Provided process design leadership for several food & beverage, pet food, and advanced manufacturing projects for fast-track integration of process design with building design to support Clayco’s integrated process-building design-build project delivery approach.

Provided project management and engineering leadership for several brownfield projects in the ice cream and confectionary segment. Managed all key project phases – preliminary engineering, estimating, business case, project approval, detail design, equipment procurement, installation, commissioning, validation, startup, and ramp-up in compliance with Mars Wrigley EWP (Engineering Work Process). Notable projects include the 2020 launch of KIND FROZEN™ ice cream bars.

Collaborated with cross-functional internal team members from business development, operations, R&D, supply chain, finance, and FSQA to develop turn-key production pricing for new co-man and co-pack business opportunities with large food processors like Kraft Heinz, Tyson, Kellogg, General Mills, and others. Provided project management leadership for several new product launches through the entire project life cycle from ideation, line trials, equipment procurement, installation, startup, and ramp-up. Notable product launches include Hillshire Farm® sandwiches, Jimmy Dean® biscuit roll-ups, KRAVE® jerky, Delimex® empanadas, and Kraft Lunchables®.

Managed a dedicated team of self-perform field specialists, designers, and engineers to deliver turn-key industrial ammonia refrigeration systems for food processing plants and cold storage facilities. Responsible for all aspects of design-build project delivery including scope, design, cost, schedule, quality, safety, customer relationship, field coordination, material procurement, and subcontracts. Notable project: Kraft Heinz Columbia (Missouri) hotdog plant expansion.

Led a team of in-house architectural, engineering discipline staff and outside engineering consultants to deliver project contract drawings and specifications for bidding, permitting, and construction of several greenfield food processing plants and cold storage facilities. Notable projects include Mondelez Monterrey (Mexico) new bakery, Simplot Caldwell (Idaho) new batter mix production facility, DOT Foods Mt Sterling (Illinois) cooler and dry warehouse expansion, Columbus Foods Hayward (California) salami production facility expansion.

Provided engineering project management leadership for several small (less than $5M construction cost) brownfield food, consumer products, pharmaceutical, and industrial projects. Served as Burns & McDonnell on-site engineering lead at Unilever’s Hammond (Indiana) bar soap plant while executing several small capital and maintenance projects totaling over $60M in construction cost. Managed project life cycles in compliance with Unilever’s EIM (Early Innovation Management) project management work process. Notable projects include: new neat soap making system, new zinc oxide slurry system, antiperspirant & deodorant stick core design, dried onion packaging upgrade.

Performed process equipment selection, sizing, specifications, pressure vessel design (COMPRESS™), fabrication drawings approval, piping stress analysis (AutoPIPE™, WinNOZL™), flue gas ductwork design (Fluent™) for several large (more than $50M construction cost) oil refining and chemical projects. Notable projects include: OneOK NGL Fractionation, Sinclair naptha hydrotreater, Huntsman maleic anhydride production, ConocoPhillips ultra-low sulfur diesel OSBL.

Fully financed graduate education by working full-time in the Department of Agricultural & Biological Engineering. Led MS thesis research project titled “Early Detection of Grain Spoilage and Prediction of Movement of Low Levels of Carbon Dioxide in a Storage Tank.” Successfully led field trials at ADM and Andersons grain elevators to investigate applicability of fixed and portable CO2 sensors. Simulated carbon dioxide movement in stored grain using Fluent™ CFD tool. Publication: Maier, D.E., K.E. Ileleji, C. Bhat and C.P. Woloshuk. 2006. Detection of a developing hot spot in stored grain with a CO2 sensor. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 22(2):275-289. Purdue ARP No. 17621.