Critical Technologies for Sustainable Vehicle Production 2025

    DEVELOPMENTS SHAPING INTERIOR, EXTERIOR, AND POWERTRAIN APPLICATIONS, MATERIALS, AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES

    PROGRAM COMPLETE - REGISTER TO ATTEND

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    Date: February 26 and 27, 2025

    Venue: Sheraton Detroit Novi Hotel. 21111 Haggerty Rd., Novi, MI 48375 USA

    Format: In-Person

     

    Founding Member:

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    Sponsors:

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    The ITB Group's fourth annual conference on sustainability is a catalyst that facilitates in-depth discussions on innovations, challenges, and developments shaping interior, exterior, and powertrain applications. Visionaries convene to share insights and challenges surrounding recycling, dismantling, materials, processing, components, and engineering for future mobility. Key focus areas include:

    • Bio-Based Materials: Advancing Performance And Sustainability
    • Keynote by Toyota Motor
    • Designing for Circularity: Implementing Real-World Solutions
    • From Concept to Practice: A Tier-1 Approach to Sustainability
    • From the Bottom Up - special address
    • Strategies to Lower Carbon Footprints
    • Optimizing Material Recovery for Sustainability
    • Keynote by Hyundai
    • Closing the Loop: Innovations in Battery Recycling  
    • Sustainable Interiors: Materials and Methods for the Future
    • Shaping the Future with Sustainable Automotive Materials 

     

    Why Attend?
    ITB’s conference provides a platform to address sustainability needs, breaking them down into actionable elements tailored to each participant in the value chain. The event is designed for global component and material suppliers as well as OEM leaders, offering exceptional value through insightful presentations, business development opportunities, and in-person networking with industry experts. Sign up today to immerse yourself in our program and explore  exciting innovations shaping our industry.

     

    Interested to Showcase your Company and Draw Customers to your Engineering Solutions?
    Sign up as a conference SPONSOR, and/or EXHIBITOR to gain maximum visibility and leverage direct access to key decision-makers and potential clients looking for new technologies and industry solutions. Use exhibit booth space as a technology showcase where attendees can engage with your products and connect with your engineering and sales experts. Click HERE for full details. 

    Questions? Contact Bryan Eldredge, Program Director at beldredge@itbgroup.com.

     

    CONFERENCE AGENDA - Day 1: February 26, 2025

     

    7:00 a.m.
    Registration, Networking, and Continental Breakfast

    8:00 a.m.
    Welcome and Opening Remarks
    Mitra O'Malley, Managing Director and Co-founder - The ITB Group
    BIO-BASED MATERIALS: ADVANCING PERFORMANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

    8:10 a.m.
    Beyond Bio-based
    Luis Fernando Flores Bustos, Account Manager - Arkema

    8:30 a.m.
    Bio-Nylon66 from Wood Waste
    Speaker TBD - OzoneBio

    9:00 a.m.
    Biobased Polyurethanes:  Pathway to Commercial Success
    Christopher Bradlee, Sustainability Manager - BASF

    9:30 a.m.
    Networking Break

    10:15 a.m.
    KEYNOTE ADDRESS
    Stepping into Carbon and Plastics Pollution Headwinds
    Mark Bacchus, Senior Manager, Carbon Neutrality & Regulatory Affairs -  
    Toyota Motor North America
    DESIGNING FOR CIRCULARITY: IMPLEMENTING REAL-WORLD SOLUTIONS

    11:00 a.m.
    Circular Design in Automotive
    Karen Guzman, Automotive Marketing & Sustainability Manager - Covestro

    11:20 a.m.
    Packaging EPR Lessons for the Automotive Industry
    Adam Peer Senior Director, Plastics Sustainability - American Chemistry Council

    11:35 a.m.
    Recycling the Impossible: What Do Wind Turbine Blades, Light-weighting Composites, and Glass Fiber Remelt All Have in Common?
    David Morgan, Chief Strategy Officer - Carbon Rivers

    11:55 a.m.
    Lunch

    1:15 p.m.
    Using Life Cycle Assessment to Drive Internal Decision Making and Assess Industry Knowledge Gaps
    Nicholas Hammond, Sustainability Engineer - Shawmut Corporation

    1:35 p.m.
    Production and Application of Advanced High Strength Steels
    using the Circular Steelmaking Process
    Dean Kanelos, Market Development & Product Applications Manager - Nucor Automotive Group
    FROM CONCEPT TO PRACTICE: A TIER-1 APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY

    1:55 p.m.
    OPMobility's Sustainability Roadmap
    Xavier Maury, Operations Director and Fernando Alves, Glboal HSE Sustainability Director - OPMobility

    2:15 p.m.
    Raw Materials - Re-Use at All Scales
    Nathalie VEIGA, Senior Materials Engineer- OPMobility

    2:30 p.m.
    Painting - Efficiency and Waste Elimination
    Eric Guizol, Industrial Process Performance Leader - OPMobility

    2:45 p.m.
    Supply Chain - Green Road to Sustainability and Efficiency
    Jacek Iwanicki, Supply Chain Global Logistics Manager - OPMobility

    3:00 p.m.
    Networking Break

    3:30 p.m.
    From the Bottom UP
    Chad Pregracke, President - Green Current Solutions
    STRATEGIES TO LOWER CARBON FOOTPRINTS

