Amir Y. Mirarefi, Ph.D. Email & Phone Number

Chicago, Il, Us

Senior consultant specializing in strategic R&D, product innovation, commercialization, and compliance, delivering impactful solutions across the food and beverage sector.• Innovation & Commercialization Leadership: Directed multiple high-profile commercialization initiatives, including the development of a fried meat coating technology that reduced fat uptake by 30%, elevating product quality and achieving successful market entry for a European manufacturer.• Clean-Label & Regulatory Compliance: Formulated a clean-label gyro meat alternative for a major restaurant chain, aligning with regulatory standards and supporting brand initiatives for natural and additive-free ingredients.• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Led AI integration in coffee sorting for a supply chain optimization project, resulting in a 10% efficiency increase and enhanced customer satisfaction through improved quality control.• Regulatory Compliance & Safety: Developed a novel encapsulated drug delivery system for beverages, ensuring compliance with regional food safety standards and enhancing market readiness.• Supplier & Vendor Management: Enhanced collaboration with key clients, including Coca-Cola and Pepsi, boosting sales by 20% through strategic vendor partnerships and alignment with product quality goals.• Business Growth Initiatives: Established a high-performing bids department for a water filtration client, targeting $1B in new contracts with a 75%-win rate, driving substantial revenue growth.• Continuous Improvement: Implemented root cause analysis tools within R&D and quality teams, reducing warranty claims and boosting product reliability.

Tampa, Fl, Us

Led global R&D and engineering operations, aligning product development with market demands and delivering innovative solutions in water filtration technology.• Global R&D Leadership: Managed a cross-functional team of 46 across R&D, Engineering Design, and Certification, driving alignment with business objectives and fostering a culture of innovation.• Product Commercialization Success: Oversaw the development and market launch of new products, including a refrigeration filter that generated 20% of new revenue, showcasing expertise in managing end-to-end commercialization.• Cross-functional Collaboration: Partnered with supply chain, marketing, and operations to streamline product launches, enhancing profitability and ensuring alignment with customer expectations.• Process Optimization & Technical Leadership: Led process improvements in carbon manufacturing, expanding product applications and optimizing performance for increased market competitiveness.• Governance & Project Management: Implemented Stage-Gate processes, accelerating product development cycles, ensuring regulatory compliance, and establishing KPIs to track project performance.

Schenectady, New York, Us

Directed R&D initiatives to commercialize new thermoset adhesives, achieving significant growth in global markets.• Commercialization & ROI: Successfully commercialized thermoset adhesive products, achieving a 25% ROI and securing quality and consistency across markets.• Collaborative Innovation: Established partnerships to expedite commercialization, contributing $1MM in new revenue within six months and enhancing product reach.• Cost Optimization: Integrated food additives into resin chemistry, driving $1.2MM in annual savings and expanding product lines to include low VOC adhesives.

Chicago, Il, Us

Led product innovation and commercialization efforts, driving cost savings, supplier management, and the successful launch of key products in various food categories.• Supplier Management & Cost Savings: Negotiated strategic supplier agreements, reducing procurement costs and optimizing supplier relationships across multiple product lines, including Oreos, Mac & Cheese, and salad dressings, resulting in $9.5MM in annual savings.• Product Commercialization: Led the successful commercialization of a $12MM/year coffee product, collaborating with senior leadership to implement new standard operating procedures, ensuring product quality and consistency.• Health & Wellness Innovation: Developed encapsulation techniques for high-value food ingredients, aligning with health and wellness trends, and meeting rigorous business and regulatory demands.• Cross-functional Collaboration & Innovation: Spearheaded cross-functional teams to launch 5 new products in an underperforming category within 18 months, leading to a nomination for an Innovation award.• Research & Knowledge Sharing: Published research on food ingredient characterization in the peer-reviewed Food Hydrocolloids Journal, contributing to industry knowledge and promoting collaboration with external partners.

Us

• Developed experiments to study the phase behavior of drug formulations which provided support for patent application filings.• Presented biopharmaceutical research and results to various research groups which resulted in two in-house publications.• Characterized the hydrophobic and lipophilic nature of proteins and surfactancts for drug delivery platforms.

Ph.D., Biophysics & Computational Biology

B.S., Bioengineering