Expert Details
Polymer (Plastics, Composites, Fibers, Nanotechnology) Engineering & Science, Including Formulation, Processing, Characterization, Structure-Property Relationship, Nonwovens, and Coatings
ID: 735150
Canada
HIGHLIGHT OF QULIFICATIONS
• 9 years of experience as a polymer (plastics & rubbers), (micro- & nano-) composites, & coatings formulating (compounding, additives), design (CAD, CAM), manufacturing (extrusion, coextrusion, injection, blow molding, film blowing, compression molding, rotational molding, thermoforming, & coating), quality control, & product development (process, test, scale-up, applications, & market) lead engineer at Renault automotive manufacturing co.
• Experience and knowledge of various automotive plastic composites, including SMC, BMC, GMT, LFT, and RTM.
• Comprehensive education, including BS, MS, & PhD (13 years) directly in the tailor-made-for-industry polymer (plastics & rubbers) engineering and science discipline with specialty in various polymers (including: high temperature, bio-based & biodegradable, polyolefins & engineering plastics, rubbers, additives, & TPEs) formulation, processing, design, manufacturing, and characterization from a few of the most accredited institutions in the field.
• Long hands-on experience with various polymers formulation & processing (extrusion, injection, foaming, spinning, blowing, 3D printing, coating, …) and various materials evaluation techniques (DSC, TGA, DMA, various Rheometry, TMA, Permeation, GPC, Instron, Impact, POM, SEM, TEM, FTIR).
• In-depth knowledge of polymeric materials physics, chemistry, and their structure-properties relationship, as well as their processing conditions (including the rheology, flow rate, and molding) to reach to the desired quality and performance in automotive, packaging, and filtration applications.
• Academic education and professional experience in project management, business planning, and technology commercialization.
OTHER SKILLS:
Computer: MS Office, MS Access, CATIA, Inventor, SolidWorks, Mold Flow, AutoCAD, Origin, MATLAB, LabVIEW, Data Analysis, Design of Experiment (DOE), Statistical Methods, Python.
Project Management: WBS, CPM, Buffering or protecting bottlenecks, Resource allocation, estimation and budgeting, working with MS Project, Primavera, MindJet Mind Manager.
Business: Business planning & tech. commercialization, Business model Canvas (including value proposition, customer relationship, revenue stream, & cost structure), Market research, Marketing & sales.
Finance: Market analysis, Quantitative finance, Accounting (Income statement, Cash flow projection, Balance sheet).
Education
| Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year: 2017 | Degree: Postdoctoral Fellowship | Subject: Polymer Engineering | Institution: University of Minnesota |
| Year: 2016 | Degree: Ph.D. | Subject: Polymer and Fiber Science and Nanotechnology | Institution: North Carolina State University |
| Year: 2001 | Degree: BS | Subject: Polymer Engineering & Science (Polymer Processing) | Institution: Amirkabir University of Technology |
Work History
| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years: 2017 to 2020 | Employer: University of Toronto | Title: Polymer R&D Engineer | Department: Mechanical Engineering |
Responsibilities:• Leading a major $4M plastics composite manufacturing & testing research & development project (funded by Createx Technology & NSERC), including writing the proposals, design, & fabrication of custom-designed plastic manufacturing machines; selecting vendors, & purchasing processing & testing facilities, & doing their installation & maintenance; issuing SOPs, & following safety & lab standards; supervising & mentoring a group of about 14 university-graduates & 6 postdoc fellows on conducting research & development projects on producing different plastic nanocomposites and foams with superior performance, in lab-scale as well as their scaling up to industrial scale, and their characterizations; setting the project objectives, deliverables, & timelines; project members weekly meetings; dealing with different stake holders, & preparing the annual progress reports to the funding company to secure the project funding.• Formulating and (reactive) compounding (twin screw extrusion & batch mixers) polymers (PP, PET, PE, PA, PLA, EVA, PVC, PC, PVDF, PTFE, PPS, PHB, PBAT, SEBS, EPDM, DCP, coupling agents, Sulfur and UV curing), fiber spinning & melt-blowing, to process (extrusion, reactive extrusion & injection molding), and performing scale-up of new hybrid nanocomposite & foam products, with improved performance, as well as, evaluating them (microscopy, image analysis, statistical analysis, DSC, TGA, DMA, MFR, XRD, FTIR, Instron & rheometry). • Led the design & manufacturing project (~$100K) of a custom-designed extrusion compounding, spunbonding, & meltblowing machine, including generating conceptual design with SolidWorks & AutoCAD to fabricate in-situ nano-fibrillated composites with superior mechanical and thermal properties. • Supervising and mentoring research assistants and research associates on conducting their projects, and training them on polymer processing (extrusion, injection, blowing, spinning), and characterization techniques. • Communicated