Expert Details
Ceramic, Graphite & Composites. Forensic engineering in glass & ceramic.
ID: 723669
New York, USA
He has worked extensively and consulted in markets focused on corrosion/erosion environments. An example of this was the work he did as a consultant with also applied at DuPont Corporation where he was a contract consultant managing several parallel multi-group programs in the chemical processing industry. These programs focused on solving technical processing material problems, addressing production yields and new marketing product requests associated with high temperature Chlorine and Fluorine reactor environments. He developed new chemically resistant refractory compositions and tested them out in coordinated lab and production units. He then worked with several vendor suppliers to commercialize and scale up these materials and design them into the current process reactors. This work successfully extended the "uptime" of these specialty process reactors and contributed to second generation reactor designs.
Forensic engineering & legal consulting & testifying on cases involving defects and fracture with glass & ceramic materials and products. Legal cases worked on include:
1) Broken shower door
2) Broken bottles & jars
3) Poorly fabricated ceramic dinnerware
4) Broken tempered glass
5) Poorly installed insulated windows
With a PhD in Ceramic Engineering from Rutgers and 25 years of industrial experience, he has a comprehensive ceramic materials and processing background,with strong applications focus. He is a proven innovator with extensive technical and business management experience in established as well as entrepreneurial environments, both domestic and international. This encompasses everything from materials and process development, program initiation, contract authorship, production scale up and running of a production operation, as well as marketing and sales, excelling in all areas. He has worked in ceramic materials processing and industrial scale up for over 25 years with engineering, operations and program management for the past 20 years.
He has extensive knowledge and experience in erosion theory, testing and material design optimized for erosive environments. Much of my work focused on ceramic for hard rock mining and minerals processing, for which he wrote a chapter in an ASM handbook.
Erosion testing expertise include:
1) Dry erosion (sand blast)
2) Slurry erosion
3) Contact abration
4) Friction measurement
5) Surface finish measurement
6) Hardness testing
His scale up, process development engineering and operational management experience was demonstrated at Alanx Products, a 30 person SiC ceramic and polymer composite manufacturing company focused on the wear and corrosion market. Alanx was a joint venture spin off from Lanxide Corp where he had worked to develop the technology. He worked to establish this JV and became its technical and operational leader.
While with Alanx, he obtained international business and marketing experience that included negotiating and overseeing the establishment of two international joint venture companies, one German and a second
Japanese. He transferred technology and trained design, production and marketing teams from those countries. With these teams, he designed and marketed product at new foreign customer bases and created manufacturing plant layouts for future scale up efforts.
He has been involved in new material, processing and product development his whole career.
His process & materials development and program management experience includes my work at Lanxide Corporation, a start up entrepreneurial company that developed and marketed new patented SiC ceramic, polymer
and metal material composite systems. Process development, equipment design and efficient manufacturing were key to making this technology viable. This work involved development, scale up and salesmanship of SiC materials based technologies, establishing new market interests and accounting for spent funds. Lanxide spawned six joint venture entities as well as numerous national and international licensees, many of which he played a part in establishing and maintaining.
Expertise in material & marketing of graphite materials for high temperature applications & processing. These materials include machined graphite, graphite insulation, carbon fiber composites and graphite coatings and adhesives. He formulated & commercializing a line of new lower cost graphite adhesives & coatings with improved properties and handling. This included a low cost anti-eutectic coating on graphite for heat treat & brazing applications.
Expert has expertise in use design, marketing and sales of ceramic & fiberglass insulation materials for use in high temperature processing & heat treating. This includes a thorough understanding of the markets, current suppliers and world wide availability of these materials.
Successful product development with electrical porcelain company to help them diversify into high volume profitable market areas, expanding their business and utilizing existing unit operations, labor and floor space.Product & process development with start up company utilizing their processing know-how into new material, satisfying existing market pull for rapid successful commercialization.Process and product scale up from a lab operation to production for technology developed at a university lab.
