Engineer Quality

John G. Underwood

***E Wilford Ave.

Murray, UT *4107

Home: 801-***-**** Cell: 385-***-****

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Summary

A proven Chemical Engineer and Chemist with over 20 years of chemical industry work experience in

process engineering, analytical chemistry and equipment sales. Experience with project management and

execution from laboratory bench through pilot scale-up and final full scale operation. Engineering skills

include Statistical Process Control (SPC) and Design of Experiments (DOE) with knowledge of metal

extraction from minerals, liquid solid separation, purification using multi-stage crystallization and solvent

extraction techniques.

Professional Experience

Senior Process Engineer: FLSmidth Salt Lake City Inc., UT 2011- 2013

1. A global engineering company supplying systems and services to the cement and minerals

industries

2. Tested and sized pressure, vacuum and gravity liquid solid separation equipment.

3. Trained and mentored new engineering hires in testing and sizing of equipment.

4. Safety, chemical inventory, training/monitoring of new engineers at customer sites

5. Client site visits to test process streams for new equipment or to troubleshoot and optimize

existing and newly installed equipment.

6. upkeep of existing 5S and implementation of calibration systems

7. Writing of customer reports indicating equipment viability and proposed sizing.

8. Operation of multi-staged CSTR pilot.

Quality Control Manager: Chemtool Inc., Tehachapi, CA 2009- 2011

A manufacturer and custom formulator of lubricants and specialty petrochemical products for industry

•Managed QC laboratory of up to 6 technicians within budget constraints to maintain standards and

notify upper management of developing quality issues.

•Maintained calibration standards and finished product retains. Managed calibration of all QC test

equipment, FTIR, 4-ball weld, cone penetration, viscometers, densitometer, pH and titration to name a

few.

•Contracted management and scheduling of externally calibrated laboratory and manufacturing

equipment.

•Hired developed/trained and mentored laboratory technicians to ensure that they were performing to

standards in support of the production and quality process.

•Worked with R&D to help define product and raw material specifications and ensure that these

specifications are duplicated across multiple database systems.

• Helped troubleshoot process problems and productions issues.

•Monitored all incoming raw materials to ensure Quality and Certification is obtained and recorded.

• Maintained Quality database and generation of Certificates of analysis for customers.

Quality Control Manager: Lehigh Southwest Cement, Tehachapi, CA 2007-2008

Cement production plant with accompanying limestone mine making type II, V Portland cement using a six

stage preheater Kiln.

9. Managed quality department and laboratory consisting of 7 hourly personnel and one

supervisor.

10. Maintained Cement quality by testing final and feed products using X-Ray Florescence

(XRF), Particle Size Distribution (PSD), Calorimeter and Sulfur instrumentation. Results were

used to determine mix design and milling conditions while maintaining desired product strength

and set time parameters as outlined by ASTM construction specifications.

11. Wrote AFE’s to upgrade and modernize the pre-existing laboratory. Once approved, worked

with company purchasing agents to get the best available large volume global purchase price for

equipment.

12. Wrote several SOP’s for general operations as well as Laboratory specific sample acquisition

and final product transport.

13. Modified existing excel VBA program to monitor and warn Process Control Supervisor of

potential quality issues during production.

14.

Research Engineer Pilot Plant: US Borax Inc., Boron, CA 1999-2007

An open pit Sodium Borate mining, refining and processing operation. Producer of high purity Borax and

Boric Acid compounds through Dissolution, Chemical Reaction, Crystallization and high temperature

furnace glass melt techniques.

15. Wrote Project Engineering Scope documents for planned plant expansion, to install and test

centrifuge process for plant liquors to reduce evaporation pond solids and effluent.

16. Determined mathematical algorithm(s) for filling complex shaped silo and dome volumes.

Algorithms were programmed into Excel spreadsheet for operators to use given depth gauge and

density readings.

