Engineer Six Sigma

SIPHO C. NDLELA, PHD

Ames, IA *****

www.linkedin.com/in/sipho-ndlela-chemical-engineer/

*******@*****.*** 515-***-****

CERTIFIED SIX SIGMA GREEN BELT, LEAN SIX SIGMA PRACTITIONER, CHEMICAL

ENGINEER

Analyze and Solve Complex Large Data, and Execute Cost Savings and Waste Elimination

Through Process Improvement Projects to Achieve High Quality Products

Chemical engineer ing pr ofessional wit h experience in building materials industry, oil processing industry, energy and gas industry,

paper chemical industry, biodiesel industry. Experienced researcher wit h specialization in catalysis, high temperature / pressure

reaction systems, super / sub crit ical oil-pr ot ein extraction pr ocesses, biodiesel pr ocessing, a nd fer mentation of cellulosic

feedstock int o et hanol. Qualified at leading, starting and ma naging tea m of individuals t o acco mplish pr oject startups fro m

laborator y, pilot scale a nd industrial scale.

EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATION

Six Sigma Black Belt Certificate, Villanova University, Philadelphia, PA, 2018, (Ongoing)

Lean Six Sigma Certificate, Villanova University, Philadelphia, PA, 2018

Certified Six Sigma Green Belt, Villanova University, Philadelphia, PA, 2016

PhD, Chemical Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA

WORK EX PERIENCE

2016 Current

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY FOR AFRIKA, Beverly Hills, CA

Director, Board Member and Co-Founder

Oversee str ategic platfor ms on renewable ener gy pr ojects including Solar and Wind for Afr ica n Continent. Project manage Solar

Ener gy Pr oject Gra nt Applicati ons in West Africa and Souther n Africa. Chair pr ogra m initiatives for Ghana, West Africa

Subsidiar y, Alter native Renewable Africa n Ener gy (ARAE). Establish and coordinate str ategic visions for AEFA boar d. Levera ge

potential client a nd investor r elationship with gover nment a nd Non-Profit Organizations (NGOs).

2014 2018

OWENS CORNING, Granville OH

Senior Process Engineer

Led var ious Resear ch a nd Development pr ojects. Contributed in diverse and cross functional teams on stra tegic business

alignment pr ojects and delivered new NAF Mineral Wool binder system. Collaborated with external vendors to deliver

innovative quality Measurement Systems.

Led and managed var ious pr opr ietar y continuous pr ocess improvement a nd quality impr ovement pr ojects for insulation

manufacturing plants, resulting to cost savings and waste minimization over $300K.

Identified and completed over $200K cost avoidance projects on critical and high-risk process safety.

Installed $150K capital projects monitoring impact of moisture and energy usage on product quality.

Collaborated with sales and marketing department, responding to customer complaints with potential revenue loss over

$500K.

2013 2014

TUPELOVOX PTY LTD, Gauteng, South Africa

Consulting Engineer

Managed variety of renewable energy and water harvesting projects. Coordinated tasks with vendors and set project goals.

Applied for grants through government entities to support proposed projects. Identified future project sites by coordinating

efforts with municipalities. Assessed potential environmental concerns. Collaborated with other engineers on energy projects.

IOWA ENERGY CENTER, BECON Facility, Nevada, IA

2010 2013

Associate Scientist

Conducted resear ch and development pr ojects using supercritical fluids to conver t biomass (corn stover a nd switch grass) into

chemica ls, fuels, a nd sugars. Investigated reaction pathwa ys that could break down cellulosic feedstock into fer mentable sugar s

for alcohol synthesis.

SIPHO C. NDLELA PAGE TWO

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IOWA ENERGY CENTER, BECON Facility (Continued)

Developed R&D methods optimizing pr otein and oil extra ction fr om soy beans, micro-algae, and macro-algae using

subcritical water conditions.

Pr oject ma na ger involved in upgr ading cooling tower system fr om 50 to 100 ton a nd chiller system fr om 5 to 10 ton capa city

for BECON facility.

Ma naged, mentor ed, a nd tra ined tea m of young engineers on various r enewable projects, motivating to incor porate safety

principles in da y to da y tasks.

2005 2010

Post-Doctoral Research Associate

Conducted consulting pr ojects with exter nal pr ivate entities including Bra tney Compa nies, Inc., Kemin Nutr isura nce Inc., a nd

Ca tilin Inc.

Explored alter native pr ocessing pa thwa ys for pr ocessing waste oils into methyl esters by using solid cata lysts such as Rohm &

Hass solid cata lysts, eliminating use of highly corr osive sulfuric acid cata lyst. Compar ed biodiesel pr oduction efficiency between

CSTR a nd Shear Mixer .

Impr oved pr ocess yields while eliminating water utilization in biodiesel by insta lling solids dr ying technology.

Incr eased pr oduction capa city by impr oving glycer in settling efficiencies by using coa lescer s instea d of settling tanks.

ADDITIONAL RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

MID-STATES BIODIESEL, LLC, Hampton, IA

Operations / Research Manager

WESTHOLLOW TECHNOLOGY CENTER, Houston TX

Intern, Shell Chemicals

INDUSTRIAL OLEO-CHEMICAL PRODUCTS (IOP), Dur ban, South Africa

Production Development Manager

Production Development Officer

SOUTH AFRICAN PAPER CHEMICALS, Joha nnesburg, South Africa

Technician

AREAS OF TECHNICAL PROFICIENCY

Experimental to Industrial Scale Processes

Six Sigma, Leadership, General labora tor y ma na gement, Industr ial and pilot scale resear ch a nd pr oduct development, Industr ial

and pilot scale pr ocess ma na gement, Inor ga nic materials synthesis and char acter iza tion for cata lytic pr ocesses. Labor ator y to pilot

scale R&D: biodiesel, synthesis of chemicals a nd fer mentable sugar s fr om biomass. Oil extra ction resear ch and development.