Education
| Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year: 1983 | Degree: PhD | Subject: Ceramic Engineering | Institution: Rutgers College of Engineering |
| Year: 1982 | Degree: MS | Subject: Ceramic Engineering | Institution: Rutgers College of Engineering |
| Year: 1978 | Degree: BS | Subject: Chemistry | Institution: Rutgers College |
Work History
| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years: 2006 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: President | Department: |
Responsibilities:Over 35 years of experience with engineered ceramics, graphite, metals and polymer materials processing, product development & marketing.Research, development & commercialization of products through contract research, process development, educational consulting, strategic material & partnership brokering, proposal writing and business assessment. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2005 to 2006 | Employer: Starfire | Title: Program Manager | Department: |
Responsibilities:Program management and business development in aerospace, semiconductor and industrial applications utilizing preceramic polymer for high temperature ceramic & polymer matrix composites. Responsibilities & technical successes include:- Management of $5.5 million aerospace & DoD programs - Awarded 3 Phase 1 SBIR programs, 1 more pending - Development of improved ultra-high temperature composites for TPS applications - Development & marketing of flame resistant coatings for fiberglass fabrics - Identification of business opportunities and marketing to customers & investors |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2004 to 2005 | Employer: M CUBED TECHNOLOGIES | Title: Director of Product Development | Department: |
Responsibilities:Technical development, scale up and marketing of new ceramic-metal composite technologies for use in multiple markets including:semiconductor, armor, wear, thermal management and precision structures- Successfully transferred technology from parent factory for prototype facility in CT - Established new markets & customers in semiconductor, thermal management & wear - Developed metal brazing & glass bonding technology for large MI components - Designed & created company brochures & web site for enhanced marketing |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 1996 to 2004 | Employer: PRATT AND WHITNEY | Title: Technology Manager | Department: |
Responsibilities:Development of polymer & ceramic composite materials & coating systems used in military & commercial applications. Coordination of composite materials strategic planning activities for turbine engine related programs.- Designed & implemented 30% cost reduction on F119 coatings - Authored a PRDA 7 proposal on high temperature polymer resin development - Managed special development programs in coatings & composite materials - Established blade repair programs for Ti and Ni Integrally Bladed Rotors (IBR) - Established funding & managed IBR low cost fabrication technologies - Spearheaded programs for high temp DRA Aluminum & ?Ti composites - Established programs for improved abradable rub seal for military engine fans |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 1995 to 1996 | Employer: DUPONT CORPORATION, | Title: Engineering Consultant | Department: |
Responsibilities:Improved corrosion resistant and refractory materials of construction used in TiO2 white pigment production and fluoropolymer technology.- Set up lab tests that simulated reactor environments for comparative erosion/corrosion testing of ceramic and metallic materials - Established vendor alliances for co-development of new materials - Implemented in-plant tests of new refractory materials - Developed new proprietary corrosion resistant refractory compositions Patents pending. Licensed the technology for these new materials |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 1988 to 1995 | Employer: ALANX PRODUCTS, Inc | Title: Technical & Operations Manager | Department: |
Responsibilities:Oversaw all areas of production, facilities, safety, and quality implementation. Directed all technical development and engineering.- Increased capacity to handle 4 times the volume - Reduced costs by over 50% - Converted process and equipment from electric to gas power - Improved ergonomics and product flow through plant layout redesign - Incorporated computer based scheduling in production - Significantly improved on-time deliveries - Decreased number of days in manufacturing cycle by over 2.5x - Transferred and scaled up ceramic, metal, and polymer matrix composite technologies from lab to production scale operation for market driven abrasion resistant products and applications. - Directed three R&D development and production support teams - Designed layout of production, office, and lab facilities - Designed and purchased all lab and production process equipment - Hired and trained personnel for production, technical, and office staffs - Authored and instituted QC, SPC, and SOP procedures - Developed and commercialized ceramic filled polymer composites - Designed ceramic composite lined process slurry pumps and hydrocycones |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 1985 to 1988 | Employer: LANXIDE CORPORATION | Title: Senior Research Engineer | Department: |
Responsibilities:Engineered microstructural and fabrication process control of new ceramic and metal matrix composite technologies.- Pioneered new fabrication techniques for net-shaped preforms utilizing ceramic and metal powders in aqueous and non-aqueous systems - Designed and patented ballistic resistant armor systems (DARPA) - Formed and led multi-group process and materials task force for process development and company wide problem solving - Developed composites with improved corrosion/erosion resistance for industrial products division - Awarded 10 key material and process patents |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 1983 to 1985 | Employer: ARWOOD CORPORATION | Title: Research Ceramic Engineer | Department: |
