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Expert in New Materials, Processing, and Application Development
Available for your Consulting and Expert Witness Needs
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Summary of Expertise:
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Listed with other top experts in: |
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Expert has over 16 years of experience in developing new blends and alloys from existing polymers for specific end applications using reactive and non-reactive extrusion. Over this period of time he has developed several proprietary blends and alloys comprising olefinic, non-olefinic and engineering resins for enhancing impact strength, stiffness, surface durability, surface tension, bio-degradability, weight reduction, cost reduction, wear improvement, creep resistance, conductivity, flame retardancy, melt strength enhancement, gas barrier improvement, noise reduction, volatile emission reduction, and for melt bondability to dissimilar substrates. Recently, for a Japanese firm, Expert developed a low durometer thermoplastic olefin vulcanizate alloy adherable to polycarbonate and polyurethane for an automotive interior application. He also developed a novel TPO technology with enhanced thermoformability for which the client filed for a patent.
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Expert has been involved in the plastics new product development area for the past 16 years. In the capacity of Senior Product Development Engineer, Project Team Leader, and Program Manager, he has steered through several new product development projects from conceptual to commercialization stages. He is owner/manager of Texas-based Expert's Firm offering services in new product development, scale-up, and pre-commercialization activities. His contributions has resulted in seven issued patents, four pending patents, and several proprietary compositions and product concepts, in areas of heat sensing polymer devices, thermoplastic olefin blends, thermoplastic elastomers, thermoplastic vulcanizate, filled and reinforced materials, compatiblized alloys, modified olefins, nanocomposites with enhanced barrier properties, flame retarded thermoplastics, materials with enhanced melt strength, biodegradable materials, and compatibilization of co-mingled plastic waste. Expert's key strengths in this area are hands-on knowledge of a wide range of polymers, polymer processes, and additives, along with creativity, resourcefulness, and the ability to sift through a wide array of alternatives involving inter- and intra-disciplinary knowledge bases in a short time. He focuses on the inherent but not revealed attributes of a material to his advantage. He frequently uses design of experiments and Taguchi techniques, parallel processing and product management techniques to come up with usable and novel solutions in short time. His work product often constitutes a solution to a specific problem and a new knowledge base for future use. He has presented seminars at universities and a paper on the Effect of Speed in Product Launch. In one example of his work, an overseas company retained him to develop an olefin-based low durometer TPV bondable to PC and PU for an automotive application. He sourced materials, developed 81 compositions based on three different approaches, optimized selected compositions, and optimized ingredients for cost, all in a four-month period. His work product formed a foundation for a commercial product. In another example, a major North American automotive supplier needed help with developing TPE with improved surface durability. He developed a proprietary composition range that is employed in the commercial product, but in the process also developed test equipment to study scratch resistance at elevated temperatures. The client filed for a patent. In a third example, a client wanted to develop usable products from off-spec disposable diaper industrial waste. He employed specific water-soluble ingredients in the diaper construction to develop paintable TPO formulations with very high flex modulus and impact strength. Expert's work is not limited to plastics materials and products but extends to process and new test method development.
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Expert is experienced in both the theoretical and practical aspects of polymer mixing. He has first-hand experience with design and operations of the majority of continuous and batch type plastics mixing and compounding equipment including twin screw extruder, single screw extruder, multi-stage extruders, Banbury, FCM, open roll-mills, Moriyama, and high speed Hencshel power mixing. He has effectively developed compounds and optimum mixing processes for mixing carbon black and/or reinforcement fibers (glass, cellulosic, wood, mineral, and graphite-Ni) in olefinic and engineered polymers, highly filled particulate filled polymers, reactive modification of olefins via extrusion, reactive compatibilization of dissimilar polymers, and grafting. He has explored and published papers on the effects of melt elasticity on distributive mixing, the effect of processing on morphology, and dispersion quality. At Basell, he acted as an internal consultant for modeling and developing extrusion and compounding technologies (using extrusion modeling software) for a wide array of products including Castalloy, HMSPP, glass filled PP, Hivalloy, visbreaking of PP, TPO, as well as optimum screw designs for rapid color changes and optimum mixing strategies for reducing unmelt and gels. In one example, a major automotive part producer was experiencing a problem with voids and unmelt pellets on a large molded part from TPO after baking in paint ovens. He helped solved this serious problem by designing a screw and pre-heating the pellets. This resulted in 100% improvement and retention of a major client. He had proposed the use of multiple extruders with off-set compression zones for tailoring distributive/dispersion mixing. In addition, through compounding only, he has developed methods to tailor conductivity of carbon-filled conductive heat sensing formulations, and weld line strength in glass-filled materials.
