The city of Akron boasts strong credentials for being the tire industry capital of the U.S.
Back in the U.S. tire industry’s glory days it went by the name of "Rubber Capital of the World" and was home to the four major domestic players: BFGoodrich, Goodyear, Firestone and General. 
Goodyear is the only one of this quartet to retain its main domicile there, the other three having been respectively acquired by Michelin, Bridgestone and Continental, yet in recent years new arrivals have also chosen Akron as home.
Today, both BKT and Trelleborg operate their North American headquarters out of the city and Bridgestone’s U.S. Technical Center also is located there. As of Aug. 19, Chinese manufacturer the Triangle Group has added its name to this list with the opening of its U.S. headquarters and research and development company.
Triangle’s Akron-based operation will later serve as an agent for the parent company in the import and export of tires, raw materials and manufacturing equipment. Its initial focus, however, is the various aspects of tire technology development, work that will be carried out by a brand new company, A3T LLC.
Priorities for this Triangle-owned company include research projects into high performance compound development, tire design and development technology, new and alternative materials and manufacturing technology innovation. These are, A3T notes, projects that aid in the development of high value-added tire products.
A3T’s own researchers will collaborate with the University of Akron and the University of Akron Research Foundation on a number of research, technology development and licensing projects. Visiting Triangle Group specialists and UA College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering faculty members will conduct joint research at the National Polymer Innovation Center and other facilities on the University of Akron’s campus.
Such activities will be coordinated through A3T at its headquarters within the university’s Akron Innovation Campus.
At a ceremony formalizing this joint work, Triangle Group president Dr. James Bao stated the choice of Akron as the site for A3T was “an easy decision” and a “great start” for the new company’s development, as the University of Akron houses “the best known polymer and elastomer research and development center in the world.”
He shared that A3T will “work with the University of Akron to create a collaborative research lab that will focus on rubber and elastomer related research and development.”
The signing of this master agreement by Triangle Group chairman Dr. Yu Hua Ding and University of Akron president Dr. Luis Proenza on Aug. 19 took place at the University of Akron’s Goodyear Polymer Center and was witnessed by some 50 people. At the ceremony, Triangle named its first local employee – Joanne Li. In the coming months Mrs. Li will be joined by high-level technical staff and support personnel; in total, A3T will hire 10 initial local research and development employees and 20 sales employees. This core workforce is expected to grow as Triangle further establishes its North American operation. (Tyres & Accessories)
