rubber powder (MRP) material in green tire applications.
“The global green tire market is expected to grow significantly over the next five years,” said Alan Barton, CEO of Lehigh Technologies. “Lehigh has positioned itself to support this growth by establishing best-in-class research and development facilities and a strong technical team. These latest expansions are an important part of that strategy and will reinforce peer-level technical relationships with major tire companies.”
Jasiunas joins Lehigh’s ADC team with more than a decade of international experience in the development of solution-SBR systems. Prior to joining Lehigh, he worked at some of the world’s largest tire and rubber companies, including Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Synthos S.A., Europe’s largest manufacturer of emulsion rubber polymers.
“Chad brings with him years of top-tier experience as a solution-SBR research engineer,” said Adel Halasa, Ph.D., a Lehigh Advisory Board member. “His background in both solution and functional SBR technologies will help Lehigh to continue delivering MRP-based functional systems for Green Tire applications that provide optimum performance and sustainability.”
Alongside the expansion of the technology team, Lehigh has made significant investments in advanced silica-silane mixing and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) capabilities. The new internal mixing unit was custom-built to Lehigh specifications and includes precision speed and temperature control as well as capability for mixing high viscosity silica-silane-SBR compounds. The new DMA is a Metravib model DMA+ 1000. The capabilities of this state-of-the-art unit include measurement of predictive parameters critical to green tire performance such as rolling resistance, traction, and handling under a wide range of conditions.
“Having advanced mixing and DMA testing capabilities is critical to the development of functional materials based on MRP,” said Tom Rosenmayer, Lehigh’s vice president of technology. “Among its peers, Lehigh is unique in having this capability in-house, enabling us to work more efficiently with our customers to develop innovative solutions to meet their needs.”
MRPs lower costs, increase the sustainability profile of end products and deliver performance without sacrificing the reliability and performance offered by traditional raw materials. Lehigh’s customer base already includes five of the top ten tire companies in the world, and more than 250m tires have been manufactured using its MRP technology.
This article is only available to subscribers - subscribe today
Subscribe for unlimited access. A subscription to European Rubber Journal includes:
- Every issue of European Rubber Journal (6 issues) including Special Reports & Maps.
- Unlimited access to ERJ articles online
- Daily email newsletter – the latest news direct to your inbox
- Access to the ERJ online archive