Engineer Engineering

EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS

Ph.D., Chemical Engineering University of South Florida

August 2009 Tampa, FL

M.S., Chemical Engineering University of South Florida

May 2007 Tampa, FL

B.S., Chemical Engineering University of Nebraska-Lincoln

May 2005 Lincoln, NE

Professional Engineer, Chemical Engineering State of California

June 2010

ENGINEERING PROFILE

• Detail-driven chemical engineer with track record of success in free radical polymerization, heat transfer and process improvement with six sigma methodologies. Strong R&D skills developed in chemical separations and emulsification.

• Technical leader in process scale-up with experience in personnel management ranging from operators to entry-level engineers, and some project management.

• Strong skills. Transferred processes from pilot to industrial scale. Results were verified using experimental and finite element techniques.

• Extensive characterization skills in microscopy (TEM, SEM, AFM), spectroscopy (UV-Vis, FTIR, Raman) and bench-top chemistry. Design packages: AutoCAD Lite, MathCAD, some Comsol Multiphysics, JMP (SAS), LATEX, LabVIEW, Matlab

• Expertise in research methods, experimental design, writing and responding to RFPs, report-writing, and presentation of research results to technical and non-technical audiences.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

E Ink Corporation July 2011 - Present

Process Development Engineer III

• Worked within research and development teams to develop electrophoretic colloids dispersions determine for next generation e-reader display technologies.

• Primary scale-up engineer responsible for process development and transfer on scale lengths ranging from 1L to 400L. Conducted experimental and computational tests to verify results.

• Lead the commission of new reactors to meet and then exceed demand of core-shell pigment particles. Debottlenecked a major process to increase production and revenue.

• Supervised two operators for processes involving graft polymerization and colloidal dispersion.

Texas A& M University / HTRI August 2009 – July 2011

Industrial Post-Doctoral Research Engineer,

• In charge of designing and conducting pilot plant tests to determine physical properties of process fluids (para-xylene, crude oil) and identify the dominant fouling mechanism in crude oil preheat train heat exchangers.

• Identified and corrected design flaws with test units. Helped design a new internal test rig for high temperature and pressure processes.

• Develop research proposals, assign tasks to field technicians, and collaborate with faculty to simulate heat exchanger fouling.

• Conducted webinars, developed technical reports, and proprietary crude oil testing for refineries.

University of South Florida August 2005 – July 2009

Adjunct Professor, Teaching/Research Assistant

• Synthesized new temperature-responsible nanocomposites for polishing, remediation and controlled release applications.

• Obtained multiple accolades for teaching/research distinction and excellence in mentorship.

• Developed expert skills in nanotechnology, polymer synthesis, material characterization and semi-conductor fabrication while working as a research assistant.

PATENTS

V. Gupta, C. Coutinho, and M. Trotz, “Functional Composites Formed from Colloidal Polymer Particles with Photocatalytic Metal Oxide (MOx) Nanoparticles”, US Patent 8,158,005 (2012).

V. Gupta, A. Kumar, C. Coutinho, S. Mudhivarthi, “Polymeric Microgels for Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) Processing”, World Intellectual Property, WO2008052216 (2008).

SELECT PUBLICATIONS (10 PEER-REVIEW PUBLICATIONS IN TOTAL)

C. Coutinho and V. Gupta. Handbook of Plastics Engineering. In M. Kutz (Eds.), “CMP Using Polymeric Additives and Composite Abrasive Particles” Elsevier. ISBN: 978********** (2011).

J. Nesta and C. Coutinho, “Update on designing for high fouling liquids”, Hydrocarbon Processing 90(5), 83-86 (2011).

C. Coutinho and V. Gupta, “Photocatalytic Degradation of Methyl Orange Using Polymer-Titania Microcomposites”, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 333-2, 457-464 (2009)

SELECT PRESENTATIONS (29 IN TOTAL)

C. Coutinho and V. Gupta, “Photocatalytic performance of rapid settling Pnipam-Titania composites”, Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Nashville (TN), November 2009.

C. Coutinho, A. Kumar, and V. Gupta, “Novel Ceria-Polymer Composites for Reduced Defects during Oxide CMP”, Spring Meeting of the Materials Research Society, San Francisco (CA), April 2009.

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