Polymer, Adhesives, and Coatings Expert in Manufacturing and Research and Development

Technical Consultant #1747

Product/process development, research and development and production in chemical/medical/electronics.
Polymer coatings and chemistry, rubber curing, latexes, testing methods.
Research and development; product/formulation development, application and characterization of polymer coatings, and finding new uses for industrial gases.
Process development; scale-up and optimization of emulsion polymer adhesives, coating and curing of rubber/metal composite sheet, and serving as a liaison among bench chemists, technical service, and plant personnel.
Writing and maintaining polymerization plant operating procedures describing computer control, troubleshooting and start-up support, and SPC/SQC tracking of product.

Independent Consultant, Present

Bar-Ray Products, Inc., Littlestown, PA, 2007 - 2009

Product Development: As the staff Chemical Engineer at a small manufacturing plant:
Directed formulation and scale-up studies for a new natural rubber latex-heavy metal composite sheet used in x-ray blocking wraps; ordered and tracked key materials used.
Trained plant operator as a technician to conduct bench and pilot scale experiments.
Developed and tracked mechanical property specs, including aged, per ASTM, for both the new latex rubber and existing polyvinyl chloride plastisol-based products.
Identified and implemented improvements in the operation of an infrared curing oven, knife over roll coater onto paper, and slitting machine; coordinated production runs of new product within six months of hire, in safe and environmentally compliant manner.

Thomson, Inc., Lancaster, PA, 1998 - 2003

Materials and Process Engineering Group - As a Member of the Technical Staff III, then a Team Leader:
Planned studies that found and corrected a quality defect present on television screens; provided technical input for the design of optical test fixtures used in studies.
Worked with photolithography, wet etch and photoresists in clean room.
Formulated coatings based on polystyrene, polyvinyl methyl ether, polyvinyl alcohol and polymethyl methacrylate; used spin coating and electrostatic spray to apply on television screens, employed design of experiments, literature and patent searches.
Characterized polymer and vacuum deposited aluminum coatings using optical and mechanical methods, such as gloss measurement and screen weight.
Developed worksheets and macros to analyze experimental process data.
Awarded two U.S. patents for polymer coating formulations for television screens.

Air Products & Chemicals, Inc., Allentown, PA, 1985 - 1990

Polymer Chemicals Group: As a CDP, Process Development, then a Senior Development Engineer:
Identified and implemented improvements to meet or exceed quality and production rate targets in the manufacture of latex adhesives via emulsion copolymerization of vinyl acetate and ethylene, and polyvinyl alcohol via the solution polymerization of vinyl acetate.
Planned and directed product scale-ups from bench to pilot plant to manufacturing.
Team member in 2 year project to convert a plant to a highly automated process control scheme; involved training operators, writing and updating operating manuals, developing seven product recipe files, providing coverage, and understanding basic equipment function and issues; resulted in plant breaking records for quality and output.
Troubleshot production problems, investigated customer complaints, tracked product using SPC/SQC and submitted process samples for applications property testing.
Industrial Gases Group: As a Career Development Program (CDP) Engineer:
Optimized cryogenic gas separation cycles and simulated a competitor's patent.
Tested new programs for plate-fin heat exchanger design; checked technical drawings.
Directed and reported on experiments using gases and spent sulfuric acid.

Educator

Northeastern Middle School, Certified Substitute Teacher, Manchester, PA, 2009 - Present

Pennsylvania School Districts, York County, Guest Teacher

Credentials

Dissertation title: "Optical Probes (Fluorescent) of Polymers at Interfaces," Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Engineer-In-Training (EIT), PE exam taken.
Pennsylvania Teaching Certification - Secondary education courses in General Science

Academic and Professional Affiliations

Publications and Patents

Author and Co-Author of college textbooks, peered reviewed journals, symposiums, and meetings.
2 U.S. patents.