Engineer, Manufacturing and process control

James W. Slack, Ph.D.

*** ************* ***., *********, **, 02420

781-***-**** *******@****.***.***

Summary

Manufacturing and Process Engineer with depth of experience optimizing manufacturing processes, ensuring the reliability of equipment, and introducing new equipment and processes into production. Strength applying a theoretical and mathematical background to solve complex manufacturing problems. Expertise includes:

Structural Analysis

Computer data acquisition and analysis

Instrumentation

Signal processing

Process control (especially continuous processes)

Web handling

Coating

Improving product quality

Solution mix

Ensuring process safety and reliability

Mechanical assembly

Root cause analysis

Acoustics and Dynamic Modelling

Heat and mass transfer

Software Skills

MATLAB, Simulink, and National Instruments LabView, Microsoft Office Suite

Professional Experience

Koch Membrane Systems, Wilmington, MA 2011-2017

Koch Membrane is a manufacturer of micro- and reverse osmosis filtration membranes.

Senior Manufacturing Technology Engineer

Responsibilities included manufacturing equipment support, process improvement, and safe handling of bulk chemicals. Process improvement efforts included energy efficiency and process water recovery as well as process uniformity.

Performed an energy analysis of the membrane production line and filter element test systems for chiller sizing, waste heat recovery, and energy efficiency improvements.

Analyzed multi-channel process data to optimize manufacturing processes and diagnose problems.

Diagnosed an ongoing contamination problem that caused 1 to 3 week delays in startup of a specialty membrane product. Discovered the source of the contamination, and showed that it was entering the process in the vapor phase. Specified a cleaning process that eliminated the contamination and resulted in good product at startup.

Solved various web tension and web guiding problems to reduce scrap in continuous flat sheet membrane manufacturing.

Integration of multiple reverse osmosis process water recovery systems with continuous flat sheet membrane casting.

Introduced a simple change in a specialty membrane manufacturing process that increased capacity by 75%.

Improved meter-mix systems for two-component adhesive mixing and dispensing to improve element assembly by reducing product defects and scrap.

Conducted studies to determine the effect of humidity as a cause of adhesive defects.

American Superconductor, Devens, MA 2008-2011

American Superconductor produces high temperature superconducting wire.

Equipment Engineer

Primary responsibility for web handling for roll-to-roll processes including reactive sputtering processes, furnaces, and coaters. Also responsible for ongoing manufacturing support, upgrades, and new equipment projects.

Installed a center pivot steering roll on a furnace exit to solve a tracking problem.

Developed a continuous web camber measurement system for narrow webs.

Introduced the use of two stage gas distribution manifolds at AMSC; which give better off-design performance than one-stage designs. Designed a two stage gas distribution manifold for a vacuum furnace.

Polaroid Corporation / MultiLayer Coating Technologies, New Bedford, MA 1984-2007

MultiLayer Coating Technologies was formed from Polaroid assets and people in 2006 to provide custom coating services.

Senior Principal Engineer

Responsible for all aspects of design and maintenance of coating applicators. Assisted with troubleshooting manufacturing processes, especially with coating uniformity issues.

Developed techniques for fabricating slot coating applicators that reduced coverage variation by 50%. Developed applicator inspection system with 5 microinch (1/8 micron) resolution. Developed inspection techniques for plate stack cascade applicators that allowed simultaneous coating of 16 layers; with critical layers controlled to +/- 1% cross-web coverage uniformity. Measured straightness of Dover air slide (68 inch travel) and used result to correct straightness measurements. Straightness tolerance on Polaroid applicator plates was 2.5 micron TIR.

Diagnosed and designed a simple solution for a dispensing system noise mechanism that was causing defective coatings. Built a monitoring system to provide “early warning” of similar problems so that production of defective product could be avoided.

Designed a passive vibration suppression system for a photo quality thermal printer, which improved line placement accuracy and eliminated banding in the image. Diagnosed other vibration mechanisms in the drive system that were eliminated by system redesign.

Investigated and resolved a number of other mechanisms of print line placement error in a variety of prototype printers.

Developed a MATLAB model for a servomotor and controller for a coating roll drive which showed that the optimal tuning for constant coating speed in the presence of web tension disturbances is not the same as optimal tuning for transient response of the drive. Used the model to tune the drive on Polaroid’s research coater for improved coating uniformity.

Developed a computer model of the registration of the film assembly process. “Registration” was the term for component position accuracy. Used the model to develop and test a new control strategy for a new product for which the old control strategy was not suitable.

Made extensive measurements of part placement accuracy on film assembly machines. These measurements along with the registration model (see above) were a significant contribution to the successful effort to increase production speed by 15 % with no degradation of product quality.

Investigated and proposed solutions for causes of coating non-uniformity related to web transport, bead vacuum, and drive systems disturbances.

Derived an analytical solution for thermally induced stresses in a laminated structure. This problem described the behavior of a steel strip bonded to the edge of a ceramic plate.

Derived an analytical solution to a non-Newtonian fluid/structure interaction problem that describes a key behavior of Polaroid instant film. This analytical solution was also used to explain the “failure” of computer model that was intended to solve the problem.

Education

Ph.D., Ocean Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

S.B., Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Publications

“Scanner-Based Measurement of Print Line Placement” Suhail S. Saquib, Dirk W. Hertel, James W. Slack, Brian Busch, and Richard G. Egan; Polaroid Corporation, IS&T's NIP18: International Conference on Digital Printing Technologies, San Diego, California, September 29, 2002

“The Mechanism of Piston Slap Noise” James W. Slack, Proceedings of Noise-Con 83, 1983

“Mobility of high impedance structures” J. W. Slack, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, May 1981, Vol. 69, Issue S1, p. S24

Patent

“Registration error reduction in a tandem printer”, Alfredo G. Kniazzeh and James W. Slack, III, May 25, 2004

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