Lehigh Technologies Appoints Former Yokohama, Goodyear Executives to Board of Directors and Advisory Board

ATLANTA, Nov. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Lehigh Technologies Inc., a leading sustainable materials company, today announced that Jim MacMaster, former executive vice president and chief operating officer at Yokohama Tire Corporation, North America, has joined the company's Board of Directors. Lehigh also appointed Adel Halasa, Ph.D., a leading polymer scientist formerly with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., to its Advisory Board.

These new appointments come at an important time in Lehigh's growth. Lehigh has been continuing to drive adoption of its micronized rubber powder (MRP) material in high-value applications, and the company is now expanding its presence in Asia and Europe.

"We are very fortunate to have an executive with Jim's level of experience in one of our key market segments join the Board," said Alan Barton, CEO of Lehigh Technologies. "His knowledge of the markets and his relationships across the global tire industry will help deliver the compelling value proposition of MRP to this industry."

MacMaster began his career with Yokohama in 1981 in sales and rose through multiple commercial roles to become vice president of the company's North American Commercial Tire Division. In 2001, he was named executive vice president and helped lead an extensive repositioning of Yokohama in North America improve growth and profitability.

"I am very excited to be able to work together with the Lehigh management team and Board as they embark on the next phase of their growth plan," said MacMaster. "The increasing importance of raw materials that can improve the sustainability profile of the tire industry and that can help reduce and stabilize costs will help Lehigh become an important strategic supplier to the industry."

As a new Advisory Board member, Halasa will provide guidance to Lehigh's technical team. Halasa was a Research and Development Fellow at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. from 1983 to 2009, and he has since served as an adjunct professor at the University of Akron. Over his long and successful technical career, he has been listed on more than 300 patents and was recognized in 1997 with the Charles Goodyear Medal for his work developing anionic solution polymerization of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR).

"Our technology roadmap for the tire industry is based upon driving higher loading levels of MRP, as well as developing MRPs that have chemical reactivity," said Tom Rosenmayer, Ph.D., vice president of technology at Lehigh Technologies. "Dr. Halasa's depth of experience and his knowledge of polymers and their structure-property relationships will help us develop new products faster, which is a key part of our company's growth strategy."

Lehigh Technologies' MRPs are already being used as a raw material in a wide range of rubber compounds across the tire industry. To date, more than 200 million tires have been manufactured using Lehigh's MRPs.

"Lehigh's technical team has made great progress in helping tire customers make MRP a standard raw material in their formulations," said Halasa. "I am looking forward to working with them on developing MRP-based products that can deliver even higher loading potential in high-performance rubber compounds. Lehigh is the only company focusing on the fundamental science of the system; in my view, this is an essential requirement for any successful new product."

ABOUT LEHIGH TECHNOLOGIES

Lehigh Technologies is a leading sustainable materials company that is transforming end-of-life tire and post-industrial rubber into highly engineered, sustainable powders called Micronized Rubber Powder (MRP) that are being used in a wide range of consumer and industrial applications. Lehigh's energy efficient cryogenic turbo mill technology breaks down these raw materials to micron scale powders that are sold to manufacturers of advanced products, including high-performance tires, industrial rubber, consumer and industrial plastics goods, asphalt and coatings and construction materials. The Tucker, Georgia-based company is privately held and backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Index Ventures, NGP Energy Technology Partners and Leaf Clean Energy. For more information, please visit www.lehightechnologies.com.

SOURCE Lehigh Technologies