Expert Details
Coatings Technology (Automotive, Refinish, Industrial, Architectural); Polymer & Resin Chemistry; Coatings Formulation & Development
ID: 736432
Pennsylvania, USA
Expert built a 23-year research career at a major chemical manufacturer, progressing through a series of research chemist and research associate roles focused on automotive refinish coatings. Expert led development and commercialization of multiple flagship clearcoat and basecoat product lines recognized as industry-leading offerings, developed novel low-VOC polymer and oligomer technologies resulting in two U.S. patents, and served in supplier-relationship and Lean manufacturing leadership roles, delivering measurable cost savings through process improvement initiatives.
Since 2010, Expert has led an independent coatings industry consulting practice, providing technical formulation support, marketplace analysis, and training services to coatings manufacturers and raw material suppliers, in addition to serving as an expert witness in product liability litigation concerning historical pigment use in paint products and in patent validity proceedings before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Expert holds five U.S. patents related to coating compositions, has authored peer-reviewed scientific publications on NMR spectroscopy and supercritical fluid chemistry from earlier doctoral research, and has been recognized with multiple industry awards for technical achievement and product commercialization.
Education
| Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year: 1987 | Degree: Ph.D. | Subject: Physical Chemistry | Institution: University of Illinois, Urbana, IL |
| Year: 1982 | Degree: B.S. | Subject: Chemistry | Institution: Miami University, Oxford, OH |
Work History
| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years: 2010 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: Independent Consultant | Department: |
Responsibilities:Provides technical support to clients in coatings formulation, product development, testing, and raw material sourcing; helps clients commercialize new coatings with improved surface characteristics and guides use of new raw materials; conducts marketplace analysis for coatings manufacturers and raw material suppliers (including acrylic monomer supply analysis for the industrial coatings market); provides technical training courses and presentations on coatings technology; provides expert witness services in coatings- and chemical-product-related litigation and patent matters. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 1987 to 2010 | Employer: DuPont Company | Title: Various | Department: Performance Coatings |
Responsibilities:Research Chemist, Senior Research Chemist, Staff Chemist, Research Associate, Senior Research AssociateReformulated automotive refinish basecoat systems for improved performance while maintaining color-matching capability; served as Technical Leader of the Refinish Clearcoat group during development and commercialization of a high-productivity clearcoat product line (received a company Marketing Excellence Recognition Award); developed multiple novel polymers and oligomers enabling lower-VOC coatings with improved productivity (2 U.S. patents awarded for this work); served as Vendor Coordinator, managing supplier-technical liaison relationships and raw material supply programs; served as Lean Transformation Coordinator leading Lean simplification teams at a manufacturing plant, implementing reformulation and process changes yielding over $100K in annual cost savings (Six Sigma Green Belt certified; participated on ISO Quality Teams); developed and formulated a flagship refinish clearcoat product line marketed as the company's core Refinish Coatings offering for approximately a decade (received a Special Compensation Award); developed the company's first low-VOC clearcoat for the heavy-duty truck industry. |
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Additional Experience
| Expert Witness Experience |
|---|
| Expert has served as an expert witness in at least six matters spanning product liability/public nuisance litigation and patent validity proceedings. In multiple ongoing and concluded federal and state court matters, Expert has served as an expert witness for a codefendant chemical manufacturer in litigation brought by plaintiffs against manufacturers of a historical pigment used in paint products, addressing subject matter within Expert's coatings chemistry expertise. Expert has also served as an expert witness for the petitioner in three separate Inter Partes Review proceedings before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board, challenging the validity of patents related to coatings/surface treatment technology. Additionally, Expert served as an expert witness for the defendant in a state civil court matter. |
Career Accomplishments
| Associations / Societies |
|---|
| • American Chemical Society • American Coatings Association • Philadelphia ACS Chemical Consultants Network • Philadelphia Society for Coatings Technology • Board of Directors Committee member, coatings industry professional association — 2009–2011 |
| Licenses / Certifications |
|---|
| • Pennsylvania Teacher Certification Instructional I Certificate—Chemistry • Six Sigma Green Belt Certification |
| Awards / Recognition |
|---|
| • DuPont Marketing Excellence Recognition Award, for commercialization of a high-productivity clearcoat product line • Special Compensation Award, for commercialization of a flagship refinish clearcoat product line • Wayne Kraus Technical Lecture Award, recognizing an invited technical lecture on the history of automotive coatings science |
| Publications and Patents Summary |
|---|
| • 5 U.S. patents (as co-inventor, 2001–2006), covering multiple-component coating compositions with dilution-stable polyisocyanates, two-stage cure coating compositions, and hydroxy-functional acrylic polymer/polyol/polyisocyanate crosslinking coating compositions • 8 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference preprints (1985–1989), primarily concerning NMR spectroscopy, self-diffusion, and transport phenomena in supercritical fluids, plus 1 related ACS Symposium Series book chapter contribution (1987) and a doctoral dissertation (1987) on high-pressure NMR studies of solid-supercritical fluid mixtures • 1 trade magazine article on the history of automotive coatings technology, published in CoatingsTech (2017) • 8 internal proprietary technical research reports authored during industry tenure (1992–2010), covering topics including low-VOC fast-dry coatings development, raw material modifications, resin manufacturing scale-up, and basecoat/clearcoat formulation strategies |
Fields of Expertise
coatings, automotive coating material, automotive paint, architectural coating material, acrylic polymerization, addition polymerization, Expert Witness Services, Expert Witness Testimony, clear coating material, coating crosslinking, coating exposure test, abrasion-resistant coating material, coating formulation, coating raw material, coating industry, coating property, coating measurement, coating technology, coating-drying oven, pigmented coating, polyurethane coating, polymer coating material, radiation-curable coating, ultraviolet-curable coating material, urethane coating material, water-based coating material, wood coating, Automotive Coatings, Refinish Coatings, Industrial Coatings, Architectural Coatings, Coatings Formulation, Clearcoat Technology, Basecoat Technology, VOC Reduction, Polyisocyanate Crosslinking, Lead Pigment Litigation