Process Engineer Product Development Engineer Coatings Specialist

Raquiba (Nina) Arnold

** ******** ****, ******, *** Jersey 07871

Cell: 973-***-**** ****.********@*****.***

Chemical Engineer

Concept to Commercialization * Process and Product Development * Coating Expert

Provided product and process development expertise spanning a 20 year career in both R&D and production. Typical responsibilities included making improvements to production necessary to improve operational profitability and increase capacity via the design and implementation of robust coating and printing processes. New product design recommendations included mindful process design emphasising waste minimization and operational efficiency. Identified, justified and specified capital equipment expenditures to improve profitability, quality, flexibility and safety and provided project management leadership and support. Key contributor to 3 major capital installations and startups for large manufacturing plants. Adapted older processes to newer production lines and successfully transferred production from decommissioned lines or from closing plants. Equally adept at handling both long- and short-term projects from concept to commercialization. Expert in functional coatings, formulating, structure/property relationships of polymers, polymer solution and dispersion rheology, extrusion processes.

Areas of Expertise

Product development* Coatings * Printing* Inks* Paper Production * Silicone release coatings* Adhesives*Coating Processes on both paper and film* Formulating * Materials analysis and testing *Root Cause Analysis * Troubleshooting * Polymer processing * Thermal and Pressure Sensing materials*Start-up and installation of new coating and finishing equipment

Selected Career Highlights

*Technical and engineering representative of a 5 member cross functional focus team that expedited development of a proprietary coating process which led to a $160MM capital project and launch of a novel product in coated paper. Awarded the International Paper Product Innovation Award and Chairman’s Award. Key presenter to Chairman and Board for project proposal.

*Principal contributor on three international patents: “Method of making coated paper and paperboard utilizing impulse drying” EP 0514595 A1 Inventor: Raquiba H. Arnold Assignee: Union Camp Corporation – International Patent. “Dual- Function Heat Indicator and Method of Manufacture” Application number: 201******** Inventors: Thaddeus Prusik; Dawn Smith; Dene Taylor; Raquiba Arnold Assignee: Temptime Corporation - US Patent and International Patent.

*Implemented and managed key alliance projects with world leading manufacturers of latex binders; mineral pigments; inks; and printing customers which led to several key strategic projects in various mill locations internationally and introduced product innovations and cost savings in the several $MM range.

*Developed formulations and processes for first and second generation inkjet papers for wide-format high speed digital printing when the technology first emerged.

*Managed the pilot operations of a 36 inch wide; 3000 fpm; state-of-the-art pilot coating machine.

* Through application of the fundamentals of surface science, rheology and optics, developed and manufactured a novel pressure indicating film and suite of pressure range products as sole developer for an entrepreneurial enterprise.

* Chairmen of the Coating Fundamentals Symposium, TAPPI Coating & Graphic Arts Division, Dallas, TX.

Professional Experience

Mondi Tekkote- Leonia/Ridgefield, NJ

Applications Process Engineer (5/2014-12/2016)

*Developed processes and formulations for silicone release liners used in industrial and consumer applications for building, consumer products, medical, and graphic arts markets using flexographic printers, offset gravure, 5-roll metering roll coaters, and forced air thermal curing for solventless platinum and rhodium catalyzed systems.

*Responsible for testing, planning and following product design and process from manufacturing. slitting, packaging completely through to customer delivery and acceptance for all new business development projects with a goal to increase revenue by at minimum $1 million annually from new products through collaborations with the sales group.

* Responsible for planning, making work instructions for operators and reporting results of trials to senior management to ensure they are conducted efficiently for the evaluation of new product designs or to implement new process changes.

*Provided ongoing production, quality and technical support for troubleshooting, root cause/ preventive actions investigations, evaluating new formulated coatings and inks and to manage all chemical component changes of existing and new materials.

*Expertise in paper, thin polyester and polyethylene films, and extrusion coated substrate properties and criteria for material selection.

* Responsible for designing and following process and product from raw material selection through coating, printing, curing, slitting, and subsequent performance follow-up with customers.

