Expertise

• Chemical reactor design and optimization.
• Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD).
• Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD).
• Plasma deposition and processing.
• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling.
• Process optimization via statistical Design of Experiments (DOE).
• Plant and laboratory health, safety, and environmental issues.
• Intellectual Property (IP) issues (registered USPTO Patent Agent).
• Superconductivity and electrochemical processing.
• General specialty chemical plant operations, optimization and troubleshooting.
• Membrane separations and processing.
• Optical fiber production.

Experience

Private Consultant 2003 - Present

• Engineering consultant specializing in chemical reactor simulation and design, process optimization and process scale-up.
• Process commercialization and intellectual property matters.

Alcatel Cable France / R and D Center, Conflans, France, Plasma Research and Development Engineer 2001 - 2002

• Plasma deposition process improvement program (PVD deposition process for optical fiber preform production, similar to spray coating operations.)
• Developed coupled CFD, electromagnetic, and particle injection process models using Fluent, CFD-ACE and other proprietary codes.
• Coordinated process validation data gathering and spectroscopic measurements.
• Initiated and managed other process design and improvement projects.

Alcatel Optical Fiber Division/Preform Manufacturing and Engineering, Claremont, N.C., CVD Process Engineer 1999 - 2001

• Design, development, optimization, implementation, and modeling of CVD and plasma PVD reactor processes for fiber optic preform production.
• Optimized CVD process fluid dynamics and heat transfer conditions to increase throughput.
• Performed design calculations and optimizations to assist in increasing capacity by 40% using Statistical Process Control (SPC) and Design of Experiments (DOE) techniques.
• Investigated process safety and environmental issues (NOX) including effluent measurements, participated in senior strategy meetings, and made recommendations.
• Lead and coordinated process technical troubleshooting teams. Implemented and troubleshot processes at other international production plants.

Oklahoma State University/Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc., Stillwater, Oklahoma, Graduate Student - Research and Teaching Assistant 1997 - 1998

• Designed a vapor deposition reactor for optical materials synthesis for Eagle-Picher as a thesis project.
• Modeled reactor fluid dynamics and kinetics by FLUENT CFD.

Sachem, Inc., Austin, Texas, Research Chemist 1993 - 1996

• Researched, developed and optimized processes for the synthesis of high purity chemicals.
• Invented multiple processes using electrolytic, electrodialytic, and electro membrane reactors.
• Employed membrane technologies including ion exchange, RO, and bipolar membranes.
• Improved efficiency and productivity, reduced costs and waste streams by process simplification.
• Conducted bench and pilot studies to optimize processes using Design of Experiments (DOE).
• Authored and co-authored four U.S. and four foreign patents.
• Lead and coordinated the Company Wellness Program.

Honors & Publications

Education

M.S., Chemical Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma.

B.S., Chemistry, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas

Certified E.I.T. and candidate for PE licensing.

Legal Training

• Tulane Law School, New Orleans, Louisiana, 08/04 %u2013 09/05 (interrupted by hurricane Katrina)- Completed 1 year
• Dedman School of Law, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, 09/05 - 12/05 -Patent Law
• Registered USPTO Patent Agent (Registration No. 59278)