Michelin has inaugurated a joint research laboratory with four academic partners in Clermont-Ferrand, France, to push forward tire technology, sharpen manufacturing processes and open up new uses for flexible composites.
The I-TireLab partnership, announced Nov. 4, brings together the University of Poitiers, Grenoble Alpes University, Grenoble INP – UGA and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) alongside the tire maker. The project carries a total investment of roughly €4.5 million spread over four years, and is designed to tighten the link between academic research and industrial application by combining data analysis, mathematical modeling and experimentation.
Four research tracks
The laboratory organizes its work around four areas: monitoring tire condition, improving vehicle control systems, optimizing rubber manufacturing, and exploring new applications for flexible materials.
- Tire condition monitoring. One priority is producing real-time estimates of tire wear and grip from the sensors already fitted to a vehicle, so that condition can be assessed without adding specialized equipment.
- Vehicle control integration. Researchers plan to study how tire condition and grip data can feed into vehicle control systems, with the goal of refining braking performance and improving stability and efficiency.
- Rubber manufacturing. Teams are building simulation and control tools to help manufacturers schedule equipment operations and tune production settings while holding rubber quality steady and cutting raw-material waste and energy use.
- Flexible materials and flow. The fourth track examines how flexible materials can influence air and water flows around objects; researchers are developing control methods that alter the shape of components to modify the surrounding flow.
Testing and planned applications
I-TireLab will give researchers access to industrial facilities, demonstrators and test environments so methods can be evaluated under near-real-world conditions. Results could later feed into Michelin innovation projects.
One planned application is Michelin Touch Intelligence, a tire digital twin the company introduced in May 2026. The technology pairs vehicle sensor data with Michelin models to estimate pressure, wear, load and grip in real time without extra sensors, and is intended to work across vehicle brands and models. Work on flexible composites could also support Wisamo, Michelin's inflatable, retractable automated wingsail for ships, which uses wind to supplement propulsion and cut fuel consumption; the first sail is in its delivery phase, according to the company.
Philippe Jacquin, Michelin's general manager and director of research and development, said the partnership would help turn scientific research into practical innovations spanning tires, manufacturing and tire-vehicle interaction. Michelin is contributing know-how in tire simulation, materials, industrial processes and product-use data, while the academic partners supply theoretical and methodological expertise to develop and validate new approaches.
The collaboration also covers training for young researchers working across fundamental research, experimentation and industrial application. I-TireLab director Guillaume Mercère 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 laboratory builds on existing collaboration between Michelin and the academic teams, setting up a longer-term framework for converting data into knowledge and practical solutions.