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Over a period of 16 years, Expert has participated in and lead team efforts to launch strategic material products from concept development to launch, including preparing marketing material and acquiring capital equipment. He has also applied parallel processing and optimization techniques for reducing product development cycle time. His clients have retained his services for both short term and long term projects, often to evaluate status and feasibility of internal R & D efforts targeted for long term objectives. By offering independent objective assessments, he has saved resources. His key strengths in this critical area are his multidisciplinary educational background (including an MBA); his expertise in applying DOE and optimization techniques in an industrial environment; an ability to form affiliations with a wide range of industries; an ability to communicate with engineers with different scientific backgrounds; an understanding of manufacturing operations; and an ability to work with manufacturing, marketing, and sales people. He has also has provided assistance in market research, field trials, mapping product attributes, making go-no-go decisions, and product or technology valuation. He is proficient in the Indian language and has business, government, and domestic connections in the Indian plastics industry. He recently has signed a JDA with universities and ha2 facilitated industry-university alliances.
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Expert received his later education from two leading universities in the area of polymer processing, namely the Stevens Institute of Technology and the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. He has hands-on experience with the majority of polymer processing methods and equipment including profile extrusion, pressure extrusion, co-extrusion, injection molding, compression molding, transfer molding, rotational molding, thermoforming, wire-coating, extrusion foaming, calendaring, blown-film, cast-film, fiber-lay-up and pre-peg impregnation, pultrusion, reactive extrusion with liquid and heat/shear sensitive ingredients, sintering, and surface modification, melt adhesion, and painting processes. He has used these processing methods to shape olefins, engineering polymers, fluoropolymers, phenolics and melamine, polyurethane resins, thermoplastic elastomers, and various thermoplastic vulcanizate, glass filled, particulate filled, flame retarded, and nanoclay filled polymers composites.
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Amit, using his testing and processing facility located in Irving, Texas, provides testing services to several local processors, resin suppliers, and resin distributors. He is familiar with most commonly used ASTM standards for mechanical, physical, chemical, thermal, rheological, flammability, and environmental testing. He frequently advises clients on proper testing methods and protocols for quality control. He applies testing methods to identify components and impurities in unknown compositions to investigate the life of a product or determine the cause of premature failure modes, to optimize product compositions, to provide assistance in setting process parameters, or in determining process-induced failures and remedies. He also assists in developing application-specific non-standard test methods and design of test equipment. Recently, he developed a novel thermoforming analyzer, which uses a small amount of material and provides valuable information with respect to the ability of the thermoplastic to thermoform in a short time.
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Show Secondary and Basic Areas of Expertise | Localities:
Expert may consult nationally and internationally, and is also local to the following cities: Dallas, Texas;
Fort Worth, Texas;
Arlington, Texas;
Plano, Texas;
Garland, Texas;
Irving, Texas;
Grand Prairie, Texas;
Mesquite, Texas;
Waco, Texas;
and Carrollton, Texas.
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Degree |
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Subject |
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Institution |
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Honors |
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1986
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Ph.D.
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Polymer Science/Plastics Engineering
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Univeristy of Massachusetts, Lowell
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1982
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M.E.
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Chemical Engineering/Polymer Engineering
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Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey
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1995
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M.B.A.
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Business Management
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Bryant College, Rhode Island
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1980
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B.E.
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Chemical Engineering, Petrochemicals
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Gujarat Univeristy
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Top of Deans list (1975, '76, '78, '79, '80)
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Employer |
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Department |
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Title |
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Responsibilities |
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1999 to
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(Undisclosed)
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President
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Expert develops new material concepts, prepares and presents proposals to corporate R & D managers, provides contract R & D services including IP development, prototypes, field testing, market analysis, and technology licensing.
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1997 to 1999
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Solvay Engineered Polymers
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Thermoplastic Elastomers
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Program Manager
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He developed several modified PP based compositions (TPO, TPE, TPV) and process technologies for applications in the automotive industry. He prepared and presented market analysis for TPV.
