Research and Development Manager

Steve Hrcek

**** **** ****** **. ** Paso, TX ****4 630-***-**** *************@*****.***

Chemical Engineering Management with Research and Development

High-performing Executive with more than 25 years of success in leading projects, creating new products and solutions of the highest quality, and driving initiatives that impact operational efficiencies and achieve cost savings. Vision-driven leader known for building and empowering global teams to deliver projects within the required cost, quality, and design parameters. Transformer of tactical plans into viable solutions. Display strong interpersonal and decision-making skills with special talents in encouraging a collaborative and inclusive environment while establishing and solidifying partnerships with internal teams, stakeholders and all levels of management. Regarded for consistent knowledge of current trends, practices, developments, and regulatory changes that significantly impact products and formulations. Continuously benchmark achievements to ensure performance improvement on key process indicators (KPIs) and organizational goals.

Core Competencies

Research and Development New Product Development Pilot Plant Operations Management Commercialization CAPEX Stage Gate Process Design for Six Sigma DMAIC

New Process Development Engineering Management Budgeting Regulatory Compliance

Risk Mitigation Quality Engineering Performance Optimization Continuous Improvement Process Engineering

Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) Project Management & Planning Team Building & Leadership Training

Strategic Planning Quality Assurance Change Agent Project Staffing QS16949 Kaizen

ISO 9001 ISO 14001 Internal Auditor Chemical Batch Processing Chemical Packaging

Professional Experience

AIM Solder, Cranston, RI 2019 – 2024

Global Director of Research and Development

Specialty chemicals, soldering materials, alloys, alloy recycling.

Lead a global cross functional team to produce new Chemical Fluxes, Pastes, Tacky Fluxes for emerging technologies such as LED displays and automotive safety systems.

Strengthen the group global program by identifying and integrating world-class RD&E work process transformation to deliver solder pastes, fluxes, wires, tacky fluxes and alloys to the market.

Define competitive advantage opportunities and assert R&D strategies in accordance with IPC and JIS standards.

Establish partnerships with the Product Management, Manufacturing, Engineering, Sales and Marketing teams to help accelerate the rate of innovation and speed to market of new products.

Increase production opportunities through close collaboration with chemists, metallurgists, laboratory personnel, technicians and quality assurance teams.

Champion time management, costs, laboratory set-up and upgrades, product transfer to manufacturing and test data generation required for each product group.

Directs a 16 member international group including 3 PhD Organic Chemists and 1 PhD Chemical Engineer in Canada and a group of MS and BS Chemists and Chemical Engineers in Mexico. The group also contains metallurgists/materials scientists and a regulatory compliance officer.

Expanding the R&D group in Europe and China to provide technical support to key global regions.

Expanded and retrofit R&D offices and laboratories at the global headquarters in Montreal, QC. Retrofit R&D office and laboratory in Juarez, MX. Transferred laboratory and materials science equipment from the Industrial and Specialty Chemicals division in Rhode Island location to R&D in Juarez, MX.

KESTER Inc., ITASCA, IL 2014 – 2019

R&D ENGINEERING MANAGER

Semiconductor materials, specialty chemicals, soldering materials, automotive supplier.

Lead a global cross functional team to produce new Chemical Fluxes, Pastes, Tacky Fluxes, and Underfills developed by the Global Technology team; also offer leadership during later development phases.

Key role in design for manufacturing to ensure manufacturability levels and facilitation of proper process transfer to global operations for all new products. Provide analytical services for new products and equipment transfers.

Lead the execution of carefully-designed experimental plans to optimize production based on product quality, as well as overall process performance and sturdiness. Transfer methods from development to quality control.

Key role in planning of annual operating plans and CAPEX for manufacturing needs on new products. My team also plans CAPEX for pilot plant operations and test/measuring equipment and service contracts.

Manages pilot operations, alpha & beta sampling to customers, test & measurement and regulatory compliance.

Technical supply chain management of all critical, new product and incoming raw material criteria in conjunction with Formulators, Scientists, Analytical Chemists and Application Engineers.