Batch a nd continuous r eaction engineering.

Instrumental

Ther mogra vimetr ic Analysis (TGA), N2/Kr Adsor ption (BET), X-Ray Diffra ction (XRD), Scanning Electr on Micr oscopy

(SEM), Gas Chr omatogra phy (GC), High Pr essur e Liquid Chr omatogra phy (HPLC), Gas Chr omatogra phy-Mass Spectr ometr y

(GCMS), Kar l Fischer Moistur e Analysis, Laborator y a nd Pilot Scale Distillation and Separ ation / Extra ction

TRAINING

Biodiesel Technology Wor kshop (Iowa Sta te University / University of Ida ho collabora tion), 2005 2009 (Biannually).

Managed and monitored inter national gr oups of 30 40 par ticipating in laboratory training protocols.

COMPUTER SKILLS

Cor el Dra w, KaleidaGra ph, Micr osoft Office, ASPEN Custom Modeler, Aspen, Minitab

SIPHO C. NDLELA PAGE THREE

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PATENT PUBLICATION

Van Leeuwen, J., Norton, G.A., Ndlela, S.C., Rudnick, D. Pr ocesses for isolating chitin a nd chitosa n fr om fungal biomass;

USPTO PATENT number: 9,249,235; Febr uar y 2, 2016.

Ndlela, S.C. et a l., Technology Assessment for Measur ing Key Pr ocess Para meters; Owens Cor ning Intellectua l, LLC,

Gra nville, Ohio, Rights tra nsferr ed to Owens Cor ning, Mar ch 2018.

PUBLICATION HISTORY

Ndlela, S.C., Olson N. K., Chemical Conversion of Biomass under Subcritical / Supercritical - Solvent Conditions Using a

Pilot Scale Flow Reactor : An Over view of the Iowa Energy Center -BECON Supercritical Fluids Pr ogra m., Iowa State

Univer sity, Iowa Ener gy Center, BECON, Nevada, IA, USA, 10th Inter national Symposium on Super critical Fluids, Sa n

Fra ncisco, CA May 2012

Ndlela, S.C., Nobrega de Moura, M. L., Johnson, L. A., Olson, N. K., Aqueous Extra ction of Oil a nd Pr otein fr om

Soybeans by Subcr itical Water Tr eatment., JAOCS, 2012.

Ndlela, S.C., Evaluation of the reaction conversion a nd ener gy consumption dur ing biodiesel pr oduction when using a high

shear mixer pilot sca le reactor, AICHE conference proceedings, Nov 2009.

Ndlela, S.C., Compara tive Study of Tr ansesterification of Refined Oil Using a Batch Reactor Versus a High Shear Mixer

Pilot Scale Reactor, AICHE conference proceedings, Nov 2008.

Ndlela, S.C., Sha nks, B.H., Reducibility of Potassium Pr omoted Ir on Oxide under Hydr ogen Conditions, Industrial &

Engineering Chemistry Research, 2003, 42(10), 2112-2121.

Ndlela, S.C., Sha nks, B.H., Reduction Beha vior of Potassium Pr omoted Ir on Oxide under Mixed Stea m / Hydr ogen

Atmospheres, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 2006, 45 (22), 7427-7434.

ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Chemical Conversion of Biomass under Subcritical / Supercritical - Solvent Conditions Using a Pilot Scale Flow Reactor:

An Overview of the Iowa Energy Center -BECON Supercritical Fluids Program., with Norman Olson, Iowa State

University, Iowa Energy Center, BECON, Nevada, IA, USA, 10th International Symposium on Supercritical Fluids, San

Francisco, CA May 2012.

Assessing the impact of various cosolvents and sulfolane during biomass reactions at subcritical and supercritical

conditions, with Norman Olson, Iowa State University, Iowa Energy Center, BECON, Nevada, IA, USA, AICHE

conference, Minneapolis, MN May 2011.

Aqueous Extraction of Oil and Protein from Soybeans by Subcritical Water Treatment., with Maria Leite Nobrega de

Moura2, Lawrence A. Johnson2, Norman K. Olson1, 1Iowa State University, Iowa Energy Center, BECON, Nevada, IA,

USA, 2Iowa State University, Center for Crops Utilization Research, Food Science Department, Ames, IA, USA, 101th

AOCS conference, Phoenix, AZ May 2010.

Evaluation of the reaction conversion and energy consumption during biodiesel production when using a high shear mixer

pilot scale reactor, AICHE conference, Nashville, TN, November 2009.

LEADERSHIP & AWARDS

Annual Meeting MN Pr ogra mming Cha ir, 2017, Annual Meeting

Pr ogra mming Chair, AICHE Susta inable Engineer ing For um, 2017 2018, Spr ing Meeting

Session Co-Chair, SEF Distr ibuted Chemical and Ener gy Pr ocesses for Susta inability 2016, Annual Meeting

Session Co-Chair, SEF Panel Rethinking Grand Challenges in Sustainability for the 21st Century 2016, Annual Meeting

Session Chair, AICHE SEF Panel Industrial Sustainable Synergies Roundtable Discussion 2015, Annual Meeting

Pr ogra mming Chair, AICHE Susta inable Engineer ing For um, 2014 2016, Annual Meeting

Session Co-Chair, AICHE 23B14 Poster Sustainability and Susta inable Biorefineries, 2013, Annual Meeting

Session Chair, AICHE 23B14 Poster Sustainability a nd Susta inable Biorefineries, 2012, Annual Meeting

Session Co-Chair, AICHE Poster 23B14 Susta inability a nd Sustainable Biorefineries, 2011, Annual Meeting

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