Vinyl Acetate Formulation Consultant for Adhesives, Coatings and Redispersible Powders

Technical Consultant #1905

Research and development in polymers and formulations for adhesives and coatings.
Vinyl acetate emulsions and polyvinyl alcohol used in dry wall joint compounds, cement additives and mastics.
Vinyl acetate ethylene emulsion polymers for construction and adhesive applications: Cementitious applications (including tile mortars, patch, and EIFS, Exterior Insulation and Finishing Systems), joint compounds for finishing gypsum board, caulks and sealants, and adhesives for packaging, laminating and pressure sensitive applications.
Redispersible powders made from vinyl acetate copolymers.
Urethanes, epoxies, elastomers, acrylics, SBR, PVC, silanes, and phenolic resins for both thermoplastic and thermoset applications.
High performance adhesives and coatings for industrial and automotive applications.
Adhesives manufacturing; specialized in packaging and wood adhesives.

Expert Witness Experience

Key expert witness for the defense of a $30 million civil lawsuit in the construction industry that settled favorably for the defendants.

Independent Consultant, Present

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Allentown, PA, 1987 - 2005

Lead Applications Chemist, Construction Products, 1999 - 2005

Responsible for all aspects of applications development and technical service for a $20 million building products business.
Products include emulsions and poly (vinyl alcohol) used in construction applications such as: dry wall joint compounds, cement additives, and mastics.
Specific responsibilities include day to day operations, strategic planning, project management, administration, and laboratory safety.
Additional responsibilities include global technical liaison with a wholly owned Korean company.
Provide technical leadership for the applications/technical service team for the Asian region.

Section Manager, Construction Products, 1993 - 1999

Prior to being divested to a joint venture partner, managed a staff of senior scientists and technicians that focused on the construction industry.
Management responsibilities included a strong external customer focus, technical liaison with a German business partner, and personal project accountability.

Senior Scientist Positions, 1987 - 1993

Focus on pressure sensitive adhesives and emulsion adhesives for construction and flooring.
Provided technical leadership to double the volume of the business in five years before it was divested to a joint venture partner.
Grew a redispersible powders business at 15% annual growth rate for five years.
Grew an emulsions business for joint compounds at consistent three times GDP growth rate for four consecutive years.
Developed four new products that defined a new performance standard for redispersible powders used in tile mortars, EIFS, and patch applications.
Developed a state of the art emulsion for gypsum board joint compound formulations that provided 20% efficiency improvement over best available technology.
Defined the structure-property relationships of polymers used to modify cementitious products.
Personal technical contributions led to establishment of a $6 million base business in construction and flooring adhesives.

Tanner Chemical Company, Greenville, SC, Technical Director, 1985 - 1987

Responsibilities focused on technical service and development of both water and solvent based adhesives, process development, plant scale-up, market development, coordination of regulatory affairs, technical computer operations, acquisition assessments, and contract negotiations.
Examples of specific accomplishments include development of a diverse group of products and systems:
- Natural rubber latex based adhesive for assembling automobile upholstery lacing.
- Aqueous urethane adhesive for laminating vinyl to automotive upholstery fabric.
- Urethane and nitrile based solvent cements for rigid PVC.
- Technology and marketing for toll producing a product used in tire manufacturing.
- Establishment of a database for all the products manufactured by Tanner.
- Development of a statistical quality assurance program.

Lord Corporation, Erie, PA, 1969 - 1985

Manager and Senior Product Development Specialist, Elastomer Adhesives, 1981 - 1985

Developed new formulated products, raw materials, and technology used to bond elastomers to other substrates.
Planning and administration, project management, and market introduction of new products and direction of a product development staff and administration of a materials testing lab.
Developed adhesives for bonding castable and RIM urethane elastomers to metal.
Incorporated a line of acquired silane adhesives into product line.
Defined and developed silane technology for priming glass for adhesion of RIM urethane.
Established the technical direction for development of fiber primers for bonding rubber.

Research Associate, Research Division, 1980 - 1981

Performed exploratory research primarily in the area of elastomer adhesion.
Developed technology for a new small molecule adhesion promoter for rubber.
Defined mechanisms of diffusion of adhesive materials at rubber and substrate interfaces.

Senior Chemist and Research Associate, 1975 - 1980

Research Chemist, 1972 - 1975

Adhesives product development for both structural adhesives and elastomer adhesives.
Developed an epoxy adhesive for a defense application.
Developed adhesion promoters for vinyl plastisols for bonding to both metal and polyester.
Provided technical input for a proposal to the Department of Defense for adhesives for bonding damping tiles to submarines.

Chemist, Chemical and Materials Synthesis, 1969 - 1972

Developed urethane prepolymer for use in cast elastomers.
Developed first ultraviolet cure of acrylic functional urethanes. This technology was subsequently developed into a line of floor covering coatings.
Responsibilities included materials synthesis, structural and elastomer adhesive development, process development, and exploratory research.

Credentials

Completed extensive seminars and short courses in polymer chemistry and the use of polymers in commercial applications.
High level, computer literacy, including use of spread sheets, databases and programming.

Academic and Professional Affiliations

Publications and Patents