As Senior Process Engineer, I continued my career at 3M and began taking ownership over more of the production processes and leading incrementally more significant capital projects while continuing to provide support to operations for legacy processes.• Using an expertise in bromine chemistry, designed a next-generation chemical process for the production of elemental boron, which completely recycles bromine consumed in the process and increases precursor synthesis yield to nearly 100%. The project will save up to $4M per year and will pay for itself in two years or less.• Owned the complete elemental boron production value stream, maintaining Product FMEAs, SPC and Control Plans, as well as facilitating problem solving methodologies when encountering process upsets regarding reliability or quality.• Managed capital project to implement new Wire EDM cells and developed completely new fixturing and tooling system to maximize cut power, using DOE methodology to optimize power settings. This increased cut speed by 50-200% over existing machines. Used operational qualification methodology to verify reproducibility of part dimensions on new machine. Developed control plan using SPC to maintain process stability over time.

Part of 3M's Advanced Materials Division, the chemical facility in Quapaw, OK specializes in the enrichment of boron isotopes, which is then converted into a wide variety of chemicals and materials. Elemental boron, along with boron trifluoride (BF3) gas are major sources for demand of the 11B isotope in semiconductor applications. Primary responsibilities include design and support of large-volume synthesis and fabrication processes for ceramic materials and also the chemical processes used for the preparation of elemental boron. This includes improvements to existing products, but also assisting with the implementation of new products using both legacy processes or new ones, using a stage-gate approach. Regulatory compliance of the processes is also a significant focus: Maintaining OSHA PSM, implementing PHA recommendations and keeping PSI up to date.• Implemented ceramic material recovery and recycle process on ceramic surface grinders, eliminating roughly 2000kg of waste footprint and saving roughly $500,000 per year, reducing the total manufacturing cost of the product by 10-15%.• Using 2D and 3D CAD (Solidworks, AutoCAD), designed and procured press tooling for all ceramic parts produced at the Quapaw facility. Also drafted drawings and 3D models of the requested parts themselves in cases where customer documentation was insufficient. Used ASME Y14.5 both to interpret customer drawings and to draft new ones as needed. Developed entire fabrication process from hot-pressing through grinding, EDM cutting/drilling and to final inspection, including contract manufacturing steps as needed where internal capabilities were limited.• Managed a significant project to completely overhaul the conversion reactor process used to convert enrichment chemicals to boric acid - implemented key OSHA PSM recommendations for instrumentation, including redundant safeguards. The resulting process became fully automated via sequential control modules inside the plant DCS.

Part of 3M's Advanced Materials Division, the chemical facility in Quapaw, OK specializes in the enrichment of boron isotopes, which is then converted into a wide variety of chemicals and materials. Elemental boron, along with boron trifluoride (BF3) gas are major sources for demand of the 11B isotope in semiconductor applications. Primary responsibilities include design and support of large-volume synthesis and fabrication processes for ceramic materials and also the chemical processes used for the preparation of elemental boron. This includes improvements to existing products, but also assisting with the implementation of new products using both legacy processes or new ones, using a stage-gate approach. Regulatory compliance of the processes is also a significant focus: Maintaining OSHA PSM, implementing PHA recommendations and keeping PSI up to date.• Implemented ceramic material recovery and recycle process on ceramic surface grinders, eliminating roughly 2000kg of waste footprint and saving roughly $500,000 per year, reducing the total manufacturing cost of the product by 10-15%.• Using 2D and 3D CAD (Solidworks, AutoCAD), designed and procured press tooling for all ceramic parts produced at the Quapaw facility. Also drafted drawings and 3D models of the requested parts themselves in cases where customer documentation was insufficient. Used ASME Y14.5 both to interpret customer drawings and to draft new ones as needed. Developed entire fabrication process from hot-pressing through grinding, EDM cutting/drilling and to final inspection, including contract manufacturing steps as needed where internal capabilities were limited.• Managed a significant project to completely overhaul the conversion reactor process used to convert enrichment chemicals to boric acid - implemented key OSHA PSM recommendations for instrumentation, including redundant safeguards. The resulting process became fully automated via sequential control modules inside the plant DCS.

Ensure program compliance with ISO9001 and AS9100 quality standards and oversee inspection activities, validating and qualifying source materials, assisting with the development of and ensuring personnel compliance with standard operating procedures, issuing corrective and preventative actions and overseeing process improvement projects by applying DOE, SPC and Six Sigma expertise. Primary program responsibility was LBR6 - a die-cut sheet plastic-bonded explosive used for reactive armor.• As a member of the product and process development team for the LBR6 technology transfer process from client company to the subcontracting operations at Spectra, developed the ISO9001/AS9100 quality plan for the program from the ground up and assisted with the process development.• Implemented inspection processes and interpreted drawings, using geometric dimensioning and tolerancing per ASME Y14.5• Achieved notable process improvements, reducing process scrap by 50% and bringing the program to profitability.• Developed an expertise with plastic-bonded explosives and the polymer science associated with them. Assisted with the process development and production of numerous different varieties, one being on the LBR6 program.

Responsibilities focused on working closely with quality assurance and coordinating failure analysis projects of various products returned from customers. Participating, and in many cases, leading product and process development projects, many of which gained significant sales or retained market share with existing customers. Combining these concepts, I employed tools such as FMEA and VOC to maximize product value to our customers. Participated in various LEAN projects to improve production efficiency and quality. • Developed materials science expertise through rapid familiarization of required subject matter, overcoming the gap in knowledge created by a background in biochemistry rather than inorganic chemistry while pursuing my degree.• Coordinated and performed failure analysis projects on an ongoing basis. • Assisted with tungsten carbide grade development projects, contributing to new product sales valued at up to several million dollars per year.• Developed working knowledge of powder metallurgy during process of fabricating test samples. Effects of tooling geometry, press force, dwell times and so on.

Maintenance and operation of pilot plant scale hydrotreating reactors for the purpose of research into new ways to design plants to more efficiently extract sulfur from petroleum distillates such as gas oils, kerosene and cycle oils, concentrating chiefly on diesel fuels and its components. Obtaining and interpreting data from reactors. Operation of standard lab equipment as well as analytical devices such as X-Ray and Gas Chromatography on a daily basis. Assisting staff engineers with the implementation of new designs and modifications to the pilot plants. Repairing damage to the pilot plant when needed.