Responsibilities:Process development and production support for investment (lost wax) casting of ferrous and non-ferrous alloys.- Developed injection molded non-ferrous ceramic core leachable in water. Awarded several patents for this product - Improved on ceramic shell high temperature permeability and strength - Spearheaded program for reclamation of ceramic materials - Developed rheological controls on ceramic slurries - Improved plaster based solid mold investment mixes |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2006 to 2018 | Employer: Self Employed | Title: President & owner | Department: |
Responsibilities:Importing, marketing, distribution & sales of graphite, ceramic & glass insulation products as well as machined graphite, Moly & Tungsten materials and ceramics. Consulting and sales representation providing technically based solutions and services with glass and insulation products, graphite materials, ceramics, metals and high temperature polymer processing.- Created company in 2006 and sold after 12 years reaching 5 million in gross sales. - Formulated & commercialized new ceramic proppants using recycled glass materials - Improved corrosion resistance of specialty brick for high temperature corrosive environments - Developed porous extruded honeycomb in chopped fiber cordierite & silicon carbide for Deisel Particulate Filters and automotive catalytic converters. Several patents awarded. - Created & commercialized new graphite-based adhesives & coatings, including anti-eutectics - Established market for new chopped-fiber carbon composite materials in North America |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2018 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: President & owner | Department: |
Responsibilities:Consulting providing technically based solutions and services with engineered ceramics, glass, glass-ceramics graphite, metals and polymer materials processing, product development & marketing. Aiding the development, scale up & commercialization of products through contract research, process development, educational consulting, strategic material & partnership brokering, proposal writing and business assessment. Forensic science expert witness consultation in glass and ceramics |
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Career Accomplishments
| Associations / Societies |
|---|
| American Ceramic Society American Society of Materials |
| Publications and Patents Summary |
|---|
| Over 25 published articles, 45 US patents, and over 50 presentations at scientific and trade conferences. |
Additional Experience
| Expert Witness Experience |
|---|
| Materials 1) Advanced engineered materials with emphasis on ceramics & composite materials 2) Ceramic matrix composite fabrication, interface coatings & processing 3) Preceramic polymer & PIP (Polymer Infiltration & Pyrolysis) processing 4) Traditional (sintered) & melt infiltrated ceramics 5) Metals casting (ferrous and non-ferrous), ceramic cores & molds 6) High temperature polymers (polyimids) 7) Refractories (ultrahigh temperature & TPS materials) 8) Wear products (erosion/corrosion resistance materials) 9) Radar signature control materials & additives Processing & Services 1) Materials characterization & development 2) Process development, documentation and training 3) Processing equipment design, specification, sourcing and installation (new or used) 4) Shape making capabilties (slip casting, pressing, injection molding, FRP, etc.) 5) Brainstorming materials, product, process and marketing ideas or changes 6) Cost reduction studies and implementation 7) Process scale up & commercialization 8) Safety review procedures for lab & production settings |
| Vendor Selection |
|---|
| My process & materials development and program management experience includes my work at Lanxide Corporation, a start up entrepreneurial company that developed and marketed new patented SiC ceramic, polymer and metal material composite systems. Process development, equipment design and efficient manufacturing were key to making this technology viable. This work involved development, scale up and salesmanship of SiC materials based technologies, establishing new market interests and accounting for spent funds. Lanxide spawned six joint venture entities as well as numerous national and international licensees, many of which I played a part in establishing and maintaining. My scale up, process development engineering and operational management experience was with Alanx Products, a 30 person SiC ceramic and polymer composite manufacturing company focused on the wear and corrosion market. Alanx was a spin off from Lanxide. In the technical and operations management roles, I was responsible for engineering scale up of the ceramic, metal and polymer matrix composite technologies into production, exceeding all technical, budget and production goals and objectives. I did this by optimizing the processing steps and establishing process control as well as product improvement through standardization and documentation of procedures. I concurrently cut costs of manufacturing in half, decreased the delivery times dramatically and increased overall plant capacity to over 4 times the volume with minimum of capital expenditure. I am responsible for a long list of innovations and improvements associated with this technology and equipment design. This includes converting the composite heat processing from electric to gas power, resulting in increased throughput, improved quality, and lower production costs. All materials were successfully commercialized into a profitable business within a 3-year window. I hired and mentored a team of engineers in all areas of production and marketing. We supported the marketing efforts by working closely with all customers, aligning the product and process capability with customer needs. This included numerous field visits to customer sites to fully understand their needs, with presentations and publications supporting the product and marketing effort. While with Alanx, I obtained international business and marketing experience that included negotiating and overseeing the establishment of two international joint venture companies, one German and a second Japanese. I transferred technology and trained design, production and marketing teams from those countries. With these teams, I designed and marketed product at new foreign customer bases and created manufacturing plant layouts for future scale up efforts. |
