Rubber Review issue 29 is now available online
Bangkok, Thailand – In this edition of Rubber Review, we an in-depth interview with Prof. Dr. Ulrich Giese, an eminent figure whose influence spans across the global elastomer and rubber technology community. As Managing Director of the Deutsches Institut für Kautschuktechnologie e. V. (DIK) – German Institute of Rubber Technology and as Head of the Elastomer Chemistry Department as well as full Professor for Applicated Polymer Chemistry at the Leibniz University of Hannover, Prof. Giese has devoted his career to advancing the scientific foundations and technological frontiers of elastomer materials.
His leadership extends further through his role as Managing Director of DIK Prüfgesellschaft mbH (testing company), where he champions quality assurance, testing standards, and application-oriented research. Further he is the editor of the KGK Journal (scientific part), an international Journal for the industry.
Over the decades, Prof. Giese has made remarkable contributions to the understanding of polymer–filler interactions, silica–silane chemistry, reinforcement mechanisms, ageing processes, and structure–property
relationships—areas that continue to shape modern rubber design, tire technology, and industrial compound development. His pioneering work with advanced characterization methods, including e. g. chemiluminescence, LC-MS, low field NMR-techniques, USAXS/SAXS (in cooperations), rheology, and
microscopic analysis, has unlocked new insights into network behavior, cavitation, dynamic damage, and lifetime prediction. More recently, with his team he has been instrumental in exploring additive manufacturing of elastomers and the integration of digitalization and modelling into rubber processing, reflecting his commitment to future-oriented innovation.