Speakers

Surendra Chawla retired from The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company as a Senior Director of Global Innovation in 2018 after 40 years of service in different roles and responsibilities. He joined Goodyear in 1978 as a Senior Research Engineer in Corporate Research and rose through the ranks to Director and Head of the Goodyear Corporate Research in 2003 to 2008. In 2009, he was given the responsibility to lead Goodyear Global Innovation initiative. In this role, he championed the culture of open innovation in Goodyear to explore, assess and internalize external technologies for sustainable product and process leadership, and create new business opportunities in the mobility solution space of Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electrical (CASE) vehicles. Created a global (including US, Europe, China, India, Singapore, Vietnam, and Brazil) R&D network of world-class universities, research institutes, national laboratories, IT and engineering services networks, suppliers, customers and start-ups; and successfully integrated dozens of new innovations into Goodyear new products, materials and manufacturing technology platforms. He is one of the founders of Goodyear Institute of Technology (GIT) – “forum for tire related technologies”. Hundreds of Goodyear associates around the world have benefited in expanding their knowledge and skill base. In January 2021, he joined Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce as a consultant to lead Polymer Industry Cluster Initiative to enhance collaboration among businesses and regional universities for sustainable economic growth of the Northeast Ohio region and local businesses. As a result of this effort, the Greater Akron region has been Designated as a Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA); this has led to an award of $51 million from EDA and a $31 million Innovation Hub award from the State of Ohio. These funds are designated to advance R&D efforts to speed up innovation for sustainability including sustainable sources of advance materials, workforce development and training, and promote entrepreneurial culture for start-ups. Surendra has a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from India, Master and PhD from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Chicago, USA.