STLE Detroit Members: Please see below for the details of the inaugural technical seminar for the 2024-25 season! We are lucky to have the STLE EV conference in Detroit in October, which afforded us the opportunity to have our first in-person event since 2020! The Detroit section seminar will be held after the EV conference at the same location, and you do not need to be a conference attendee to participate – this will be a separate event.

Date: Friday, October 25, 2024

Time: 1-3:30pm

Location: Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center – ‘Davinci’ room

Cost: $25 STLE Detroit Section Members, $35 non-members

Registration Link: STLE Registration Link

Agenda:

Speaker:  Jack McKenna – Sea-Land Chemical, 2024-25 STLE President

Presentation Title: State of STLE

Speaker Biography: Jack McKenna, vice president of corporate accounts for Sea-Land Chemical Co. in Cleveland, Ohio, took the reins as STLE’s 2024-2025 president, with his one-year term beginning in May 2024.

McKenna is a native Chicagoan and graduate of Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y. He has more than 30 years of experience in the specialty chemical distribution industry. He has served in a number of positions in his 27 years with Sea-Land Chemical Co.

McKenna is the past chair of the STLE Chicago Section (2005), where he has been an active member of the executive committee for more than 20 years. He also served STLE as a board member from 2009-2015 in sections affairs, the audit committee and strategic planning.

In 2021, he became a member of the Executive Committee, serving one-year terms as treasurer, secretary and vice president. Joining him on the Executive Committee are Vice President Kevin Delaney (Vanderbilt Chemicals Co.), Secretary Steffen Bots (LUBESERV), Treasurer Dr. William B. Anderson (Afton Chemical Corp.), Immediate Past President Dr. Hong Liang (Texas A&M University) and STLE Executive Director Rebecca Lintow.

Speaker:  Isidoro Mazzitelli – Probear Solutions

Presentation Title: Supply Chain and Engineering: Generative AI in Rolling Bearings

Presentation Abstract: The integration of Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) into traditional engineering processes is still in its very early stages, but it holds the potential to reshape how we approach design and supply chain management today. This presentation will explore how these emerging technologies might find their place in the rolling bearings industry and beyond, influencing how businesses operate. We will examine the current status of deployment, the limitations of the technology, how it is rapidly evolving, and its potential application fields, alongside an understanding of the costs and efforts required for implementation.

Through a combination of technical insights and practical use cases, such as how non-technical users might interact with AI to make engineering decisions, we will discuss how the rotational business could evolve if these technologies continue to develop at their current pace. Opportunities and challenges that come with adopting AI-driven tools, as well as a vision of how the future of engineering and the supply chain could be reimagined, will also be introduced and discussed.

Speaker Biography: Isidoro F. Mazzitelli holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pisa and transitioned from an academic role as a Lecturer to become a recognized technical leader in the bearings industry. He is a global engineering executive with over 15 years of experience leading advanced technology and product development across industries such as Aerospace, Medical, Automotive, Semiconductor, and Robotics. Throughout his leadership career at SKF, which spanned several countries and continents, he managed cross-functional teams that delivered critical technologies and drove significant business growth.

Throughout his career, Isidoro has been instrumental in several high-impact projects, including the design and development of bearings for NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover. He has pioneered the integration of AI, digital twins, design automation, and advanced simulations into traditional engineering processes. His leadership has driven new product developments, portfolio renewals, and operational efficiency improvements across industries.

In addition to his executive roles, Isidoro fosters collaboration between academia and industry. He serves as an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of Michigan, where he mentors future engineers and leaders while teaching both graduate and undergraduate engineering courses.

Speaker:  Hannes Grillenberger – Schaeffler

Presentation Title: EV Powertrain Bearing Friction Optimization

Presentation Abstract: Efficiency of the drivetrain is crucial for electric vehicles to get long reach, lower battery costs and also minimize CO2 emissions. For that, a holistic optimization of the drivetrain is important. Today’s talk uses an example to demonstrate a method of automated optimizing bearings for low friction losses is shown, but with boundary and limiting conditions of electric environment, life rating and implementation space restrictions. Additionally, it explains the background of system understanding and simulation methods used.

Speaker Biography: STLE member Dr. Hannes Grillenberger is key expert on rolling bearing fundamentals at the automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler, with a focus on rolling element bearing noise. He joined Schaeffler’s fundamentals department in 2012 after receiving his doctorate in physics at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. During that time, he developed a laboratory detection method for oxygen precipitates in semiconductor silicon, measuring their growth in situ at 1,000 C using high-energy X-rays.

Since joining Schaeffler, Grillenberger has worked on simulation methods for rolling element bearing friction, cage strength and noise, the latter of which has been his primary area of focus for the past five-plus years. He holds several patents and conference awards and frequently publishes journal technical papers and presents at industry conferences.

Grillenberger is currently a member of the STLE Rolling Element Bearing Technical Committee. In addition, he organizes the discussion roundtables for both the STLE Annual Meeting, as well as the Tribology Exchange Workshop co-hosted by STLE and the European Lubricating Grease Institute (ELGI). As part of STLE’s Annual Meeting, Grillenberger also is responsible for lecturing on the topic of dynamic assessment of rolling bearings during the rolling element bearings education course program, which is co-presented by the American Bearing Manufacturers Association (ABMA) and STLE.