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1992 to 1995
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Teknor Apex Company
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Thermoplastic Elastomers
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Senior Engineer
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Expert developed several reactive and non-reactive TPEs and TPVs for consumer, automotive, and W & C industries. He developed a TPV program from R & D to commercialization.
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1990 to 1992
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Basell
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Advanced materials R & D
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Senior Engineer
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He developed methods for developing TPOs, filled composites, high melt strength PP, reactive modification of PP, and PP based alloys. He was an internal consultant for extrusion, compounding, and optimization studies.
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1986 to 1990
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Raychem Corp.
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Chemelex
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Senior Engineer, R & D
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Expert lead a team to develop specialty self-regulating filled conductive compositions for heat tracing cables and polymer thick films with both very low and very high switch temperatures used for industrial and deicing applications.
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1995 to 1996
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Transmit Technology, Inc.
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President
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He started a technology transfer firm, and lead a team of engineers and financiers for transferring technologies to India.
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Associations/Societies
Expert is a member of the Society of Plastics Engineers.
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Publications and Patents Summary
He has 18 technical publications, seven issued patents, and four pending patents.
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Selected Publications and Publishers
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- Society of Petroleum Engineers
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- Flexpo - Chemical Market Resources
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| Selected Consulting Examples: |
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Chairs molded from a PP hompolymer were cracking during shipping. Several truckloads were returned. Analysis by Expert showed that color concentrate was nucleating resin causing warpage and stress build-up upon storage.
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Gears made of glass-filled Nylon 66 were cracking during use. Analysis showed that voids were created due to improper drying and excessive fiber break down at the teeth crest.
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An overseas company wanted to develop new olefin-based TPV that will adhere to PC and PU. Expert developed several reactively modified TPV alloys with cohesive failure and low compression sets.
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A major corporation wanted to develop a new TPV technology with lower compression set. Expert developed a proprietary technology, and the client filed a patent.
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A client wanted to develop a scratch- and mar-resistant soft TPE for automotive interior. Expert developed a solution, commercialized the product, and filed a patent for the material.
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Recent Client Requests:
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Expert in carbon black by-product for consulting on usage, handling, pricing, grading and consumption.
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Coating expert for consulting on melamine.
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Click the green button above to contact
Expert for a free initial screening call regarding your expert consulting needs.
Expert is available for consulting to corporate, legal and government clients.
Remember, your initial screening call to speak with
Expert is free.
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Click the green button above to contact
Expert for a free initial screening call regarding expert testimony,
litigation consulting and support, forensic services, or any related expert witness services.
A few litigation needs include product liability, personal injury, economic loss, intellectual property
(patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright), and insurance matters. Remember, your initial screening
call to speak with
Expert is free.
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| International Experience: |
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Country / Region |
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Summary |
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1995 to 1996
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India
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Expert packaged and presented various proprietary technologies (polymers and non-polymer, powder coating, plasma welding, and ground rubber based surface coating) to investors and companies in India.
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| Language Skills: |
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| Foreign Language |
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Description |
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Hindi, Gujarati
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Expert is proficient (speaking, reading, and writing) in the national language of India.
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Expert has been supporting the marketing effort of a major European PP supplier for the past two years. He prepares potential client lists, makes calls, provides application support, attends field trials, and ships and stores sample materials.
Click the green button above to contact
Expert for a free initial screening call regarding your marketing research, industry research, and company
research needs. For research needs involving multiple experts or secondary research,
a Research Director can be assigned to coordinate the work into a custom report for you as a potentially quicker
and more cost effective alternative to doing this work yourself or hiring a boutique consultancy.
Remember, your initial screening call to speak with
Expert is free.
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| Additional Skills and Services: |
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Training/Seminars
Expert has provided seminars on the use of Taguchi methods in process and product optimization. He has trained 20 technical associates for six months in “Principles of Polymer Processing and Testing.”
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Supplier and Vendor Location and Selection He has selected and helped select raw materials for employers and for clients, and routinely conducts comparative vendor analysis.
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Other Skills and Services
He is currently preparing for a USPTO Patent bar exam. He is experienced in implementing Taguchi methods in production and R & D environments.
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Education
