197th Technical Meeting Conference Recordings

Professor Anil K. Bhowmick is currently a Research Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Houston and a former Professor of Eminence at IIT Kharagpur. He was previously associated with the University of Akron, Ohio, USA,  London School of Polymer Technology, London and Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan. His main research interests are: Sustainable Materials, Nanocomposites, Thermoplastic Elastomers and Polymer blends,  Polymer modification, Rubber Technology, Failure and Degradation of Polymers, Adhesion and Adhesives. 

Baochun Guo obtained his PhD degree in 2001 at South China University of Technology (SCUT), the birthplace of rubber discipline in China. His current research involves hierarchical design of rubbers and rubber composites, development and applications of high-performance and functional elastomers.

After graduating from University of Oklahoma with an MSc in 2007, Hohenberger worked for Schlumberger, Ltd. from 2006 to 2017 designing downhole oilfield equipment. He is currently pursuing a PhD studying leak prediction in high pressure seals.

Dr. Nihat Isitman has held a variety of scientist positions in Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's two innovation centers, Luxembourg and Akron, OH. He worked as a technical leader of fundamental technology projects as well as application development programs for winter, all-season and light truck tire compound technologies. Dr. Isitman`s current research interests are viscoelastic properties, tribological performance and durability of tire rubber compounds. He holds 14 US and European patents and has co-authored over 60 publications in journals and conferences on properties of plastics and rubber. Dr. Isitman holds a PhD degree in Materials Engineering with specialization on Polymer Nanocomposites from the Middle East Technical University in Turkey.

Department of Mechanics of Solids, Surfaces and Systems (MS3), University of Twente, The Netherlands

An expert on natural rubber science and technology, Professor Seiichi Kawahara has spent the last two decades investigating a relationship between structure and properties of natural rubber. He received his doctorate in Engineering from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology in 1992 and joined the rubber research group of Prof. Alan Gent and Prof. Gray Hamed at Akron University in 1996-1997 as a visiting scientist. Currently, he is professor at Nagaoka university of Technology. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including received the Science and Technology Award in 2015 from the Society of Rubber Science and Technology, Japan, and the Sparks-Thomas Award in 2014 from the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society, USA.

Department of Mechanics of Solids, Surfaces and Systems, University of Twente, The Netherlands

Anita Luong is pursuing a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at University of Michigan while working as a Materials Engineer in the Fuel Cell Group at General Motors.  Her research focuses on the degradation of sealing materials in automotive fuel cell environments.

Sunderman received his M.Sc. Chemistry in 2019 at Leibniz University of Hanover, Germany and is currently a PhD Student in the Processing department of DIK.

Dr. Xiaorong Wang is a Distinguished Professor in the School of Chemical Science and Engineering and Institute for Advanced Study at Tongji University in Shanghai. Dr. Wang earned his Ph.D. in the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science in 1994 from Syracuse University and worked as a Research Associate at Princeton University. He joined Bridgestone/Firestone Americas in 1995 and worked in rubber industry for many years. In 2013 Dr. Wang joined Tongji University as a professor and renewed his research on living polymerization, complex fluids, reinforcement, micro-phase engineering, rolling resistance and traction. 

Dr. Zabel studied of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering at the University of Hanover and received his PhD on the subject of "Cellulose fibres as reinforcing filler in rubber". He is currently a Product Manager at KraussMaffei Extrusion.