Zacarus Merrill Email & Phone Number

Moncure, North Carolina, United States

Over the last 9 months at Arauco, I have aided the company in numerous ways.Under the mentorship of the Continuous Improvement Manager, I have worked on a variety of Lean Six Sigma projects. Some examples include aiding with calculations/planning to determine the viability of new investments, analyzing data in Excel to identify process inefficiencies, writing trial plans and reports, and creating various shadow boards throughout the mill.Though technical projects are essential, what's more important is how Arauco has nurtured my growth as a professional. Many days I have been allowed to create my schedule and tackle a project on my own accord. This is important to me because I thrive when I'm allowed to take initiative and get stuff done!If you have any questions regarding my current position, reach out to the contact information in my bio.

West Point, Virginia, United States

In my experience as a Process Engineer Co-Op at WestRock, I worked to provide my best to the company by utilizing and developing my problem-solving, initiative, and interpersonal skills. I earned a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt by creating and implementing MAINTelligence routes in the woodyard. I started by understanding the complex conveyor system by studying diagrams and learning hands-on with utility operators. Next, I placed scannable barcodes throughout the woodyard on machinery and conveyors. I then trained operators on walking different barcode routes and using scanners. Each time a barcode is scanned, a reliability checklist appears on the scanner so operators can provide feedback on how essential components of the woodyard are running. This project was a beneficial learning experience that allowed me to benefit the company by improving safety, reliability, and housekeeping. I also had an opportunity to build a material balance surrounding the washlines and batch digesters to investigate shower flow at different batch spacings. This was another large project that I broke down into multiple steps. I started by learning how to pull process data using PI DataLink in Excel, then determined all inputs and outputs for the system I was working with, and developed appropriate calculations and assumptions to obtain results. The results were used to extract trends, giving operations insight into batch spacings where shower flow can be further optimized to increase black liquor solids to the evaporators. Through running Pine Chemical Association International procedures in the main lab, I gained hands-on experience with chemicals and collected data to help a process engineer's byproduct recovery optimization project. The procedures I ran determined how much tall oil and turpentine could optimally be recovered from a 100-gram sample of pine chips pulled from the process.I completed a variety of other tasks during my Co-Op, reach out if you have any questions.

Moncure, North Carolina, United States

As an intern at Arauco, I gained valuable experience working in 24/7 Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) production. I worked on many projects ranging from safety improvement to process control, allowing me to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the MDF process.For one project I collected large data on panel shrinkage, by measuring decrease in thickness as boards cooled coming off the continuous press. I then cleaned and analyzed this data using Minitab and Excel to help operations create an accurate regression equation that predicts the panel thickness the sanders will receive, once the board cools.I also created many Standard Operating Procedures for lab tests and field measurements, and aided the Continuous Improvement Manager in running trials and writing reports on them. This role helped me grow as a professional and person, which in turn enabled me to provide my best to the company.

Raleigh, North Carolina, United States

This full-time working experience enabled me to enact my dedication to sustainableagriculture and food production. I competently obtained data for research through biomass, moisture, soil, and nitrous oxide sampling, as well as performing potassium chloride extractions. Each day I operated in a team to complete various tasks, gaining priceless insight into the dynamics of collaborative work.