Intellex Acquires Expert by Big Village

We're thrilled to announce that Intellex has acquired Expert by Big Village, effective March 22, 2024. This strategic move enhances our capabilities and strengthens our commitment to delivering exceptional solutions to our customers.

Stay tuned for more updates on how this acquisition will benefit our clients and experts.

For inquiries or more information, please contact us at info@intellex.com.

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Expert Details

Polymer & Composite Materials Science, Modeling, Structure-Property Relations, Technology Assessment

ID: 722688 Georgia, USA

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Expert has four decades of experience as a researcher on structure-processing-morphology-property-performance relationships in polymers (plastics, elastomers/rubbers, thermosets) and composites. He is considered by many researchers to be the world's foremost authority on quantitative structure-property relationships (QSPR) in polymers. He is the developer of a software program implementing the methods developed in his book. Software is used worldwide and has become a plastics "industry standard" software tool for the rapid prediction of polymer properties from their chemical structures. In addition, he performs ongoing work to develop new and more powerful polymer property prediction and database search software tools.

He has expertise in composites where the matrix material is a polymer (which can be amorphous or semicrystalline). His expertise encompasses both conventional composites and "nanocomposites". (Nanocomposites are composites designed for use in applications requiring extreme or unique performance characteristics; by “tailoring” the composition, morphology and properties at the nanometer length scale.) His expertise in composites includes the modeling and prediction of physical and mechanical properties, the selection of composite component materials and optimum formulations for obtaining the desired properties, troubleshooting (helping to answer questions such as "why does this composite not perform as expected?"), and the conception of approaches to improve properties and performance characteristics.

He has special strength and an international reputation in the understanding and prediction of structure-processing-morphology-property-performance relationships in polymers (thermoplastics, thermosets, and rubbers/elastomers); and in their blends, foams, films, coatings, and composites; and of the practical product and process implications of these complex relationships. This expertise is based on a deep understanding of the fundamental physics of materials so that it is not limited to specific classes of polymers but instead capable of addressing problems over the full range of industrial polymers. Expert worked for 18 years in a major industrial R&D lab focused on polymer research. A significant fraction of his time was spent in new polymer or composite product design and development projects. His current consulting practice includes, as one of its main focus areas, helping clients with their new product research and development needs and challenges.

The depth and breadth of his expertise in polymer properties, as described in the above paragraph, has been put to practical use during nearly two decades of industrial R&D that involved many polymer design, polymer selection, and composite design problems. Polymers he has worked with have included thermoplastics (both commodity plastics and engineering plastics), rubbers/elastomers, and thermosets. This area is a major part of his ongoing consulting practice.

We live in an era of explosive progress in polymer and composite materials science and technology, as evidenced by the accelerating growth of the scientific literature, patent literature, and trade journal literature. Our technology assessment services help clients derive commercial value from this progress. It is most common for a client to request these services at an early stage of entry into a new technology area so that the recommendations resulting from the assessment can provide both high-level strategic guidance and detailed tactical guidance into the client’s exploration of a technology frontier.

A technology assessment project involves the identification of what is really important in vast amounts of information, the development of sound strategic and tactical recommendations, and the presentation of the findings both in writing and orally in a thorough, effective, and timely manner. The relevant scientific literature, patent literature, and trade journal literature are all studied carefully during most technology assessments. Depending on client needs and wishes, however, a technology assessment can instead be limited to just two or even one of these three general types of sources of information.

Expert has been performing technology assessments for more than a quarter century. His skills in making such assessments were first recognized while he worked at Dow Chemical so that he was given several technology assessment assignments. Such projects now comprise a major component of his consulting practice.

Examples of past technology assessment topics include compatibilization of polymeric systems (polymers, blends, composites, and laminates), impact modification of polymeric systems, carbon nanotubes, nanoclays, nanocomposites, dendrimers, biopolymers (such as polyhydroxyalkanoates), oleochemicals, various textile technology areas, various polymer recycling technologies, plastics-to-fuel conversion technologies, and smart materials.