and negotiated (including RFQ) with major manufacturers of plastic processing (DSM, Brabender, Haake, Xplore) & evaluation facilities (TA Instrument, Anton Paar), and equipped the processing and characterization labs with new machines, including microcompounder, Hot Press, vacuum ovens, furnace, DMA, ARES-G2, DSC, Instron, SEM (overall ~ $600k). • Working on patenting and commercialization of the new polymer technologies, and preparing proposal for funding through governmental organizations (Mitacs, OCE, and IRAP), • Managing the plastic manufacturing & testing labs, following the appropriate lab procedures, OSHA (Occupational safety & health administration), & clean-room standards, and issuing laboratory SOP (standard operating procedures) for processing & characterization machines, plus performing their installation, maintenance, & troubleshooting. • Working in research & development team-projects on design, manufacturing, & characterization of CNT, graphene, Boron nitride nanotube, and aerogel nanocomposites and foams. • Business planning and technology commercialization including the value proposition, customer relationship, revenue stream, & cost structure, market research, marketing & sales. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2016 to 2017 | Employer: University of Minnesota | Title: Polymer R&D Engineer | Department: Chemical Engineering |
Responsibilities:• Compounded polymer blends, & made melt-blown nanofibers (PBT, PET, PS, PVDF, PTFE, PFA) for nonwoven filtration applications, & investigated their morphology (microscopy & image analysis, statistical analysis), physical (DSC, TGA, GPC), mechanical, & rheological (parallel plate and capillary rheometry) properties.• Produced the thinnest fibers ever through a melt-based method, with the diameter of 36nm, through a new island-in- the-sea blending approach, and made hybrid nonwoven mats comprising nanofiber and microfiber layers with various surface properties for gas and liquid filtration applications, via collaboration with Cummins Inc. • Managed the polymer processing and evaluation lab and supervised research assistants on conducting their projects, and trained them on polymer processing (extrusion, injection, film blowing, batch mixers) and characterization techniques (including issuing SOP). |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2011 to 2016 | Employer: North Carolina State University | Title: Polymer Research Assistant | Department: Chemical Engineering |
Responsibilities:• Improved the gas barrier properties of a difficult-to-work-with polymer like highly hydrophobic PS and HIPS films for the record high of about 500 times, through coating (multilayer) method, and for more than 2 times through conventionally processable nanocomposite approaches (using HIPS, PET, recycled PET, EVA, PVAc, adhesives, clay), respectively, to process highly barrier films for food & beverage packaging applications.• Developed new FDA-approved & optically clear nanocomposites with superior barrier properties against CO2 & O2, by improving the adhesion between polymer bulk and nanoparticles through developing a variety of innovative methods, via collaboration with United Resource Recovery Corporation (URRC), one of the largest PET recycling plants in the world and a major supplier of the Coca Cola. • Experienced with various plastic waste management and recycling techniques, including state-of-the-art and FDA-approved bottle-to-bottle recycling of waste PET (closed-loop) to develop a circular economy. • Proficiently conducted various characterization techniques to investigate physical mechanical & barrier properties, & melt flow behavior of novel polymer nanocomposites, through working with sorption & permeation cells, rheometry, SEM, microtomy, TEM, Optical Microscopy, ImageJ, XRD, DMA, DSC, TGA, Instron, pH meter. • Managed the polymer processing and characterization lab, and supervised research assistants on conducting their projects, and trained them on polymer processing and characterization techniques. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2002 to 2011 | Employer: Renault Automotive MFG plant at IKCo | Title: Polymer R&D Engineer | Department: New Product Development |
Responsibilities:• Founded and managed the Plastics, Rubbers, & Composites Engineering Group and their routine and R&D projects.• Managed the polymer processing and characterization lab and the composite modeling shop. • Established novel plastic/rubber hybrid composites with superior physical, mechanical, and rheological properties, through growing brushes, grafting, compounding, and processing of a variety of polymeric blends and composites. • Formulated & compounded polymer blends (including masterbatch) & hybrid composites with various pieces of equipment, as single & twin screw extruders, batch mixer, injection molding, thermoforming, calendaring, & milling. • Designed (CAD) & processed engineering polymer (blends, composites, textiles) (mainly based on PA, PP, PET, PBD, PU, ABS, TPO) automotive parts (under bonnet & trim parts (exterior and interior), & performed quality control tests (ISO, ASTM, DIN) on them, aiming at improved performance, customer demands, and reduced costs, in team projects within the frameworks of Stage-Gate (idea to launch), Lean six sigma, and 5-S protocols. • Directed various characterization tests for different polymeric blends, composites, and textiles including mechanical testing (Instron, impact), rheometry (capillary, rotational, oscillatory), DMA, DSC, TGA, HDT, FTIR, and UV-Vis. • As the Design MGMT consultant, recommended optimized polymers and processes, in various car design projects. • Improved the crash resistance of vehicles, through leading research & feasibility study along with communicating & collaborating with major chemical companies, Dow, Henkel, & BASF to apply impact absorbent polymeric structural foams in automotive pillars, to be processed at the online paint-shop plant simultaneously with other paint processes. • Performed design, evaluation, quality control (FMEA), & troubleshooting for chemical processes & materials involved in the online automotive paint-shop, as sealers, PVC under-body, cavity wax, damping sheets, and coatings. • Experienced with different techniques of making polymeric composites, like hand-lay-up, RTM, SMC, and BMC, mainly for exterior parts with class A surfaces, and GMT for the bumper beam, as lightweight substitutions for metallic parts. • Taught engineers, polymers processing, their properties, and their characterization techniques at the education center. • Designed technical documents as Design Method Request (DMR), Test Plan, Product Design Specification (PDS), Bill of Materials (BOM), and Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). • As a supply chain expert, recognized and evaluated the third party and external plastic parts and components manufacturers, and collaborated with them to improve their products quality to fulfill the existing standards. • Collaborated with quality control department on applying Lean 6 sigma, Kaizen, and 5S on current projects. • Planned & managed the projects with MS Project & Primavera (Gantt Chart, assigning resources, CPM, risk assessment, Crisis management, estimating and budgeting, meeting the deadlines). • Renault Plant at IKCo, with the manufacturing volume of above 700,000 vehicles per annum, and about 40,000 employees, including about 3000 engineers, is the second largest plant of this major French car manufacturing company. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2005 to 2008 | Employer: Plastech. Ltd. & Quest International Ltd. | Title: Sales & Marketing Representative | Department: |
Responsibilities:• Conducted market research and prepared marketing brochures for the polymer processing and characterization instruments, personal care, home care, fashion accessories, and nutritional products.• Gave sales pitches including cold call and elevator pitch on polymer processing (batch mixer, extruder, injection molding, fiber spinning, hot press) and characterization (DSC, TGA, DMA, Rheometry, Viscometry, Instron, SEM, Optical microscopy) instruments, personal care, home care, fashion accessories, & nutritional products. • Managing existing accounts and generating new accounts through CRM network (including SAP software), by cold & warm call prospecting to relevant call points, qualifying leads, customer site visit, follow-ups, preparing quotations, preparing PO. • Trained on various techniques of marketing and sales. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2001 to 2001 | Employer: General Tire & Rubber Co. | Title: Elastomer Engineering Intern | Department: |
Responsibilities:• Designed and processed different elastomer compounds (NR, SBR, IIR, PBD) through working with equipment like banbury, mixer mill, calendering, mold, autoclave• Conducted various tests for tire and controlled their quality, like uniformity (Force variation, Run-out, Plysteer, conicity, sidewall bulge), rolling resistance, molding defects, NVH, …. |
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Career Accomplishments
| Associations / Societies |
|---|
| -Vice President of Society of Plastic Engineers (SPE), Ontario Section. -ASTM |
| Licenses / Certifications |
|---|
| • Lean & Six Sigma, Yellow Belt & Green Belt Certificates, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany. • Data Science Certificate (Python, R, SQL Database, Data Analysis & Visualization, Machine Learning), IBM. • Managing Projects with Microsoft Project, certificate by Microsoft Corp. • Project Management Fundamentals I&II, Mitacs, Canada. • Project Management, University of Toronto. • Business Planning & Execution for Canadian Entrepreneurs, University of Toronto. • Technology Commercialization, University of Rochester. • Basic and Intermediate Python programming language, University of Toronto. • Machine Shop, George Brown College, Canada. |
| Publications and Patents Summary |
|---|
| Book Chapters: 1 Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles: 16 Conference Proceedings: 25 |
Language Skills
| Language | Proficiency |
|---|---|
| English | Proficient |
| French | Intermediate |
Fields of Expertise
fiber-reinforced plastic, microtomy, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, nanotechnology, polymer morphology, nonwoven fiber processing, spunbonding, meltblowing, fiber spinning, polymer compounding, polymer structure-property relationship, polymer characterization, polymer processing