Rachael Van Pelt Email & Phone Number

California, United States

Emeryville, California, United States

• To support commercial scale plant opening in September 2023, perform critical experiments in the pilot plant to improve product quality and achieve the minimum viable product for plant startup.
• Collaborate with Operations, Supply Chain, and Quality to run scale up experiments of new processes and evaluate their impact on mycelium sheet properties.
• For each project, define problem statement and solution hypothesis, create a test method, and determine the success criteria. Collect data, analyze using JMP, and communicate conclusions and recommendations.
• Lead technical development of a high-performance product for demanding customer applications. Screen options through a series of scale up experiments.

Emeryville, California, United States

• Established R&D analytical lab by commissioning instruments, implementing a sample submission and data reporting process, and building a preventative maintenance schedule.
• Execute mechanical sample testing according to ISO/ASTM methods and develop internal test methods.
• Design experiments, analyze data, and recommend processing methods to meet customer performance attributes, including color, durability, and mechanical strength.

Greater Chicago Area

• Supported three 24 hr/6 day production lines manufacturing plastic-based flooring tile. Troubleshot issues on the lines, working with operators and supervisors to meet quality specifications.
• Analyzed process settings and quality metrics in Minitab to track and improve Cpk. Developed RCA tools for problem solving, leading to a 70% reduction in lost time for a line’s top loss. Owned update, creation, and.
• Led transition of specialty product to a new line, resulting in significant yield savings. Planned trials, implemented formula and equipment changes, and developed process settings.
• Drove collaboration with maintenance team to prioritize and plan downtime repair and preventative maintenance work. Scoped, justified, and wrote capital project appropriation requests to improve yield and throughput.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Area

• Focused on development of new-to-the-world flooring products made with recycled materials.
• Led development of thermoplastic composite formulation and sample testing, utilizing a dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and impact tester. Scaled up to plant trials in 3 months.
• Aided in trial execution and performance testing of UV cured wear coatings.
• Participated in commissioning and executed trials on pilot twin screw extrusion and tile making equipment.
• Safety Audit Chair for the R&D safety committee and co-chair of ASCEND, an employee development affinity group.

Various

January 2017 to January 2018 - Project Engineer in Beverly, WV. Executed capital projects, managing schedules and budgets. Created layouts in AutoCAD and worked with maintenance team for installations. Led Kaizen event to identify and reduce waste in plant quality management system.January 2018 to April 2018 - Procurement Associate in Lancaster, PA. Used.

Ithaca, NY

Taught students in a weekly one hour discussion about computing using MATLAB. Graded students' projects and exams and provided feedback to improve code. Supervised weekly office hours.

Ithaca, NY

Assisted students in completing experiments for the course 'Junior Materials Laboratory'. Introduced students to the basics of MATLAB. Supervised weekly office hours. Instructed students in the use of MATLAB for data analysis.

Ithaca, NY

Lead Instructor for 'Recreational Canoeing' physical education course and Instructor for 'Pool Paddling' physical education course. Taught students proper paddling technique, general canoeing and kayaking skills (portaging, care of boats), and safety awareness. Coordinated with other instructors to plan lessons and develop students' leadership and teamwork.

Houston, TX

Updated materials testing procedures to comply with API testing standards and customer preferences. Analyzed weight, hardness, and volume test data and wrote report on test results. Ground and polished X-65 and alloy 718 samples in preparation for microstructural analysis.

Murray Hill, NJ

Developed programs in Tcl that polled hardware manager devices on circuit boards and translated multiple bytes of data into useful information such as voltage and current. Documented program functionalities and distributed Tcl programs for four different devices to hardware engineers with Alcatel-Lucent. Collaborated with engineers to write specific Tcl.