Chemical Process Engineering Expert - Pilot and Production Projects

Expertise

• Contributing to over 40 years in chemical engineering working with industry leaders: Dupont, Air Liquide, Day Zimmermann and Hercules.
• Advanced process technology for research and development organizations in the chemical industry of over 30 years.
• Led major scale-up from bench through production.
• Over 20 major start-ups to date totaling in excess of over $75 million in capital equipment. (Bench>pilot> commercial expert).
• Particle and powder technology: Subject Matter Expert (SME) concentrating on drying, spray drying, grinding, particle morphology and powder flow characterization.
• Bio-polymers processing over of 20 years that includes: Cellulose ethers, guars, pectin (polysaccharides) and natural waxes.
• Provide worldwide manufacturing support for particle technology and solids handling unit operations. Successful projects on 4 of the 7 Continents.
• Led and facilitated global process optimization and cost reduction programs.
• Pectin manufacturing expert, concentrating on raw material selection and preparation.
• Led several de-bottlenecking efforts all resulting in major multi-million dollar savings.
• Directed external research programs in USDA, Universities, and private contract research companies.
• Led selection process and implemented contracts at several partner contract manufactures (Toll) for initial start-up of new products.
• Proven expertise in starting and building new teams of technical competencies within existing organizations.
• Highly successful in mentoring engineers at the start of their career.
• Liquid solids separation for Bio-Polymers with concentration on decanter centrifuge operations.
• Technical Data package development for seamless flow of new products through the development cycle to manufacturing.
• Concept development, design and construction management for research facilities based on single use or entire departmental requirements.
• Expert process trouble shooter and root cause analysis.
• Provide due diligence for acquisition and sale of assets.
• International Experience: Project execution in China, Brazil, India, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain and Switzerland.

Experience

Undisclosed Company, Research Fellow and Group Leader, 1997 - 2015

• Led teams of engineers and researchers that develop and introduce new products into the market.
• Manage the global particle technology effort for specialty ingredients business.
• Managing a fundamental powder characterization laboratory.
• Subject matter Expert (SME) to provided process design guidance for drying, particle size reduction, and dry powder mixing technology.
• Responsible for arranging and approving all major equipment scale up and trials at vendors to prove commercial feasibility.

Senior process Engineer- Ashland Specialty Ingredients Division, 2003 - 2011

Projects

• Installation of a 20,000 ton per year, Vinyl Acetate Ethylene (VAE) spray drying facility in China.
• Installation 60X144 drum dryer in Belgium.
• Design drying facilities in China.
• Installation of a 20,000 ton per year high speed rotary paddle dryer in the Netherlands.
• New 10,000 ton per year disk grinding facility in the Netherlands.
• Redesign of the 6,000 ton per year dry grinding facilities in Hopewell Virginia.
• Design and installation of Pilot Gap mill in Hopewell, VA.
• Installation of a new cationic guar drying and grinding facility in China.
• Installation of a 10,000 ton per year paddle dryer in China.

Research Engineer, Aqualon Division - Design, 2000 - 2003

• Program Manager for worldwide capacity expansion of HydroxyEthyl Cellulose (HEC).
• Managed a cross-functional technology required to support HEC market demands.

Group Leader: Manufacturing Engineering Development Program

• Manage a development program to prepare recent BS Chemical Engineering graduates for manufacturing assignments.
• Responsibilities included, coordinating technical assignments with the individual businesses, prepare training and development plans for each engineer, complete performance evaluations, and coordinate relocation to first manufacturing facility, and coordinating the recruiting efforts at seven major universities by five recruiters.

Research Engineer- Food and Functional, 1997 - 2000

• Managed strategic supply chain initiative for global raw material sourcing and quality.
• Managed technical harmonization of 20 citrus processors globally including on-site visits for compatibility with Hercules goals.
• Create a Technology Data Package (TDP) for an optimum pectin peel plant in Brazil.
• Lead Engineer- Reaction fundamentals program: Established the fundamental kinetics of pectin, a high molecular complex polysaccharide.

H. L. Yoh Inc., (DZII, Division), Wilmington, DE, Senior Process Engineer, 1984 - 1997

Senior Process Engineer, transferred to DuPont, Technology Transfer Division, 1995 - 1997

• Project Manager and Lead Process Engineer for a $7 million expansion of a hollow fiber membrane facility.
• Lead Project Engineer for an $8 million project to relocate the Kevlar market and development laboratories from Wilmington Delaware to Richmond, Virginia.

Senior Project Engineer: DuPont Advanced Fibers Division, 1984 - 1995

• Lead engineer on project that created the test facilities housing Thermoman, a state-of-the-art instrumented life size mannequin used to evaluate garments and garment systems in real flash fire conditions.
• This design won the Consulting Engineers Council of Delaware 1993 Grand Conceptor Award as the best project for the year.
• Construction engineer responsible for managing the $15 million per year capital budget.
• Process engineer for a new $17 million composites development laboratory.

General Electric Co., Plastics Business Operation, Selkirk, NY, 1981 - 1984

Senior Production Engineer

• Implemented cost reduction program that reduced manufacturing costs by $3 million annually.
• Optimized controls on a distillation system that resulted in $450 million savings.

Sun Oil Company, Marcus Hook, PA, Project Engineer, 1979 - 1981

• Prepared cost estimates, developed process flow diagrams, and prepared detailed P&ID diagrams, and supervised the complete construction of these semi-works and pilot plant facilities.

Mobil Research and Development Corp., Paulsboro, NJ, Process Research Engineer, 1977 - 1979

• Designed experiments and supervised pilot plant operations for process variable studies with extensive computer use to correlate and interpret data. Assist refineries in solving process problems.

Neville Chemical Co. , Pittsburgh, PA, Process Development Engineer, 1975 - 1977

• Supervised pilot plant operation and subsequently worked on the start-up team for a new $200 million per year, resin production plant.

Honors & Publications

Academic and Professional Affiliations

• American Institute of Chemical Engineers-AIChE
• American Chemical Society-ACS
• Tau Beta Pi Engineering Society Member

Awards

• Engineering Council of Delaware - Grand Conceptor Award as the best project for the year.
• Ashland Aqualon Functional Ingredients Presidents Award 2009
• DuPont Innovator Award 1991

Patents

1 U.S. patent:

Education

• B.S. Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA