Michelin has inaugurated a joint research laboratory with four academic partners to advance tire technology, improve manufacturing processes and develop new applications for flexible composites. The initiative was announced Nov. 4.
The I-TireLab partnership brings together Michelin, the University of Poitiers, Grenoble Alpes University, Grenoble INP – UGA and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). The project represents a total investment of approximately €4.5 million over four years.
According to Michelin, the laboratory is intended to strengthen collaboration between academic research and industrial applications by combining data analysis, mathematical modelling and experimentation.
Four research areas
The laboratory will concentrate on four strands of work:
- Monitoring tire condition, including real-time estimates of wear and grip derived from sensors already fitted to vehicles, so that tire state can be assessed without additional specialised equipment.
- Incorporating tire condition and grip information into vehicle control systems, with the objective of optimising braking performance and improving vehicle stability and efficiency.
- Rubber manufacturing, where teams are developing simulation and control tools to help manufacturers plan equipment operations and optimise production settings while maintaining consistent rubber quality and reducing raw material waste and energy consumption.
- Flexible materials, examining how they influence air and water flows around objects and developing control methods that change the shape of components to modify the surrounding flows.
I-TireLab will give researchers access to industrial facilities, demonstrators and testing environments so that their methods can be evaluated under near-real-world conditions. Michelin said findings could eventually contribute to future innovation projects.
Planned applications
One planned application involves Michelin Touch Intelligence, a tire digital twin introduced by the company in May 2026. The technology combines vehicle sensor data with Michelin models to estimate tire pressure, wear, load and grip in real time without requiring additional sensors, and is designed to work across vehicle brands and models.
The laboratory's research into flexible composites could also support Wisamo, Michelin's inflatable and retractable automated wingsail for ships, which uses wind to supplement vessel propulsion and cut fuel consumption. The first sail is currently in the delivery phase, according to the company.
Roles and researcher training
Philippe Jacquin, Michelin's general manager and director of research and development, said the partnership would help translate scientific research into practical innovations involving tires, manufacturing and tire-vehicle interactions.
Michelin will contribute its expertise in tire simulation, materials, industrial processes and product-use data, while the academic partners will provide theoretical and methodological expertise to develop and validate new approaches. The collaboration will also support the training of young researchers working across fundamental research, experimentation and industrial applications.
Guillaume Mercère, director of I-TireLab, and co-directors John Martinez-Molina and Thibault Dairay said the initiative would bring researchers, engineers and young scientists together to improve mobility safety, manufacturing processes and flexible-material applications.
The partnership builds on existing collaboration between Michelin and the academic research teams and establishes a longer-term framework for converting data into knowledge and practical solutions.