Richard Thomas Email & Phone Number

Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom

- Supported and led validation activities at the manufacturing site in Bridgend, other global manufacturing sites within the company and also with external vendors, with specialist focus on coatings for medical implants- Collaborated globally on projects including process validations, R&D for emerging technologies, and support for manufacturing, engineering, and quality teams, utilizing technical expertise and data analysis- Authored and reviewed validation documents ranging from IQ, OQ, OQ, Test Method Validation, Software Validation to support regulatory submissions. Most recently, validations of plasma spray coatings were performed across the organisation and external vendors were provided to the FDA to support a PMA submission for the Oxford Cementless Partial Knee system which were accepted with no major observations- Established as regional subject matter expert in statistical analysis, which resulted in expanding support from the Bridgend site to the other global manufacturing sites as and when required. Most recently, support was provided with the root cause investigation of OOS laboratory data which lead to the safe, compliant release of $3M worth of product - Assisted the Supplier Quality team with vendor activities, including the validation of special processes, reviewing/approving changes to suppliers manufacturing processes and writing test protocols to test and release/reject suspect batches of material received from suppliers- Developed training content for Gage R&R studies and delivered it virtually to the quality team in the EMEA region, leading to enhanced comprehension of the study process and interpretation of results among participants- Ownership of contact materials database and procedure, and performing assessments on materials used within the manufacturing process in-line with global requirements

Integration engineer for HVIC and HCIC devices in both 6" and 8" fabs. Duties included:- Supported process optimisation for low volume 8” HVIC Gen6 product to improve yield and reduce loss of product due to scrap- Utilised advanced metrology tools such as Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM) and KLA defect inspection tools for conducting inline product measurements- Increased throughput of 6” HCIC product by qualifying new machines at critical stages within the manufacturing flow to reduce build-up of WIP. Notable examples include additional wash equipment after photolithography & etch stages and additional plasma etching processes for metal and oxide layers- Reacted in a timely manner to any significant scrap events involving HCIC or HVIC products by reviewing product in scope via metrology tools, analysing data, initiating failure analysis to determine root cause and providing proposals for accept/reject decisions