The main deliverable of each technology assessment project is a detailed formal technology landscape report. This report begins with an Executive Summary providing a concise description, ideal for presentation to the management, of the work that was done and the conclusions that were reached. It continues with a main body consisting of sections providing expanded discussions of the highlights summarized in the Executive Summary. For readers (such as the R&D scientists and engineers of the client) who may need to understand the relevant literature in much greater detail, each technology landscape report ends with an Appendix presenting highlights from each of the cited patents and articles. If requested by the client, an oral presentation can also be prepared.

It is often found during a technology assessment that some of the most promising courses of action include collaboration with external R&D resources such as universities, research institutes, and national laboratories. Our technical project management services are available to help clients build effective "win-win" collaborations in such instances.

Polymers and composites are ubiquitous as materials of construction of products used in a vast range of applications. There are three main areas of focus for enhancing environmental sustainability through polymer and composite materials science. These areas are all major frontiers of research and development worldwide.
• Increasing the percentage of ingredients obtained or derived from environmentally friendly feedstocks used in manufacturing such products.
• Reducing the environmental impact of manufacturing processes.
• Improving the methods utilized for the disposal of used products and of scraps from product manufacturing processes.

The percentage of ingredients obtained or derived from environmentally friendly feed stocks can be increased by the substitution of (a) biobased feed stocks for petrochemical feed stocks and/or (b) recycled feed stocks for virgin feed stocks. It is, however, often difficult to maintain acceptable performance or an acceptable balance of performance versus price in making such a substitution, limiting the maximum possible percentage of substitution.

Manufacturing processes use energy, often utilize various chemicals as processing aids, and may create byproducts that cause pollution. Reducing environmental impact often requires, therefore, (a) the improvement of manufacturing processes to use less energy, (b) the utilization of fewer and preferably no environmentally damaging processing aids, and/or (c) the reduction and preferably elimination of the creation of byproducts that cause pollution.

One approach for reducing the environmental impact of the disposal of used products and of scraps from product manufacturing processes is to convert them via mechanical and/or chemical recycling processes into recycled feedstocks suitable for use as replacement for virgin feedstocks. In some instances where such a conversion cannot be accomplished cost-effectively, conversion into fuels (oils and gases) may provide an environmentally friendlier alternative to placement in a landfill for the disposal of plastic and rubber wastes. The other approach is to manufacture products with biodegradable polymers so that used products as well as scraps from manufacturing processes can be disposed of by composting.

Education

Year Degree Subject Institution
Year: 1979 Degree: Ph.D. Subject: Physics (Chemical Physics focus) Institution: Harvard University
Year: 1974 Degree: B.A. and M.S. Subject: Chemistry (with minor in Physics) Institution: Northwestern University

Work History

Years Employer Title Department
Years: 2004 to Present Employer: Undisclosed Title: President and Lead Consultant Department:
Responsibilities:
Expert founded and leads this firm, which offers the services of several consulting associates and two major laboratories in addition to his own consulting expertise. His time is divided between running the firm's business and providing his own consulting expertise to clients.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1986 to 2004 Employer: The Dow Chemical Company Title: Scientist Department: Corporate R&D (recently renamed to Core R&D)
Responsibilities:
He worked in the Corporate R&D (CR&D) organization of The Dow Chemical Company, in Midland, Michigan, from 1986 to 2004, with increasing responsibilities and advancement up the technical career ladder culminating in the senior technical leadership rank of “Scientist”. His work was also recognized within Dow Chemical with many internal awards, including a Special Achievement Award and five Special Recognition Awards. During his years at Dow Chemical, he was involved both in hands-on research and in technical leadership, focused on polymers and composite materials.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1982 to 1986 Employer: Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. Title: Senior Research Scientist Department: R&D
Responsibilities:
He worked on amorphous inorganic materials for photovoltaic, electrical, and optical switching, and hydrogen storage applications.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1981 to 1982 Employer: University of California at Berkeley Title: Postdoctoral Research Associate in Chemistry Department:
Responsibilities:
He performed research in theoretical and computational chemistry.

Government Experience

Years Agency Role Description
Years: 1979 to 1981 Agency: Turkish Air Force Role: Technical Translator Description: He performed military service as an active reserve officer in his native country, with the rank of Second Lieutenant.

