Kedar Murthy and Frank Papp have been appointed as Lehigh Technologies’ vice president and general manager of tire and rubber and technical manager of tire and rubber, respectively.
Murthy will build upon Lehigh's existing leadership position in the marketplace, the company reports. Working alongside existing and future customers, he will help them expand their rubber powder programs domestically and internationally and take full advantage of the many benefits of incorporating Lehigh's PolyDyne(TM) engineered rubber powder into their raw material strategies.
"Lehigh brings a sophistication never before seen in the market for recycled rubber powder," states Murthy, "with the product quality, production controls and production capacity necessary to supply the world's leading tire companies. I am thrilled to be joining the strong team already in place there."
Murthy has worked in various senior leadership positions at Cabot Corporation and General Electric in business management, sales, operations, six sigma and finance. Prior to Lehigh, he was executive vice president of the Global OEM Division at GPX International Tire Company where he successfully led its global expansion initiatives.
"The tire industry is already seeing the benefits of using recycled materials such as our engineered rubber powders," says Alan E. Barton, CEO of Lehigh Technologies, "and Lehigh is excited to welcome to our team an industry executive with the expertise and credibility of Kedar. His leadership will help Lehigh and our customers push forward the use of engineered rubber powders globally."
"We believe that it is critical to advance the fundamental science underlying the use of recycled rubber powders in rubber compounds," continues Barton, "and that is where Frank Papp's expertise will be invaluable."
Papp is an accomplished rubber chemist, having spent more than three decades as a compound manager and principal chemist at Continental Tire North America. While at Continental, he focused on passenger and light truck tire compounds and development. Prior to Lehigh, Papp was responsible for development, production introduction and specifications for all tire compounds and curing at GPX International Tire Company. His principal focus at GPX was in OTR and commercial tires.
"Chemists with experience using PolyDyne engineered rubber powders know that when used appropriately, they can extend compounds, lower costs and make tires more environmentally friendly," states Papp, "but Lehigh is the first supplier to invest heavily in understanding the actual technical characteristics of these powders. That is an exciting opportunity for a rubber chemist."
