• Responsible for improving efficiency in our main reactor, K1, by keeping track of downtimes, mitigating bottle necks, and working on updating the cooling jackets.• Responsible for determining process control systems to put into place for new reactor, K9, that is going to be operational shortly.• Updating/Merging old P&IDs and PFDs.• Deciding priority and optimization with capital projects to stay within budget but still maintain equipment based off of safety and ROI.

Process Engineering/ R&D

• Responsible for consulting and planning with my team to explore aerogels used in fuel cell technology for the project: “High-Capacity Storage for Lunar Powered Systems”- Advancing from TRL 2 to TRL 3 by conducting laboratory and analytical studies to demonstrate the feasibility of this technologyo Performed research on aerogels to incorporate solid state hydrogen into the pores of the aerogel for proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cellso Optimized the release rate, release… Show more • Responsible for consulting and planning with my team to explore aerogels used in fuel cell technology for the project: “High-Capacity Storage for Lunar Powered Systems”- Advancing from TRL 2 to TRL 3 by conducting laboratory and analytical studies to demonstrate the feasibility of this technologyo Performed research on aerogels to incorporate solid state hydrogen into the pores of the aerogel for proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cellso Optimized the release rate, release temperature, weight of aerogel, pore size, surface area, and suppression of by-products for these hydrogen- filled aerogelso Selected best candidate formulations based on prior published data; created aerogel samples in laboratoryo Analyzed final aerogel product according to an experimental matrix using the following techniques: SEM, TGA-FTIR, RGA, BETo Analyzed the following properties of aerogels: Pore size, Surface area, Pore structure, Identification of products and by-products• Certified SEM technician; Operator of TGA-FTIR and RGA equipment; Analyzed all data and results• Achieved required goal of nanoconfinement (confining the hydrogen to the pores of the aerogel) which allowed us to achieve a lower release temperature (dropped from 120⁰C to 90⁰C)• Author of technical paper describing this research, “High-Capacity Storage for Lunar Powered Systems”, currently under review for publication by team members Show less

• Responsible for managing and optimizing all equipment and each reaction step in the hydridization of two rare earth metals, niobium and neodymiumo Calculated reaction rate at various times and temperatures with a goal to increase the rate of reaction for efficient productiono Modified reaction conditions resulting in a decrease of reaction time from 16 hr. to 4 hr.• Designed, optimized, and built a panel for running hydridization reactionso Simplified the components used in… Show more • Responsible for managing and optimizing all equipment and each reaction step in the hydridization of two rare earth metals, niobium and neodymiumo Calculated reaction rate at various times and temperatures with a goal to increase the rate of reaction for efficient productiono Modified reaction conditions resulting in a decrease of reaction time from 16 hr. to 4 hr.• Designed, optimized, and built a panel for running hydridization reactionso Simplified the components used in the process to obtain better leak-up rateso Responsible for ordering all panel components and assembling within budget• Responsible for analytical equipment use and analysis for a variety of materialso Oxygen content (LECO), SEM, X-ray diffraction (XRD)• Created an experimental matrix for ball milling (Nb)o Varied time, pressure, size of particle, and size of milling mediao Able to reach goal of specified particle size for customer (-200/+325 Sieve)• Responsible for set-up of arc melting processo Used arc melter to mix rare earth elements (Nd, B, Ga, Co, Fe) to create strong magnets Show less