Career Accomplishments

Associations / Societies
Expert is a member of the American Physical Society (elected Fellow), the American Chemical Society, and the Materials Research Society.
Professional Appointments
He holds an Adjunct Faculty position at the College of Technology of Eastern Michigan University. He was an Editorial Advisor to Marcel Dekker, Inc., for more than a decade. He was on the Editorial Board of Computational and Theoretical Polymer Science. He is currently on the editorial boards of both Journal of Macromolecular Science - Polymer Reviews and Soft Materials.
Awards / Recognition
Expert received many internal awards while at The Dow Chemical Company, including the very prestigious Special Achievement Award. He was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society.
Publications and Patents Summary
He has three pending patent applications. During his 18 years at Dow Chemical he authored over 170 internal reports covering work in many different areas of polymer and composite science and technology. He also wrote many successful proposals for the funding of work at CR&D by various product departments.

Additional Experience

Vendor Selection
He did a significant amount of work in selecting materials modeling software products and vendors at Dow Chemical. He was also the liaison of Dow Chemical to its main materials modeling software supplier for three years. His present consulting practice includes polymer and composite materials selection for specific applications and the identification of vendors of the selected materials.
Other Relevant Experience
His expertise in technology assessment involves the identification of what is really important in vast amounts of information; development of sound strategic and tactical recommendations; and presentation of the findings both in writing (in the form of evaluation reports) and orally in a thorough, effective, and timely manner. Examples of past work of this type include studies on the science and technology of carbon nanotubes, nanocomposites, dendrimers, biopolymers (polyhydroxyalkanoates), oleochemicals, and “smart materials.” His focus is on using his depth and breadth of technical knowledge to assess the probability of technical success. He enjoys teaming with colleagues who can provide complementary expertise in market opportunity assessment to complete the evaluation of opportunities that appear to have a high probability of technical success.

Expert also has more than two decades of successful materials R&D experience in industry, involving both hands-on research and technical leadership. Helping clients surmount their product R&D challenges (in partnership with a major product development and manufacturing laboratory) is one of the major services offered in his current consulting practice.

Language Skills

Language Proficiency
Turkish Expert's native language is Turkish, which he speaks, reads, and writes extremely well. He is also able to understand, upon reading or hearing, some of the closely related Central Asian languages of the Turkic language family.
French He had once learned to read French very well, and he also had significant proficiency in speaking and writing it, many years ago. He has lost his proficiency in speaking and writing as a result of the lack of opportunities to practice, but he can still understand what he reads.

Fields of Expertise

plastic material property, plastic failure, plastic optical property, plastic physical property, elastomer mechanical property, elastomer property, engineering plastic property, elastomer modulus of elasticity, quantitative structure-property relationship, composite material mechanical property, nanocomposite, composite material selection, plastic material, new product design, amorphous plastic, crystalline polymer, thermoplastic material selection, engineering plastic, engineering thermoplastic, extruded plastic, injection molded plastic, polymer selection, elastomer selection, composite material science, technology evaluation, environmental safety, environmental condition, environmental cleanup, environment-related assessment, environmental impact assessment, nanomaterial, molding, Asian language translation, predictive modeling, polymer processing, plastic failure analysis, evaluation report, extruded polystyrene, plastic optical clarity, technical management, nonmetallic material, plastic material test procedure, nanostructure, report writing, plastic manufacturing, proposal writing, molded plastic part, impact modifier, melt flow, industrial research, polymer selection for chemical compatibility, polyethersulfone, engineering plastic formulation, molten plastic, polyether ketone, plastic resin, plastic flow, plastic bottle, plastic chemical property, plastic component failure, elastomer application, elastomer structure, writing, rubber-toughened plastic, plastic food package, nanotechnology, new product development, shape-memory plastic, research and development, technical communication, bisphenol A polycarbonate, composite material failure, research, food packaging plastic, high-temperature plastic, technical document, foam material, biodegradable plastic, technical writing, structural plastic, polyurethane material, project management, polymer foam process, polyamide, plastic injection molding, optical plastic, injection molding, elastomer, composite material processing, composite material, cellular plastic, blow molding, automotive plastic

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