| Marketing Experience |
|---|
| I have industry expertise & experience in the following areas: 1) Ceramics & ceramic composites 2) Wear and corrosion 3) Aerospace 4) Semiconductor 5) Chemical processing 6) Metal casting 7) Thermal Management 8) Armor 9) Refractories 10) Cement 11) Catalytic supports (automotive) I have a comprehensive composites materials and processing background,with strong applications focus. I am a proven innovator with extensive technical and business management experience in established as well as entrepreneurial environments, both domestic and international. This encompasses everything from materials and process development, program initiation, contract authorship, production scale up and running of a production operation, as well as marketing and sales, excelling in all areas. I have worked in materials processing and industrial scale up for over 25 years with engineering, operations and program management for the past 20 years |
| Other Relevant Experience |
|---|
| My materials problem solving and project management expertise was also applied at DuPont Corporation where I was a contract consultant managing several parallel multi-group programs in the chemical processing industry. These programs focused on solving technical processing material problems, addressing production yields and new marketing product requests associated with high temperature Chlorine and Fluorine reactor environments. I developed new chemically resistant refractory compositions and tested them out in coordinated lab and production units. I then worked with several vendor suppliers to commercialize and scale up these materials and design them into the current process reactors. This work successfully extended the "uptime" of these specialty process reactors and contributed to second generation reactor designs. My work with Pratt & Whitney focusing on project engineering, proposal solicitation, program management and materials development roles in the fabrication of military and commercial turbine engines. My track record in establishing, promoting and obtaining funding for new design and materials technologies at Pratt has been excellent. This includes authoring or co-authoring and winning numerous government and internally funded program proposals and contracts. At M Cubed Technologies, I transferred, scaled up and improved SiC based melt infiltrated composite technology from one facility to a new pilot plant, while supporting the marketing group in establishing and growing new markets in semiconductor, thermal management and wear resistance. This included plant layout, design, purchase and installation of equipment, process documentation, cross training of employees and qualification of the commercial process. During this time, I made numerous presentations to customers and prospective clients. The most recent position with Starfire Systems involved program management, process & materials development and funding establishment for new patented SiC preceramic and high temperature polymer materials. |
Fields of Expertise
nanocrystalline ceramics, ceramic forming, ceramic foam, ceramic extrusion, ceramic erosion resistance, ceramic component, ceramic chemical property, alumina ceramic, advanced ceramic material, ceramic component manufacturing, corroding material life length analysis, anti-corrosive coating material, ceramic corrosion, forensic materials failure analysis, forensic engineering, ceramic engineering, ceramic material, ceramic material selection, ceramic processing, ceramic technology, ceramic erosion, ceramic wear testing, business development, business analysis, business acquisition, joint venture, new product development management, furnace insulation material, vacuum insulation, graphite composite, graphite, carbon fiber, ceramic thermodynamic property, thermal insulation material, thermal insulation system, ceramic insulation, drying technology, customer segmentation, composite material characterization, composite preform, stage gate process, market trend, fiber bonding, new consumer product development, plastic product development, time-to-market, ceramic composite, ceramic crack detection, ceramic package testing, ceramic gel casting, ceramic compression testing, pilot line, composite material testing, field testing, ceramic mechanical property, ceramic physical property, ceramic product decoration, metal wear testing, ceramic material surface evaluation, ceramic material reliability improvement, product reliability improvement, product management, ceramic quality, ceramic quality control, ceramic defect, product testing, ceramic material manufacturing, product formulation, new chemical process operations, ceramic property characterization, ceramic property measurement, rapid product development, product improvement, ceramic fracture strength, ceramic deformation analysis, ceramic creep, product design variation reduction, composite material mechanical property, design for cost, product manufacturing, household appliance new product development, ceramic dry pressing, product delivery process, corporate strategic planning, pilot plant scale-up, product development cycle time, technology innovation, new product market survey, productivity improvement, new product design, integrated product development, time compression, material product development, reverse engineering, production process, design for manufacturability, productivity measurement (quantity), product, product cost reduction, new technology business value measurement, new product development, new product assessment, research and development, research and development management, technology management, product design, engineering design productivity, ceramic packaging process, ceramic packaging material, ceramic package, composite material failure, ceramic failure, marketing, production engineering, design process, innovation, testing, spray drying, research and development productivity, production management, production control, planning, material substitution process, concurrent engineering, composite material processing, composite material, ceramic failure analysis, ceramic sintering, ceramic property, ceramic coating material