Technical Leader / Scientist

Jorge Soto

**** **** **** **** *****, NC ***** 989-***-****

*************@*****.***

Technical Leader / Scientist

Highly accomplished technical leader and scientist with exceptional

research and process performance results in the chemical industry. Proven

inventor with 15 patents and over 100 publications. Substantial company

contributor with broad range of management, technology and scientific

skills in the chemical industry. Demonstrated capacity to bring an

uncompromising approach to improve processes and products. Innovative

leader with expertise to develop staff, cultivate a positive work

environment and motivate teams.

Innovative Leadership and Team Polymer & Catalysis Technology &

building Development

Process development and Solution, slurry, emulsion polymerization

optimization of olefins

Stage gate processes Extensive synthesis and analytical

experience

Cross-functional team leadership Intellectual Property strategy

PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

. Developed novel catalyst technology to support polyolefin plant

operations with revenues in excess of $1 billion in sales. Resulted in

multiple patents including US Patent 6,825,295

. Identified and developed waterborne polyurethane technology in response

to growing market trends for coatings and adhesives ($8+ billion market).

Resulted in US Patent 5,008,325

. Identified root cause of product performance problem in $700MM latex foam

durable goods market.

. Identified root cause of product discoloration. Implemented solution.

. Tested & scaled-up catalysts for development and implementation in the

production of specialty elastomers and synthetic rubbers, with a combined

market volume of 500 MM pounds/year.

. Ideated, directed and developed new latex foam materials in $700MM

durable goods market in company innovation breakthrough.

. Identified root cause of process bottleneck. Modified raw material specs,

improved filtration step from 6 minutes to 1 minute, per batch. Improved

throughput from 6,000 lbs/day to 8,000 lbs/day.

. Increased plant productivity by 25+% in 20MM lbs/year pine oil production

by developing an analytical method for raw material and recycled streams.

. Validated, transitioned, directed and implemented the procedure for pine

oil increased productivity.

. Managed IP & Trademark activities: literature search, R&D work, patent

filing, and disclosure strategy.

. Directed projects resulting in improved materials & processes.

o Improved data of high throughput process by reducing variability

by 20+%.

o Reduced defects by 80% in elastomeric product and obtained US Patent

6,946,531. Project was used as a research case study for future

trainings.

o Increased process uptime by reducing yearly down time by 90%

(from 150 hours to 16 hours).

o Decreased financial analysis cycle time for stakeholders' annual

meeting by 60%+.

. Authored 30+ patent applications, 15 of them issued in the US, most also

as World / European Patents.

. Produced 100+ reports & articles, including proprietary and public domain

publications.

. Exercise due diligence for the compliance with project timelines, the

alignment of available resources, and safety and environmental

regulations.

. Assessed and insure comprehensive safety checks for chemical R&D

processes.

. Facilitated multiple Six Sigma workshops and chemistry mini-courses.

. Managed safety coordinator responsibilities for chemical R&D site with

400 employees.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

LION COPOLYMER Technical Leader / Scientist Baton Rouge, LA

12/2009 - 07/2013

Directed and coordinated R&D efforts for new product developments and plant

support. Defined strategies, timelines and managed resources of multiple

projects to achieve milestones and targets on timely basis.

. Generated and implemented strategic Road Map for New Product

Technology development.

. Highly integrated with executive management and BOD for efficient

project prioritization and direction.

. Performed Stage Gate Process methodology for best practice of

product development strategy.

. Maintained a strong relationship with Operations (solution & emulsion

processes), for strongly focused implementations and resolutions of

existing issues, and new product development.

. Developed novel emulsion composition. Patent pending.

. Developed novel surface modification and catalyst technologies. Eight

pending patents.

. Upgraded research & analytical lab facility for Business Platforms.

. Supervised six PhD professionals and ten lab technicians.

. Managed IP: provisional patent & final edition, trademark

registrations/ oppositions. 100% success rate

. Directly involved with environmental and regulatory matters,

including REACH.

SEALY, INC R&D Director / Sr Scientist - Research & Engineering

Trinity, NC 3/2007 - 8/2009

Directed and developed R&D for mattress latex technology $700MM durable

goods business. Supervised and trained technical professional personnel in

chemistry, process and analytical aspects.

. Interacted closely with material suppliers to establish specification-

properties relationships to optimize the latex foam integrity and

subsequent vulcanization process improvements.

. Ideated and developed novel latex foam formulations and materials.

. Designed experiments to validate robustness of latex foaming process:

Determined and validated process parameters for optimum foam stability

and product performance.

. Established and performed thermo-mechanical analysis for vulcanized latex

foam. Interpreted results.

. Compiled standard operating procedures for the thermo-mechanical analysis

equipment for reference use by personnel. Resulted in focused and

optimized use of resources.

. Discovered correlation between raw material source and its relationship

to product performance issues.

LORD CORPORATION Staff Scientist - Process R&D Cary, NC 3/2005 -

11/2006

Defined short and long term project goals. Worked, and directed team

members, to achieve objectives.

. Led key chemical process optimization projects. Established critical

metrics for HPLC and GC analysis of raw materials, intermediates and

process products. Purified thermal sensitive standards to 100% purity for

improved and reproducible analysis accuracy.

. Contributed directly on syntheses, processes and analysis methods.

. Established a procedure to reduce stream recycle and acid waste reduction

with savings of $100K/yr

. Supervised research and production work of personnel in lab and pilot

plant projects

. Trained personnel on Design of Experiments methodology, data

interpretation and pilot run design for validation of data.

DOW CHEMICAL Research Leader - Central R&D Midland, MI 1988 -

7/2004

Ideated and worked with multiple personnel [R&D, analytical, production,

legal, marketing] to discuss project timelines, resources and goals.

Interacted with academia in multiple projects.

. Formulated new water-borne polyurethane materials for elastomers, coating

and adhesive applications.

. Developed multiple INSITE Technology catalyst for solution, slurry and

gas olefin polymerizations.

. Purchased and designed 5 reactors with different automated configurations

as the main infrastructure for solution, slurry and gas olefin

polymerizations. Safety was focus #1.

. Visited European Dow facilities to support ongoing projects.

. Received Dow Chemical "Inventor of the Year" Award (1998) + other

multiple awards.

. Drafted, inspected for safety and directed operation of first

polypropylene gas phase reactor at Dow.

. Interacted with multiple universities in the US and Europe to support

ongoing projects

EDUCATION

PhD in Chemistry, Catalysis: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena,

CA

Bachelor of Science in Chemistry [High Honors] Tecn logico de Monterrey,

M xico

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