Michael Taube Email & Phone Number

Houston, Tx, Us

Houston, Texas, Us

Provide process design, process trouble-shooting & commissioning, regulatory control applications & APC design, construction supervision and project management services, operations and maintenance management, and capital project development and management for international and domestic clients in refining, petrochemical, LNG, specialty chemical and bioprocess industries. Provide Expert Witness testimony and analysis of refining and petrochemical related cases for insurance and legal industry clients. Provide practical process control training & consulting. Major Accomplishments: Resolved numerous DCS controls’ configuration & tuning and equipment mechanical issues to recommission three (3) separate online reactor models and associated controls that had been out-of-service for three years. Redesigned multi-fuel heater firing and load balancing controls in a matter of days that had stumped a project team for over two years. Led multinational expatriate team in a challenging overseas Operations & Maintenance (O&M) project with ZERO on-the-job accidents & injuries. Completely reworked an EPC Contractor’s process design basis on an expansion for two Crude Units in less than 6 months. Identified faulty basis for loss-of-revenue insurance claim. Completely reworked, tested & shipped a chemical injection system application in less than 2 weeks. Assessed numerous biofuels development projects for domestic and international clients. Activities: Training: Process Design, Process Control and Automation Expert Witness Analysis/TestimonyProcess Analysis, Trouble-shooting & ModelingProcess Design: Hydraulic Calcs, Equipment Sizing & EvaluationHAZOP LeadershipProject Management & DevelopmentProject Management ConsultingProcess Control & APC DesignPlant Startup & CommissioningOperations Support & ManagementMulticultural/Multinational ProjectsExpatriate – International Projects

Houston, Houston, Us

Provide Expert Witness analysis and testimony of domestic & international refining, petrochemical and chemicals related cases for insurance and legal industries, including arbitration & litigation support.

Charlotte, North Carolina, Us

Progressive development from an individual project contributor to project/program leadership positions. Lead technical design and implementation of control systems projects. Provided unit startup and cutover support. Managed scope of DCS and SIS network and hardware, marshalling and electrical systems design and configuration. Interacted with clients and subcontractors on commercial and technical issues. Managed project technical performance, directed engineering resources for multiple project sites. Oversaw mechanical, HVAC and electrical design & installation of RIE buildings. Managed change order estimation and directed engineering resources. Coordinated integration, construction and acceptance testing activities. Major Accomplishments: Recognized for taking on troubled projects and making them financial and technical successes. Identified deficiency in shutdown and safety systems utilization to end user and EPC Contractor on a poly-olefins unit project. Turned-around a troubled project on time to meet aggressive client schedule. Reverse-engineered an assembly language equipment sequencing application to new DCS platform that remains unchanged and in service to-date. Managed a subcontractor who was a direct competitor of Company. Quote from Program Director during annual review: “I don’t really know what you do. All I know is that wherever I send you the ‘noise’ stops!”Activities: Project Engineering/ManagementFront End Design (FEED)Instrumentation & Electrical DesignContinuous Control DesignSequence Control DesignEngineering ConsultingProject & Proposal DevelopmentHot/Cold Cutover & CommissioningAdvanced Process Control Awards: 2000 - Team Spot;1999 – Individual Spot;1997 – 3 Individual Spot;1996 - Individual Spot

Progressive experience from entry-level process engineer to senior-level process control engineer. Provided process engineering support to distillation and specialty product units. Provided design basis for multiple unit debottlenecking projects. Inspected and evaluated process equipment during unit turn-arounds. Recommended operating changes/modifications for improving reaction yields and unit uptime. Participated in Hazop study teams. Conceived, justified, and implemented control projects in distillation units to improve production, reliability and robustness. Developed and managed various capital and expense projects. Participated in grass-roots plant startup team (POSM II). Major Accomplishments: Lead role in justifying Company’s first multivariable control project. Provided process design justification for a multimillion dollar instrument retrofit project. Implemented first management-of-change procedure for DCS point allocation and configuration. Created statistical comparison report of online analyzer vs. lab results. Developed rules for tuning vertical and horizontal drum level controllers. Evaluated process identification and tuning software for Company-wide use. Coordinated Technical Department’s participation in the Plant Emergency Team. Activities: Operations SupportProcess Trouble-shootingProcess DesignProject EngineeringProcess Control DesignStartup, Shutdown & Turn Around Awards: 1995 – Team EXCEL;1993 – Manufacturing Excellence;1992 – Individual EXCEL