Polymers and Fibers Processing Equipment Design and Fabrication Expert

Technical Consultant #1837

Machine design and fabrication for the production of synthetic textile fibers, plastics and elastomers.
Extensive project management for design and installation of capital equipment totaling over $375 million.
Material scrap reduction.
Polymeric material recyclers design.
Recycling post-consumer carpet.
Large scale production of low cost carbon fibers and polymer extruders.
Project development and project engineering for complex machinery.

Independent Consultant, 2010 - Present

Universal Fibers, Mechanical Engineering Consultant, 2006 - 2010

Developed programs and led a team of engineers to reduce scrap rate from 6% to 3%.
Reduced plant compressed air consumption.
Provided guidance for future expansion in China. Developed processes and equipment for recycling post-consumer carpet.
Redesigned polymer extrusion equipment to eliminate polymer degradation.
Designed new filter packs and spinbeams. Total savings exceeding $3,500,000.

Tennessee Design Company, Senior Consulting Engineer, 2002 - 2006

Used synthetic fibers production expertise to help leading fiber and fabric producers specify new equipment and solve production problems with existing equipment.
Customers included Milliken, O'Mara/Filtex, Hooper and Kolon (Korea).

RTS-Wright Industries, Inc., Senior Process Engineer, 1995 - 2002

Provided project development and project engineering for a complex machine to form sunglass lenses. Saved customer $575,000 using modular design techniques and outsourcing of complex sub-assemblies.
Project engineering for a machine to produce industrial nylon fiber.
Developed machines to produce BCF carpet fibers, staple fibers and co-spun fibers. Reduced unit cost of these machines by $300,000 to $1,000,000 using commercially available components and offshore outsourcing.
Designed and built a machine for the large scale production of low cost carbon fibers. Saved the customer over $2,000,000 by resolving equipment size issues and specifying alternate sources of supply.
Trained RTS-Wright Industries' employees in fibers technology and fundamental machine design engineering.
Provided consulting services on textile fibers and process technology to other groups at RTS-Wright.
Customers included Dupont, Honeywell, Kimberley-Clark, Polaroid, Solutia, Conoco, Hills, Inc. and Reemay.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc.,

Project Engineer, 1974 - 1995

Designed and installed machines for the production of polyester, nylon and aramid fibers. Pioneered new design techniques such as GDT, CAD and modularization of sub-assemblies.
Designed and installed equipment for the production of continuous cast acrylic sheet. Utilized novel construction methods and special equipment to shorten equipment installation downtime and save $8,000,000 in production.
Designed and installed equipment for the production of synthetic rubber. Saved $3,000,000 using lump sum contracts for design and demolition tasks.

Process Development Engineer, 1962 - 1974

Developed new processes for nylon and polyester carpet yarn, weaving yarns and bulked textile yarns.
Provided increased production worth $74,000,000 per year and cost reductions worth $5,000,000 per year.
Pioneered use of designed experiments for solving process problems.

Awards

Publications and Patents

Authored and presented papers on the design of synthetic fibers extrusion equipment at the American Textile Machinery Exhibition and at Clemson University Melt Spinning seminar series.
U.S. Patent - Process for recycling post - consumer carpet fiber