The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. recently honored 353 of its technical associates for their inventions and innovations.
The associates, who work in the company’s Technical Centers in Akron, Ohio, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, as well as manufacturing locations around the world, were responsible for 215 U.S. patents and 21 trade secrets in 2004.
The company recognized 16 associates as 2004 "Inventors of the Year," and six others were awarded special honors in recognition of their contributions over the course of their careers with the tiremaker.
"When we set out to fundamentally change our company two years ago, we knew innovating new products and processes would be essential," said Robert Keegan, Goodyear’s chairman and chief executive officer.
"The role of our engineers and scientists has been critical to our market success, as well as our ongoing cultural transformation," he added.
In the last year, Goodyear introduced new products including the Fortera and Wrangler featuring SilentArmor Technology; the Dunlop Direzza DZ101 and Dunlop Grandtrek in North America; the Goodyear HydraGrip in Europe and the Dunlop SportMaxx to both European and North American markets.
Goodyear has said that its Assurance tires, introduced in 2004, are the most successful new product launch in the company’s history.
Special awards included:
Inventors of the Year: Akron, Ohio: Bill Bedont, Gary Burg, Ron Loeffler, Dan Schuster, Jeff Sevart, Don Helle, Ching-Chih Lee, Wil Looman, Minwu Yao and Austin Young. Lincoln, Neb.: Darren Moncrief
Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg: Yves Donckels, Sylvie Dubru, Serge Imhoff, Rene Reuter and Frank Schmitz
"100" Club: Bill Hsu, a research and development associate based in Akron, became the seventh Goodyear associate to achieve a combination of at least 100 patents and trade secrets.
Silver Coin Awards: The Silver Coin Award is given to inventors who achieved various ingenuity milestones through their career. Dave Zanzig, Luxembourg, has achieved 60 patents and trade secrets, while new recipients at the 20 level are: Jean Bergh, Luxembourg; Don Gilliam, Akron; Kevin Legge, Akron; and Christian Labbe, Luxembourg.