    4:00 p.m.
    Sustainability and Circular Economy – Applying New Sustainable Materials into Plastic Parts
    Tato Bigio, Co-Founder and Chief Growth and Sustainability Officer - UBQ Materials

    4:20 p.m.
    Advancing Sustainability Initiatives at Kautex
    Summer Javed, Sustainability Engineer - Kautex Textron

    4:40 p.m.
    Automotive Packaging Sustainability
    Bridget Grewal, Director, Packaging CI - Magna International

    5:00 p.m.
    A Corrugated Revolution – The New Returnable
    David Colclough, Director of Sales and Business Development - P2 Packaging

    5:15 p.m.
    A Peak into Rivian’s Carbon Footprint and the Need for Harmonization
    Dr. Nick Santero, Principal, Sustainability Science - Rivian

    5:45 p.m.
    Closing Remarks and Evening Reception

     

    CONFERENCE AGENDA - Day 2: February 27, 2025

     

    7:30 a.m.
    Registration, Networking, and Continental Breakfast

    8:00 a.m.
    Welcome and Opening Remarks
    Dr. Joel Kopinsky, Managing Director and Co-founder - The ITB Group
    OPTIMIZING MATERIAL RECOVERY FOR SUSTAINABILITY

    8:10 a.m.
    Towards a Sustainable and Secure Rare Earth Elements Supply Chain
    Karl Meira, Director OEM Partnerships - Cyclic Materials

    8:30 a.m.
    Increasing Used Tire Recovery Rates Via Cross-Industry Collaboration
    Kyle Gregoire, President - Granulum

    8:50 a.m.

    		 Closing the Loop: Harnessing Post-Consumer Scrap to Drive Decarbonization in Automotive Applications
    Helen Weykamp, Principal Engineer - Hydro Aluminium
    Sam Padnos, Non-Ferrous Trading Manager - Padnos

    9:20 a.m.
    Battery Material Use Hierarchy
    Steve Fletcher, Managing Director - Automotive Recyclers of Canada

    9:40 a.m.
    Networking Break

    10:15 a.m.
    KEYNOTE ADDRESS
    Bridging the Gap to Carbon Neutrality
    Amanda Nummy, Senior Polymer Materials Engineer - Hyundai
    CLOSING THE LOOP: INNOVATIONS IN BATTERY RECYCLING  

    11:00 a.m.
    Building a Critical Materials Domestic Supply Chain to Scale & Enhancing the Circular Economy
    Danielle Spalding, VP of Communications & Public Affairs - Cirba Solutions

    11:15 a.m.
    Challenges Associated with the EV Battery Carbon Footprint
    Paul Hernley, EV Battery Sustainability Assistant Manager - General Motors

    11:45 a.m.
    Lunch
    SUSTAINABLE INTERIORS: MATERIALS AND METHODS FOR THE FUTURE

    1:00 p.m.
    As Sustainability Begins to Mature as a Topic - What do OEMs Mean by that Term?
    Jeff Stout, Executive Director, Global Innovation Commercialization - Yanfeng

    1:30 p.m.
    The BioLAN Disruption - Bringing Sustainability and Cost Improvement
    Timothy Richter, Vice President - Prisma Renewable Composites

    1:45 p.m.
    Advanced Solvent-Based Technology for the Closed-Loop Recycling of Engineering Plastics
    Norbert Fraunholcz, CEO - Resolved

    2:00 p.m.
    Innovative Uses for Natural Fibers in Automotive
    Tim Almond, CEO - Heartland

    2:15 p.m.
    Challenges and Advancements in Mainstreaming Automotive Plastics Recycling and Circularity through Molecular Recycling Technologies
    Gary Hawkins,  Automotive Applications Development - Eastman

    2:30 p.m.
    Networking Break
    SHAPING THE FUTURE WITH SUSTAINABLE AUTOMOTIVE MATERIALS

    3:00 p.m.
    Sustainable Automotive Seating Materials – Design for Recycling
    Missy Brudzynsky, Engineering Director, Innovation - Lear
    Xi Chen, Application Development Scientist - Dow

    3:20 p.m.
    Sustainable Plastics in Automotive Applications: Market Needs, Waste Hierarchy, and Carbon Footprint
    Arnd Herwig, Vice President Development - Brose North America

    3:40 p.m.
    Driving Vehicle Circularity and Decarbonization with Polyurethane
    Selamawit Belli, Strategic Market Manager - Dow

    4:00 p.m.
    Glass Fiber Circularity and Sustaina® Pro
    Paul Salach, Product Leader - Owens Corning

    4:20 p.m.
    Sustainability in the Automotive Electronics Industry
    Thomas Klena, HW Excellence Manager and Engineering Sustainability Lead - Continental Automotive

    4:40 p.m.
    Closing Remarks - End of Conference

     

     

     

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    Conference Chairperson

    1_Mitra_bio_2 B&W
    Mitra O'Malley
    Managing Director - The ITB Group
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    1_Mitra_bio_2 B&W

    Mitra O'Malley

    Managing Director - The ITB Group

    Ms. O’Malley is one of the founding partners of The ITB Group in 1992. As Managing Director, she focuses on technology feasibility and business development activities in automotive acoustics, interior and exterior. Her specific areas of specialty include cabin technologies (materials, processing and function integration). Ms. O’Malley has 40 years of
    experience in the automotive industry in a variety of roles. She is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Lowell
    with a Master’s degree in Plastics Engineering.

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