Research Officer

• Jun 2022 - Present

Segment Manager (Automotive & Industrial)

• Sep 2020 - May 2022

• Supported Sales, Process, and Production Team with Plant Trials, Order Scale-up, and On-going Quality Issues • Coordinated Projects Between Customers, R&D, Processing, Production, and Quality Teams • Critically analyzing data and made conclusions and recommendations on projects and advising go/no-go decisions on flagged products to QC and Production • Served as a technical resource to Purchasing, Production, Quality, and Sales • Collaborated on preparation of R&D projects report for scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) refundable Tax Credits • Investigated and resolved issues corresponding to nonperforming products in production line through defining and coordinating R&D projects Show less

Corporate R&D Scientist

• Jan 2018 - Aug 2020

• Established “Thermoplastic R&D Lab” of The Woodbridge Group and built the R&D raw material inventory • Collaborated with other plants of The Woodbridge Group worldwide (US, Canada, Mexico, Germany, and China) and served as main contact to be consulted on thermoplastic products and composites used in automotive parts for Nissan, Toyota, Ford, Hyundai, and GM • Leader of several projects with strong track record in developing innovative products and reducing production cost of various existing products • Formulated & developed expanded polypropylene (EPP) and TPO Bead Foams • Defined and led several projects on development of bead foams to pass automotive OEM specifications • Developed a standard material qualification protocol for thermoplastic foams to benchmark current suppliers' products and qualify potential new suppliers • Reduced energy consumption in steam chest molding process and reduced molding cycle time for several products by introducing a new class of thermoplastic bead foams • Developed biocomposite thermoplastic bead foam products, based on biomass, which are cost-effective, ecofriendly, and meet OEM specification • Defined & managed projects and collaborated with various departments on development of new products Show less

R&D Manager

• Jun 2015 - Jan 2018

• Developed polymer compounds and products for Automotive OEM (GM, Ford, Toyota, Fiat Chrysler, and Nissan) successfully passing performance, cost, quality, processing, and OEM specification • Formulated, developed, and launched thermoplastic Polyolefin (TPO) compounds that pass customer requirements • Implemented Advanced Product Quality Program (APQP) for developed products to capture all aspects and documents, such as Formulations, Design Verifications, Control Plans, DFMEA, PFMEA, Lessons Learned, etc. • Met with internal & external Audits on APQP Process • Reduced production changeover times using SMED, a Lean Methodology • Effectively communicated customer requirements and projects’ expectations to the team members, kept the team on the same page, and defined priorities to meat tight deadlines • Managed all R&D activities for development of polyolefin compounds to meet automotive OEM requirements. • Selected materials and designed formulations and developed multi-component blends of polyolefins, functional fillers, and additives to reduce manufacturing cost and meet customer expectations • Supervised R&D technicians, engineers, chemists, and Coop students in R&D Department as well as during production trials • Reformulated current products to improve performance and recommended new formulations for several products by employing less expensive materials • Collaborated with various departments (Purchasing, Sales, Quality, Process, and Production) in a culturally diverse environment • Assisted Sales to secure new businesses by prioritizing the product development activities in R&D and monitoring trials and characterizations • Defined the framework of research projects & presented the progress of the projects at group meetings • Met with different suppliers of raw materials such as polymeric resins, additives, fillers, elastomer impact modifiers, master batches, pigments, stabilizers, etc. • Collaborated with external laboratories to finalize R&D projects Show less

Senior Materials Engineer

• Nov 2014 - Jun 2015

• Characterized raw materials and products using a variety of lab instruments (DSC, TGA, FT-IR, Melt Index, Brookfield Viscometer, ARES Rheometer, Instron Tensile Testing, etc) • Maintained up to date records and issued technical reports • Participated in safety and 5S programs • Assisted with plant trials • Analyzed current product and raw materials to find out the root cause of non-conformity of the final product. • Characterized raw materials and products using a variety of lab instruments (DSC, TGA, FT-IR, Melt Index, Brookfield Viscometer, ARES Rheometer, Instron Tensile Testing, etc) • Maintained up to date records and issued technical reports • Participated in safety and 5S programs • Assisted with plant trials • Analyzed current product and raw materials to find out the root cause of non-conformity of the final product.

Postdoctoral Research Associate

• Mar 2013 - Nov 2014

• Produced and characterized multilayer polymer films for flexible packaging • Investigated crystallization of polymer films • Synthesized a biodegradable polymer (PHB) and Characterized different polymers by various instruments • Managed several projects at once with strong organization and time management skills • Counseled students experiencing difficulties in their projects • Synthesized both R and S enantiomers of Poly(2-hydroxybutyrate) (P2HB) biopolymer thorough condensation polymerization and tailored molecular weight of the synthesized biopolymer enantiomers • Prepared thin films of biopolymers (P2HB & PLA) and investigated their real-time lamellar and spherulitic crystallization by in-situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) and polarized optical microscopy (POM) • Investigated homo-stereocomplex Crystallization Kinetics of P(R-2HB) and P(S-2HB) • Studied hetero-stereocomplex crystals of PLA and P(2-HB) biopolymers • Grown single crystals of PLLA and P(2-HB) from an ultra dilute solution and analyzed the single crystals by AFM Show less

Research Assistant

• 2008 - Jan 2013

• Manufactured polymer films by cast extrusion for packaging applications • Improved product performance (such as barrier and mechanical properties of polymer films) by optimizing processing parameters and using additives • Evaluated physical, mechanical, thermal, morphological, rheological, optical, and gas barrier properties of polymer films and nanocomposites using various equipment • Processed and characterized biocomposites of PLA (as a biodegradable polymer) and nanocrystalline cellulose (as a biobased material) • Presented projects results at various conferences and meetings • Collaborated with other students and research associates on several projects • Co-responsible of “Polymer Processing” and “Rheology” labs • Trained new graduate students with different instruments Show less

Visiting Researcher

• 2009 - 2011

•Manufactured polymer and polymer nanocomposite films by cast extrusion for packaging applications •Characterized packaging films using different techniques •Manufactured polymer and polymer nanocomposite films by cast extrusion for packaging applications •Characterized packaging films using different techniques

Research Assistant

• 2005 - 2008

• Collaborated with different companies on characterization of their products • Produced polymer nanocomposites and various membranes and characterized the products by different instruments • Extrusion processed Nylon 6 by twin-screw extruder containing reinforcing fillers • Produced polyamide 6 membranes by immersion precipitation • Produced polyamide 6 and Polyamide 6 nanocomposite fibers by wet spinning • Investigated phase separation behavior of water/formic acid/Polyamide 6 systems containing nanoclays • Co-responsible of "Polymer Characterization" lab Show less