Process Engineer

Professional Summary

Skills

Work History

DAMIAN EMERSON

Baltimore, MD 21236 443-***-**** ********@****.*** Hardworking Chemical Engineer with experience in chemical processing and GMP environments. Driven and methodical individual with focus on developing and improving processes. Background providing engineering support for research and capital budget manufacturing projects. Native english speaker. Conversational

proficiency in French

Microsoft Office (Project, Excel, Visio,

PowerPoint, and Word)

Process design and equipment

troubleshooting

Time management, able to manage time

adequately when working on a project or

responsibility

Technical writing, able to communicate

clearly and concisely results in a written

report

Team collaboration, able to effectively work

on a cross-functional team

Multi-tasking

Self- motivated

Strong desire to acquire and learn new skills

quickly

Record Keeping

Creative problem solving

Effective oral communication

Familiarity with ISO regulatory compliance

standards

Familiarity with GMP environments

Data interpretation and analysis

Nov 2020 - Current

Baltimore, MD

Manufacturing Associate II - Downstream Ops

Catalent Pharma Solutions

Documented and completed downstream batch production records under current good manufacturing practices (cGMP)

Worked on Manufacturing process improvement projects with goals of saving on in-process material usage and making process steps easier to complete by the operator. Technical familiarity with downstream processing equipment utilized for cell and gene therapy AAV product molecule purification; such as AKTA ready chromatography skids, crossflow/TFF systems, viral filtration, and bulk drug-substance(BDS) filtration Knowledge of Lean Six Sigma methods application to a cGMP environment Familiarity of the various phases of the traditional pharmaceutical drug development timeline and understands the importance of process development for establishing a robust process which increases the odds of successful clinical trials. Nov 2018 - Nov 2020

Newport News, VA

Process Engineer I - Process Development

Canon Virginia, Inc.

Implemented a design change of a bio-process filter pore size which was able to increase the product yield from 60% to 75% with the same unit-operation cycle time. Issued technical reports which detailed progress of process optimization results. Implemented a variety of techniques to optimize changeovers and increase tangential flow filtration process capacity, which resulted in a 23% reduction in changeover time. Drafted standard operating procedures and training material for new analytical equipment and pilot- scale equipment used by operators.

Interpreted and improved process flow diagrams which were used in determining preliminary process steps in mass producing protein product.

Improved bio-process separator efficiency by optimizing equipment operating parameters such as flow-rate, temperature, and pressure

Troubleshooted process equipment issues and successfully reduced overall process unplanned downtime by 8% by the end of fiscal year.

Conducted cost estimates for capital project budget items (i.e analytical equipment and bulk chemical reagents).

Issued RFQ's and procured new in-process equipment and laboratory analytical equipment from equipment vendors.

Estimated in-process equipment throughputs by conducting mass balances around overall PFD using client product targets (i.e Tons product/yr). Conducted risk assessments on process equipment and procedures to ensure safe practices. Engaged in patent research and completed Intellectual property training courses. May 2017 - Aug 2018

Catonsville, MD

Research Intern

University of Maryland - Baltimore County

Handled and processed large data files in MATLAB and Excel Analyzed ozone and particulate matter (PM 2.5) diurnal patterns in suburban Maryland to understand how different parameters such as humidity, temperature, and latitude affect pollutant concentrations

Used a simulation model (WRF-chem), to make estimations on pollutant concentration levels in the future

Education

Relevant Course Projects

Jan 2017 - May 2017

Catonsville, MD

Research Assistant

University of Maryland - Baltimore County

Assisted chief engineer in designing and creating a custom low-cost aerosol sensor Cleaned and maintained equipment in good working order Recorded data and maintained source documentation while following good documentation practices

05/2018

Baltimore, MD

Bachelor of Science: Chemical Engineering

University of Maryland - Baltimore County

Coursework include: Thermodynamics, Reaction kinetics, Separation engineering, Water treatment engineering, Biotechnology, Process control and safety, Sensor technology, and Chemical process development.

Chemical Process Development- (Project plan proposal for ammonia reactor scale up used in the Haber Bosch process)

Utilized the design of experiments method to determine the sensitivity of key parameter combinations (i.e Pressure and temperature) with increasing scale size Estimated the time, approximate cost, and equivalent scale factors needed for the ammonia reactor scale up

Chemical Process Engineering Design I- (Process synthesis for commercial cyclohexane production)

Worked in a team to develop a feasible continuous process for the production of cyclohexane via the catalytic hydrogenation of benzene reaction Conducted material and energy balances around individual process units (i.e pumps, heat exchangers, and separation units) in order to determine unknown flows and conditions necessary for cyclohexane production

Performed literature searches on previous relevant work to aid to in the overall process design formulation

Prepared an overall process flow diagram for the finished process for cyclohexane production Utilized chemical process simulation software (Aspen plus) to model the entire proposed chemical process

Performed a rudimentary economic analysis for the unit operations used in cyclohexane production to determine overall profit

Aimed to be sustainable and environmentally favorable in overall process design and conducted a HAZOP analysis on the overall process to make sure that safety guidelines are followed accordingly

Affiliations

Advanced Chemical Engineering Design Laboratory- (PID control of a double pipe heat exchanger experiment)

Controlled the temperature of a heat exchanger using the closed-loop Ziegler-Nichols and open-loop Cohen-Coon process control methods

Analyzed the PID tuning parameters for both methods, to determine the most efficient control scheme based on system constraints, which were used in maintaining the heat exchanger temperature to a desired set point

Wrote a technical laboratory report which detailed the results and relevance of the experiment

Member, American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), 2014 to Current Member, National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), 2013 to Current

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