Josh Guilliams, Vice President of Consultancy, leads Smithers’ technical consulting team based in Akron, Ohio. Josh manages client relationships and works with other Smithers experts on complex projects. He also conducts in-depth investigations of a wide variety of rubber materials and final products on behalf of clients.
Before joining the team at Smithers, Guilliams spent several years in leadership at Polymer Valley Chemicals, Inc., as Technical Director and Vice President of Technical Operations. Prior to his time at Polymer Valley Chemicals, he held technical and commercial roles at Hankook Tire, EASTMAN Chemical Corporation, LANXESS Corporation, and Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations.
Paul Ita runs Notch Consulting, a Massachusetts-based research company dedicated to the market research needs of the global specialty chemicals industry. Mr. Ita focuses on raw materials for the global tire and rubber industries, with a particular focus on carbon black, silica, and rubber chemicals. Through Notch, he publishes the Carbon Black World Data Book and the Carbon Black Quarterly Newsletter.
Martin von Wolfersdorff is a freelance advisor and business partner of Smithers specialising in sustainable carbon blacks. Martin works with Smithers on carbon black consulting projects, writes Smithers reports and is the founder and business partner of the recovered Carbon Black Conference. Martin's corporate assignments were in carbon black, plastic packaging, plastic masterbatch and titanium dioxide. Martin has a Dipl. Ing. (Univ.) degree in chemical engineering from the FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany.
Shannon Higgins is Cabot Corporation’s North America Marketing and Account Manager for its Reinforcement Materials business. Shannon joined Cabot in 2014 and has served in a variety of commercial and marketing roles. She currently works with customers in the tire industry with a focus on improving product performance and sustainability to meet today’s market demands. She received her MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell University and has an undergrad degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Bucknell University.
With over three decades at Bridgestone Americas, Bill has extensive experience in both the technical and commercial aspects of the global tire business. Currently serving as the Executive Director of Sustainable Innovation & Circular Economy, Bill plays a pivotal role in shaping and executing the company's sustainable materials strategy, focusing on sustainable content, carbon intensity, certifications, and customer value … toward a fully circular and carbon-zero future in mobility.
Shane Perl is managing director of Alpen Group LLC, a firm specialising in management consulting on carbon black feedstocks, pyrolysis oils and specialty chemicals, as well as in the sourcing, sales, distribution, trading and brokering of carbon black feedstock oils. Shane Perl has a BSc in chemical Engineering from Virginia Tech and an MBA in Marketing from University of Detroit and Rutgers University. Before founding Alpen Group, Shane worked 15 years with BASF in capital projects and procurement and 5 years as Director Strategic Sourcing with the carbon black producer Cabot.
