Karl Pfaffenbach Email & Phone Number

Oxford, Gb

Employing operational excellence and innovative material science leadership to an ambitious commercial business scale-up serving lithium (DLE - direct lithium extraction), green hydrogen, desalination, food & beverage plus water & wastewater market segments.

Kidlington, Oxford, England, Gb

Led the transformation of the site's legacy internal manufacturing and warehousing management systems to facilitate the transition from a divisional-group structure to a stand-alone PLC. Balanced optimization between internal and external customer service, cash flow and cost. Serviced diverse markets segments including: automotive, medical, industrial equipment, agriculture, renewable energy and electric vehicle recharging.

Walpole, Ma, Us

Developed strategic annual operating plan and execution of a day-day operating system for two sites engaged in manufacture and warehousing of specialty advanced, nonwoven, glass and cellulose fiber materials for battery and liquid & gas particulate filtration applications. Supported legacy and new product introduction (NPI) for the absorptive glass mat (AGM) automotive battery, heavy duty equipment and power generation industries. Partnered with Corporate Quality Leadership to initiate IATF 16949 certification.

Golden, Colorado, Us

Collaborated with site leaders on KPI improvement opportunities to support the Global Operations strategy. Aligned people and process resources between regional sites and other global partners to streamline operations. Directly responsible for over 500 employees across 5 manufacturing locations in 3 countries.

Golden, Colorado, Us

Developed the multi-site internal supply chain for thermal spray coated products serving the semiconductor capital equipment market segment. Focused on understanding critical requirements to improve quality and delivery to OEM customers.

Golden, Colorado, Us

Managed sales and manufacturing operations for a site serving the semiconductor market segment. Led customer design and validation reviews for capital investments on expansion of cleanroom infrastructure, new equipment capacity installation and process capability improvement.

Us

A CoorsTek Company focused on materials research and development (R&D) using advanced ceramics. Partnered with scientists and the commercial team to facilitate laboratory installations, design for manufacturability, technology transfer and end-customer support. Held direct oversight for development of ceramic processing methodology to demonstrate commercial feasibility of NaSICON, a superionic conducting membranes (SIC) material family used in solid state battery and oil desulfurization technologies.

Golden, Colorado, Us

Innovated legacy manufacturing operations for on-site production control of spray-dried ceramic powders and roll-compacted alumina & zirconia substrate products to service automotive, aerospace, medical and defense electronics Tier 1 and 2 global customers. Established robust, up-stream, process controls using statistical process control (SPC) and data digitization for back-end quality assurance.

Golden, Colorado, Us

Earned the opportunity for an expatriate assignment over two sites in Scotland. Fulfilled localized technical ceramic manufacturing needs, QMS improvements plus distribution of CoorsTek-USA sourced components. Key customers were Tier 1 and 2 suppliers for German automotive OEMs.

Golden, Colorado, Us

Collaborated with site leadership to restructure the quality department function and create a “world-class” TS16949 (now IATF16949) business management system. Achieved certification as the ISO 9001 and TS16949 Lead Auditor.

Golden, Colorado, Us

Led a cross-functional Lean Six Sigma team to reduce scrap rate by 90%, increased throughput by 50% using Kaizen and DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) methods on alumina ceramic components used in a military defense application. Member of the inaugural class of Lean Six Sigma Black Belts in CoorsTek who helped launch and sustain long-term feasibility of the global initiative under the guidance of the quality champion.

Commercialized a plasma synthesis manufacturing process for advanced ceramic and metal nanopowders in a start-up environment. Employed fundamentals of plasma chemistry, thermodynamics, chemical reactor design, process safety management (PSM) and lean manufacturing. Increased output from grams per day to kilograms per hour while meeting customer quality requirements on a portfolio of over 100 different material compositions. Co-authored 11 patents in advanced materials and applications.

Conducted laboratory processing and characterization of thallium-based (TBCCO) powder-in-tube and yttrium-based (YBCO) puck high temperature superconductors (HTS) under the mentorship of senior scientists. The HTS business was spun-out into SuperPower, Inc. and now a wholly owned subsidiary of Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. The Latham site is now operating as Philips Medical Systems.

Manchester, Nh, Us

Chosen to represent a robot development team at the inaugural FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition, Team 20, for Shenendehowa High School & Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.