Gather engineering data to design processes and prepare products for mass production; includes defining the process qualification plan based on usability and performance study results

Strategic role with Operations staff to best understand the limits of manufacturing equipment and materials; note gaps and proactively draft CAPEX requests as needed.

Investigate and implement new and improved processes into the corporate Quality System and align technologies across Kester sites in the U.S., Asia and Europe. Commercialized new products using a stage gate process.

Proven track record of building cross functional teams and mentoring of talent within my group and also in other groups. Mentoring and team building of technical talent in the organization. Non-technical talent management and mentoring of high potential employees.

NANOPHASE TECHNOLOGIES, ROMEOVILLE, IL 2013 – 2014

DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER

Personal Care, nanoparticle technology, specialty chemicals

Managed the commercialization of new product offerings, including design transfer from Research & Development (R&D), scale-up and product qualification, along with new process developments used for product realization.

Managed a cross functional team to work in conjunction with Operations, R&D, and Sales & Marketing Managers to boost quality levels. Reported results to the senior leadership team.

Member of the senior leadership team. Created product cost models; offered best and worst-case cost and technical scenarios in the early stages of development.

Devised product specifications and test methods to measure product parameters were in alignment with the customer expectations and cGMP compliant.

Lead role in the product and equipment transfer of new products from R&D to manufacturing qualification, including related startups and managed the pilot operations and development engineering team.

Developed new processes to bring items to fruition and enhance both the quality and cost of existing products.

Devise specifications and engage clients to capture critical to quality (CTC)

CABOT MICROELECTRONICS CORPORATION, AURORA, IL 2005 – 2013

COMMERCIALIZATION ENGINEER

Semiconductors, specialty chemicals, chemical mechanical planarization.

Commercialized high margin product lines from R&D to high-volume manufacturing (HVM) following the Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) process at all global CMC sites.

Managed a global cross functional team (CFT) for new product introductions, resolving any customer concerns and oversaw all engineering efforts to satisfy the voice of the customer (VOC) and customer qualifications.

Managed the optimization of existing and new product offerings by integrating best practices into the manufacturing process and training the CFT to resolve performance, cost, and quality issues, also managed the global rollout of these programs.

Managed a small CFT to develop and launch a high-efficiency mixing process for Tungsten slurry resulting in annual savings of 1% of sales for a marquee legacy product. This also involved an internal Management of Change (MOC).

Managed a project with the technical supply chain team and collaborated with a key supplier on a new key chemistry for two product families to increase the sales of a product line by 20%.

Managed a CFT to expand a high margin product line closer to the customer. Commissioned a new product line at a new global facility and increased capacity at another existing facility to support the organic growth for this product line.

Partnered with a key supplier by introducing programs and projects centered on improving supplier quality. Mentored and trained suppler staff with green belt training and assisted with DMAIC projects at their global sites.

Created a new technical assessment of raw materials for new products with deliverables including identification and measurement of trace levels of contaminants and literature searches to find ways to commercially produce those raw materials. Partnered with R&D formulators and created a mass balance for all trace elements. This functional data was used by the scientists for formulation window designs of experiments and also for the technical supply chain team to identify suppliers and assess technical capabilities of these suppliers.

Gathered and assessed supplier data to audit and evaluate Supplier Quality Systems; utilized audit and scorecard findings to lead process improvements related to supplier systems and product quality levels

Managed the Supplier Corrective Action Request (SCAR) process to drive corrective measures amongst suppliers and ensure that suppliers called on proper root cause analyses to rectify these SCARS.

Participated in six sigma structured programs including HAZOP and Hazard Reviews, Management of Change and Change Control, Control Plans, FMEA, Operational Readiness, NPI raw material review and new chemical introduction, supplier audits, mixing and handling studies, design reviews and SWOT analysis.

Education & Training

Bachelor of Science, Polymer Chemistry, Rochester Institute of Technology

Six Sigma Green and Black Belt

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