Typical CECON Projects
Chemical Engineering
| Project ID | Situation | Service |
|---|---|---|
| 2761 | Solve quality problems in plastic recycling plant. | Defined source of product quality problems, suggested process improvements and trained employees, thereby saving the business. |
| 2927 | Glycol chemical process and manufacturing economics analysis. | Engineering analysis provide conventional plant process, materials and yields which allowed manufacturing and capital costs estimates. Client used information to judge competitiveness of of their biotechnology route to similar glycol products. |
| 2946 | Needed basic engineering data to manufacture plastic resin. | Engineering team of 6 provided basic chemical engineering data to manufacture resin. Final packaged included unit operations, FFDs, Aspen simulation, heat and mass balance, process safety design hazard review and equipment list. Package transferred to firm for final design and P&ID. |
| 3239 | Develop low investment, low cost, low environmental impact methods to produce charcoal. | Team of 3 (chemical engineer, mechanical engineer and furnace engineer) developed cost estimates for several furnace designs and presented capital and operating cost alternatives to client. |
Energy
| Project ID | Situation | Service |
|---|---|---|
| 3351 | Develop coal synthesis gas (syngas) reactor concept and initial process design. | Engineering team of 4, including petroleum, mechanical and metallurgy specialists, delivered full-scale reactor design and catalyst recovery packages for coal syngas feed stream. |
| 3720, 3806, 3907, 4007 | Community and industrial recycle of waste products process and facilities engineering for 4 different projects. | Gasification, pyrolysis, chemical and co-generation engineers evaluated and developed methods for recovery of useful materials and heat from used oil, tires, wood, bagasse and glass. |
Expert Witness
| Project ID | Situation | Service |
|---|---|---|
| Civil suit on failure of hip replacement plastic ball joint. | Renowned expert in medical plastics determined that failure was caused by product defects. | |
| 1085 | Criminal case involving roofing contractor scam. | Analyzed alleged shingle sealant, proving it to be fraudulent. Defendant changed plea to guilty. |
| 1413 | Allergic reaction to eating a cookie. | Determined peanut was part of flavor ingredient, thereby causing allergic reaction. |
| 239 | Overfilled home oil storage tank by disputed oil supplier. | Identified culprit supplier by collecting and chemically evaluating fuel samples. |
| 322 | Cracked motorcycle helmet. | Determined root cause of failure was due to defects related to plastic processing, not raw materials. |
| 3490 | Expert on the use of lasers to cut materials, including small tubular shapes. | Provided expert reports and expert testimony in a patent infringement lawsuit. |
Fire, Saftey, and Insurance
| Project ID | Situation | Service |
|---|---|---|
| 1070 | Taiwan customer rejected shipload of chemical due to alleged high moisture | Analytical chemist sent to Taiwan and found improper sampling technique was used and that chemical supplied was fully acceptable. |
| 1493 | Arson and highly flammability materials | Determined that foam cushions were not the source of high combustion rates experienced in a house fire. |
| 2357 | Huge snow storm collapsed roof and structural analysis of cause was needed | Expert on job quickly, assessed structure and damage, did analysis and wrote report that satisfied insurance company and building owner. |
| 2526 | Explosion manufacturing nitroglycerin transdermal patch. | Expert testified in defense case involving the determination of the cause of an explosion of nitroglycerin in a processing facility. |
Intellectual Property
| Project ID | Situation | Service |
|---|---|---|
| Trade secret litigation; violated licensing agreement | Working for plaintiff, the licensor, determined that licensee violated terms of the manufacturing license | |
| Medical device manufacture patent validity challenged by large company | Prior art search showed several patents claims of large company were unenforceable; let to lower licensing fees. | |
| Patent validity challenge | Rheology consultant showed that competitive patent was invalid due to prior art. | |
| Competitor infringing clients process patents | Gathered and analyzed samples client and completive samples to successfully protect existing patents | |
| Value of German patents in the US | Team evaluated German patent portfolio and defined position and uniqueness of each versus US prior art. | |
| Nematicide patent claims rejection | Filed affidavit with US Patent Office showing novelty over prior art; all patent claims were eventually granted. | |
| 1693 | Patent for heart stent device | Investigated prior art for patent fillings suggested improvements in stent coating; consultant was named co-inventor. |
| 2949 | Trade secret litigation related to metal tubing. | Consultant compared patents and manufacturing processes for flexible metal tubing. |
| 2988 | Competitor infringing client's chemical process patents | Gathered and analyzed chemical samples to successfully protect existent patents. |
| 833 | Ni/Ti shape memory alloy patent infringement | Metallurgist studied client's disputed claims and provided basis for legal defense strategy |
Market Development
| Project ID | Situation | Service |
|---|---|---|
| 3394 | Microbrewery technical and startup assistance. | Industry expert provided assistance with business plan, equipment, location selection and recipes for making beer. |
Material Processing
| Project ID | Situation | Service |
|---|---|---|
| 3073 | Need for ongoing technical assistance in development of small plastic products. | Several plastic experts over a 3 year period provided and conducted planning and prototyping for plastic material selection and production assistance for molded plastic parts. |
Pharmaceutical & Medical Device
| Project ID | Situation | Service |
|---|---|---|
| Quick and impartial validation of new pharmaceutical laboratory | Quickly put team of experts in pharmaceutical laboratory to meet FDA requirements and deadlines for GMP audit. | |
| 3699 | Needed invention of MRI marker for placement of radioactive anticancer agent. | Devised novel technology for MRI markers for attachment to radioactive seeds for cancer therapy. |
| Resolving labeling issues on OTC lineament product. | Arranged meeting with FDA and prepared label text, preserving small company's business. |
Regulatory Compliance
| Project ID | Situation | Service |
|---|---|---|
| Pharma QC need quick validation for FDA inspection | Validation expert completed required documentations and training in 30 days | |
| Oversees pharmaceutical firm introduction of generic drug to US market | Team of 3 reviewed and modified ANDA draft and arranged interview with USP and contract manufacture firm. | |
| FDA labeling requirements for proprietary personal care product | Re-wrote label and facilitated FDA contact resulting in approval. Due to extreme client deadlines, consultant was on job 8 hours after initial request. |