*Provided training to peers and operators in continuous improvement, printing anilox maintenance, proper operation of steam foils for controlling curl, and coaching during trial preparations.

*Performed or recommended appropriate testing internally or with outside labs for investigations necessary to solve quality or performance issues with customers, suppliers, and provide support to other plants.

Temptime Corporation- Morris Plains, NJ

Research Scientist – (9/2012 – 5/2014)

*Developed a patented process that created a thermally sensitive coating which changed color to indicate if a threshold temperature had been exceeded. This coating layer was flexo-printed and laminated into a small label to alert if cold chain handling of vaccines and other medications had been compromised. This was a key medical device component.

*Familiar with cGMP, FDA Quality and Documentation procedures, FMECA for product and process, and Stage Gate product development process for medical device products.

*Compounded temperature sensitive components into dispersions that could be applied with an anilox flexo printing station; selected and evaluated non-interacting laminating films and printing ink vehicles chemical systems to ensure product performance.

* Expertise in selecting adhesives, inks varnishes, laminating films and release liner through identifying critical performance specifications.

Sensor Products Inc.-Madison, NJ

Product Development Director-(4/2010-9/2012)

*Developed a contact pressure mapping film used by design and test engineers for measuring pressure and pressure distribution of two contacting surfaces in a wide range of pressures for a small entrepreneur.

*Developed the chemistry of the inks and film, the manufacturing process and packaging of the product.

*Selected and evaluated all material components for suitability and was able to identify and contract toll coating, printing, and slitting operations to manufacture and package the new invention.

*Helped with preparing the sales and marketing brochures and trained the sales engineers to effectively demonstrate and market the new film. Also assisted in these demos with key customers such as Triumph Motorcycles, Goodyear Tires, CERN labs.

International Paper- Tuxedo, NY

Senior Research Scientist – (8/1991-2/1997)

*Formulated for the metering size press and developed a high-speed on-machine coating process robust enough to handle pigmented dispersions for a wide range of products that included inkjet to conventional clay coated papers for short and long run printing processes.

*Led a multidisciplinary focus team representing sales, manufacturing, R&D, and engineering to rapidly develop and start a new process to provide tailored surfaces using a high-speed coating and calendering process. The $160 MM capital investment was repaid within one year from saving in operational efficiency, raw materials, and new revenue streams from new products.

*Provided project management tracking and reporting through all phases using Excel because Microsoft Project had not been introduced yet.

*Involved in the selecting, trialing, installing, and start-up of the new coating line.

*Selected to present the project proposal to the Chairman of the Board and accompanied the sales team to sales meetings and customer presentations to talk about the new installation and the benefits to the customer.

* Implemented hot soft nip calendaring process to further tailor the surface for making new products and create new markets such as release liner substrates and other critical caliper and surface smoothness controlled substrates.

*Applied the fundamentals of surface science, rheology, and flow through porous media to develop inkjet papers for wide format high speed ink jet papers when first introduced to market.

Union Camp Corporation – Princeton, NJ

Senior Research Scientist – (3/1986- 6/1991)

*Supported the rebuild and start-up of a new coating section on Franklin PM1 to make high quality coated bleached board for graphic arts and high-end glossy containers. Formulated for high brightness glossy coatings for different end-uses. Introduced 6 new products in one year during the startup phase.

* Mill support took nearly two years to make the process problem-free because of changes in process design and equipment changes. The benefits of long term exposure to the manufacturing facility forged a sense of process familiarity not otherwise gained in a purely R&D environment and allowed me to make pragmatic product developments with the process capability in mind and has lasted throughout my career.

* Utilized the pilot coater to study factors to optimize process and product and solve start-up problems. Made use of available in-house SEM and ESCA microscopy labs to show and educate mill personnel of how operating parameters affect surface quality. Supervised the pilot coater crew.

Education

Master of Science in Chemical Engineering – Polymer Processing – University of Massachusetts, Amherst

MS Thesis: “The Onset of Boiling in Twin-Screw Extrusion for the Removal of Trace Volatile Components” with advisor Dr. Michael F. Malone with support from Rohm & Haas Corporation

Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering – with honors – University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

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