Experience

• 

  Lily of the Desert

  • Lewisville, Texas, United States

  • Director, R&D and Technical Services

    • Oct 2023 - Present
    • Lewisville, Texas, United States

• 

  Iovate Health Sciences International Inc.

  • Oakville, Ontario, Canada

  • Associate Director, Research & Product Development

    • Feb 2020 - Sep 2023
    • Oakville, Ontario, Canada

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  Nutrabolt

  • Toronto, Ontario, Canada

  • Product Development Manager International

    • Aug 2017 - Nov 2019
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• 

  Universal Nutrients

  • Fort Worth, TX

  • Senior Product Development Scientist

    • Sep 2014 - Jul 2017
    • Fort Worth, TX

    • Manage all R&D projects and deliver according to assigned timelines and priorities.• Be up-to-date with consumer markets and technologies to develop new product concepts for the R&D department.• Interface with Sales, Customers, Vendors, QA, QC, Purchasing, Operations on a regular basis.• Use of Genesis and Formulator nutritional software to enter and maintain ingredients and formulas as well as generate nutritional data.• Bench-top work to develop new products, line extensions and improve existing products with better technology, processes and ingredients, in compliance with the cGMP regulations and industry standards.• Work with suppliers to source ingredients and to find formulation solutions.• Create nutritional data and ingredient list for finished product label, per FDA labeling regulations• Demonstrate products to customers.• Create internal specifications for raw materials, intermediate products, finished products as well as develop stability protocols, batch records and any essential documents that are required to take a product from R&D level to operations.• Cost formulas based on the best possible prices for raw materials from suppliers and ensure safe, high-quality and profitable products.• Test product’s physical and organoleptic properties for large scale production.• Conduct stability studies for sensory properties and nutritional claims verification for label compliance.

• 

  Lily of the Desert Nutraceuticals

  • United States
  • Manufacturing
  • 1 - 100 Employee

  • Product Development Scientist

    • Jan 2011 - Aug 2014

    “As an R&D team member, played a key role in increasing the company sales revenue by 25 million dollars.”• Managed Lab Technician and R&D Associates on R&D projects. • Performed plant scale-up trials.• Generated nutritional labels according to FDA guidelines.• Created product formulations using R&D software (Genesis).• Conducted bench-top trials to generate product prototypes.• Conducted research to identify ingredients for new product development and line extensions.• Performed shelf life studies, sensory testing, and chemical analysis to assess quality of the product throughout its shelf life.

  • R&D Intern

    • May 2010 - Dec 2010

    • Provided assistance to food scientists in blending formulas, flavoring products and setting up taste testing. • Maintained inventory of ingredients in the lab.• Tested finished products to determine their physical and chemical characteristics.• Calibrated lab equipments

• 

  Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Texas Woman's University

  • Denton

  • Graduate Research Assistant

    • May 2008 - Dec 2009
    • Denton

    • Organized sensory taste testing, evaluated master sheets and prepared reports for various research projects from food industry.• Prepared Research Grant Proposal for Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA)/Texas Food and Fiber Commission (TFFC), that was successfully approved for biannual departmental funding.• Prepared Quarterly reports for TDA/TFFC funded projects.

• 

  Illes Seasonings & Flavors

  • Carrollton, TX

  • R&D Intern

    • May 2009 - Aug 2009
    • Carrollton, TX

    Job duties: • Prepared various seasonings, marinades, glazes and injects for customers and tested their flavor and likeability on chicken• Operated R&D software for data entry of sample orders for customers.Formulation Experience: • Formulated a “low-sodium version” of an existing seasoning.• Formulated a “chili and taco seasoning” that matched the label and flavor of a proprietary seasoning.