Bill Mortel wins the 2020 IOM3 Hancock Medal

Bill Mortel is the very worthy recipient of the 2020 IOM3 Hancock Medal.

The Hancock Medal is a biennial award to any member of IOM3 for outstanding service to the rubber industry. Bill Mortel, the very worthy recipient of the medal in 2020, has served the elastomer community through various roles with the British Rubber and Polyurethane Products Associated, the National Skills Academy for the Process Industries and as an active committee member of the IOM3 Rubber in Engineering Group since 1992. Since 2011, Bill has also been the industrial representative for the UK and the IOM3 on the International Rubber Conference Organisation Committee and has directly supported two UK conferences in this role, RubberCon 2014 held in Manchester and IRC 2019 held in London. For both conferences, Bill was the co-chair and his contribution helped ensure the success of both events.

Bill joined what was then Metalastik straight out of school as an apprentice in 1970 and rose through the ranks of the same company, through various mergers to what is now Trelleborg Antivibration Solutions in Leicester, UK, to become Director of Advanced Technologies in 2012 before retiring in July 2019. In this role, Bill has also an extensive track record of publication. A search on Google scholar reveals that he has published 35 papers in journals and in conferences over his recent career. It was for this impressive, and outstanding, commitment to both the UK and international rubber industry over such a prolonged period that made Bill the best possible recipient of the Hancock Medal in 2020.

This article was contributed by the Rubber in Engineering Group