17. Developed process to improve existing low density problematic product. Designed and built

demonstrator plant utilizing air conveyance and classification to improve Particle Size Distribution

and bulk density.

18. Co-Developed process for compaction and segregation of crushed material into screened

fertilizer components. Built and operated demonstrator pilot plant showing feasibility relative to

existing process. $6.7+ million full-scale 100tpd plant was approved and built based on findings.

Plant is currently in operation.

19. Stepped in and managed technical staff of 16 hourly personnel during long term illness of

existing administrative co-worker.

20. Co-developed process for production of Calcium Borates through crystallization while

overcoming complications of competing crystallization morphologies. Also, proved dewatering,

conveyance and drying techniques to enhance economics of the project. Product was marketed

to white wares and tile industry. It was also used as a frit and coloring enhancement for

decorative tiles.

Coatings Engineer: Applied Hardcoating Technologies (AHT), Henderson, NV 1997-1998

A thin film quality optical coatings start-up specializing in application of clear protective hard coatings

21. Developed automated algorithm using Excel to calculate multi-component solvent addition

requirements for coatings management system.

22. Maintained and updated permitting for air quality, hazardous waste and waste water effluents

to ensure compliance and minimize possible liability.

23. Worked with state and local agencies to determine reduced VOC emission fees based on

mass balance calculations.

24.

25. Development/Process Engineer: Unocal 76, Molycorp Inc., Mountain Pass, CA1994-1997

A Rare Earth Metals extraction, separation and processing mine

26. R&D of Lanthanide catalyst and subsequent design of pilot circuits to determine full scale

Economic feasibility.

27. Design (PFD’s, P&ID’s), construction, operation and analysis of pilot projects both continuous

and batch.

28. Used Statistical Process Control (SPC) and Experimental Design (DOE) techniques to

determine scale-up merit and optimization.

29. Troubleshooting and analysis of existing circuit deviations in order to improve quality and

reduce process variation.

30. Conducted economic analysis and piloted Reverse Osmosis equipment for treatment and

pretreatment of tailings water using sand filters both gravity and pressure. This process reduced

waste water volume and slowed ever increasing California environmental regulatory pressures.

Full Time University of Virginia Bsc. Chemical Engineering (2nd degree) 1992-1994

Environmental/Analytical Chemist: Froehling & Robertson

Richmond, VA 1991-1992

An environmental and commercial testing laboratory

31. Conducted ASTM environmental tests using FTIR, IC, HPLC, UV-VIS and wet bench prep

techniques.

32. Set-up and programmed spreadsheets to automatically calculate and calibrate results.

33. Consulted with clients concerning desired analysis and test results.

Analytical Chemist: Roche Biomedical, Richmond, VA 1989-1991

An industrial hygiene, environmental and medical testing laboratory

34. Conducted ASTM environmental and water purity tests using FTIR, IC, HPLC, UV-VIS and

wet bench prep techniques.

35. Set-up and programmed spreadsheets to automatically calculate and calibrate results.

36. Consulted with clients concerning desired analysis and test results.

Work while attending Virginia Commonwealth University Bsc. Chemistry (1 st degree)

Research Assistant: Virginia Commonwealth Univ., Richmond, VA 1986-1989

• Maintained and operated continuous Fischer-Tropsch catalytic research reactor to produce synthetic

petroleum fuels and determine Ruthenium Catalysis support characteristics using GC Analysis.

37. Co-developed software for data acquisition and process automation control.

38. Co-developed driver software for mass storage of real time data stream.

Education

B.SC. CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, 1994

B.Sc. CHEMISTRY (ACS CERTIFIED), VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY, RICHMOND, VA, 1988

Skills

Very Skilled with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook PowerPoint, Project), AutoCAD and Visio.

Development and programming process simulation using Excel and VBA modules. Object oriented

application programming using Microsoft Visual Studio.Net(VB and C#). Also, familiar with Visual Basic

6.0.

LANGUAGES: English, Spanish

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