Speakers

Dr Hans R Dorfi is the executive director and chief innovation officer of the Polymer Industry Cluster (PIC), an industry consortium, innovation ecosystem and global center of the polymer industry. He has over two decades of experience in leadership roles as a global innovation and technology executive in the US and Europe, driving large-scale transformation in the polymer and mobility sectors. As senior vice president at Bridgestone Americas, he led the transformation of the product and technology portfolio, pioneering digital innovation, sustainability and advanced materials for next-generation products. A champion of open innovation and ecosystem building, Hans has been an invited speaker at technology conferences and held board roles in startups, academic-industry consortia and non-profits. He is currently the board chair of the Bounce Innovation Hub, a regional accelerator and technology incubator. Hans holds advanced engineering degrees from The Ohio State University and Vienna University of Technology, and has served as adjunct faculty at the University of Akron and industry advisor to institutions such as Stanford, The Ohio State University and Virginia Tech.