Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies’ F. Joseph Walker to retire
Plymouth, MI – Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies announced that F. Joseph (Joe) Walker, Director of Materials and Laboratories at the company’s North American headquarters in Plymouth, Mich., has elected to retire from the company on March 30 after 24 years of distinguished service in materials science. Walker is recognized throughout the North American rubber industry as a leading materials expert and a relentless advocate in the push to change the perception of the industry from outdated to innovative and high-tech.
“Under Joe’s leadership, the material laboratories in Plymouth have been expanded, modernized, and equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and machinery,” said Chad Bauer, Senior Vice President of Technology & Innovation, Freudenberg Sealing Technologies. “He has successfully led teams of specialized chemists, scientists, and research engineers in expanding our materials portfolio to include plastics, silicones, and adhesives. With the company’s transition to e-mobility and other alternate fuel technologies, Joe has been instrumental in the development of a plan to support the transition with new equipment, materials, and collaboration.”
Since Walker joined Freudenberg in 1998, he has overseen application-focused materials development research for multiple market segments including automotive, aerospace, agriculture, construction, appliance, recreational, oil & gas, medical and fluid power. He also designed a new work-tracking system for the laboratories and managed a forensic services group specializing in rubber analysis, state of cure testing and surface chemistry.
During his career, Walker has been honored with numerous service awards from professional industry associations, academic institutions, and trade groups where he has served in leadership roles, such as on the Board of Directors for the Association for Rubber Product Manufacturers (ARPM). He has been a regular lecturer on the opportunities and challenges associated with the rubber industry and holds 23 patents in the fields of materials and applications, process, and compositional chemistries.
Walker has conducted internal and external materials workshops throughout his career and plans to continue this knowledge-sharing after he retires by overseeing ARPM’s new Training Academy, a dynamic technical training resource that teaches fundamentals and advanced topics for the rubber industry. The Academy will provide both online training that will be accessible to everyone in an organization and will improve the knowledge base of the entire workforce, and in-person training that will provide in-depth principles of design not available anywhere else in the rubber industry or academia.
“Joe is a long-time member of the ARPM Board of Directors and has been a consistent advocate for creating training standards that drive continuous improvement in the rubber industry,” said Kirk Bowman, APRM board member and General Manager of Belts Engineering and Product Development for The Timken Group. “His driving motivation is not complex – he simply cares about the state of our industry and ensuring that we are developing the next round of leaders who have the knowledge and skills to continue to compete globally.”
“Joe Walker knows more about our industry than most of us will ever dream of knowing, even if we were to live and work until the age of 150,” said Charlie Braun, APRM board member and President of Custom Rubber Corp. “His willingness to answer a call or any question from anyone, and offer knowledge, opinions, and assistance has always been refreshing. He optimized ARPM’s training objective of helping others in the industry so that we all get better.”
Effective upon Walker’s retirement from Freudenberg, Ryan Fleming, current Operations Manager MT – Americas in Plymouth, will become Director of Laboratory Operations at Technology & Innovation.