Formulate new brake pad compositions to improve brake pad response and eliminate drag. Formulate new chemistry to improve cast iron rotors to increase resistance to thermal shock failure and decrease the probability of internal defects.Incoming Raw Materials Lab Manager, the lab confirms conformity to the control plan for all incoming raw materials to ensure brake pad materials are the highest quality. Lab equipment includes DMA, TGA, pycnometer, flow rate indicizer, and laser particle analyzer. Saved company $50K+ by performing maintenance on all lab equipment.Invented and launched process for high temperature corrosion resistant coating for brake pads that prolong the life of the pad in severe conditions.Performed supplier quality engineer role for brake rotors and calipers when launching new parts with new casting and forging suppliers. Wrote porosity specification for cast iron discs, which is now being used at PFC and high profile customers.Company representative for IMDS materials reporting, as well as conflict minerals reporting in conformance with the Frank Dodd Act.

Characterized the interaction between humidity and temperature during the sliding contact of DLC-DLC tribosystems. Characterized the interaction between temperature and load during the sliding contact of DLC-DLC tribosystem. Both interactions were studied by performing DOE's and statistically analyzing the data to find which interactions were strongest. Designed and built pin-on-disk wear system and integrated LabView program to monitor friction forces and disk velocity during testing. Implemented humidity and temperature control on pin-on-disk system to test samples at various humidity levels as well as temperatures up to 300C.

Friction and wear of micro-patterned 316L stainless steel for use in orthopedic devices.Determined the affect size and shape has on the friction forces seen during sliding wear of micro-patterns formed on 316L stainless steel. Developed macro to eliminate the static friction coefficient seen while pin starts moving, as well as when the pin reverses directions for reciprocating wear experiments. Presented results at TMS 2011 in the Biological Materials Science: Biomedical Materials, Implants and Devices symposium.

Bulge testing metal-polymer composite thin films for use in flexible electronics.Developed a bulge testing system to apply biaxial stress to thin films. Created a LabView Program to dynamically measure the applied pressure and the resulting deflection of a thin film membrane. Improved the clamp design to eliminate the slipping seen in the old clamp design, which improved the data consistency. Developed a heating system for the bulge tester to test thin film membranes at elevated temperatures. Bulge test is designed to look at high temperature creep and relaxation of thin film membranes. Deposited gold thin films onto polyimide substrate using plasma enhanced physical vapor deposition.

Formulated geopolymers to maximize waste loading for radioactive waste storage. This was done by expanding around the known geopolymer chemistries on tertiary phase diagrams. XRD was used to confirm the correct geopolymer structure with new geopolymer formulations. Performed leach testing on monolith and compacted granulate samples to help EPA create a new standard for leach testing. Performed mass spectrometry to measure leached material into the surrounding media.