Experience

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  Virginia tech

  Aug 2017 - May 2018

  • Studied osteoporosis and its relationship to cellular senescence in human bone mesenchymal and adipose stem cells.• Worked in a Level 2 Biosafety Cabinet. Practiced aseptic technique with stem cells and fibroblasts.• Captured photos of cell cultures and assays for analysis using ImageJ software, and performed statistical analysis on staining efficiency of Beta-Galactosidase Assay.• Analyzed absorbance readings of alamarBlue Assays of healthy, osteoporotic, and Rosiglitazone treated stem cells.• Read and dissected literature relevant to the field and compiled tabulation of findings to help graduate student’s research. Show less • Senior Design Award of Excellence: First Place• Designed a coaxial turbulent jet mixer and downstream production plant for loading the chemotherapeutic drug Paclitaxel into PLGA nanoparticles to be used initially in treatment of non-small cell lung cancer and breast cancer.• Verified compliance with FDA, EPA, and OSHA regulations, in particular with cGMP.• Evaluated and selected materials for construction of jet mixer. Corresponded with manufacturers and obtained quotes for solutes and solvents used in drug production as well as consumables and downstream unit operations.• Designed SuperPro drawing showing jet mixer’s effect on downstream processes and wrote documentation on simulation. • Identified bottlenecks in production and led process improvements and reduced production time per batch.• Increased profitability and scalability, made the jet mixer the rate limiting step, and reduced the costs of labor and raw materials, while ensuring that requirements for product quality were met.• Worked on optimizing purification operations including ultrafiltration, size exclusion chromatography, and centrifugation.• Performed cost modeling with Excel and SuperPro to account for costs of manufacturing.• Collaborated with teammates using AutoCAD to draw jet mixer design and alter dimensions.• Used ANSYS CFD software to work with teammates on fluid flow simulation and increased encapsulation efficiency and final product yield by changing flow conditions.• Researched clinical development, the drug approval process, marketing costs, drug pricing strategies, supply chain markups, and competitor financial reports to determine appropriate drug price to overcome upfront costs and undercut competition.• Organized team meetings, set team goals, made sure team was on schedule, and communicated with advisors and consultants. Show less

  • Undergraduate Researcher

    Jan 2018 - May 2018

  • Senior Capstone Project

    Aug 2017 - May 2018
• 

  Dsm

  May 2018 - now

  • Downstream processing technical lead for biochemical vitamin production processes and developing scale-down models of existing lipids production processes.• Collaborate with fermentation, analytical, and operation specialists to coordinate pasteurization of fermentation broth, analysis, and lab support services.• Author technical reports, experiment designs, technical learnings, recommendations, and perform process modeling and technoeconomic analysis.• Improve scale-down mixing models of pilot and production reactors.• Collaborate with colleagues to identify key parameters and develop strategies for improving disc stack centrifugation yield at production scale. • Developed a centrifugation process toolbox (Excel). Mentored colleagues on how to use toolbox in supporting scale-down of production and pilot scale centrifuges.• Led downstream processing project on nutritional lipid innovation. Demonstrated no yield loss compared to original production strain. • Collaborated with pilot and production sites to design and execute successful pilot and production scale trials while meeting variable cost target.• Evaluated valorization of waste stream for animal feed protein source. Authored technical report summarizing findings and provided technoeconomic analysis of process.• Lead LEAN A-3 exercise for optimizing lab spaces.• Created electronic module for conducting and communicating safety observations. Trained >20 employees onsite on how to use module for evaluating new technologies, safety incidents, and work processes. Managed STEM outreach initiative. Planned career fairs, guest lectures, seminars, and networking events with universities and professional organizations. Show less • Developed lab and pilot scale purification processes for purification of human milk oligosaccharide with membrane filtration and ion exchange/adsorption chromatography. Co-authored technical report and presented to stakeholders. • Helped to set up and use AKTA Purifier 10 in flowthrough chromatography experiments.• Designed and executed experiments as part of a team using disc stack centrifugation and crystallization to obtain crystallized vitamins for animal feed.• Developed and improved data entry and analysis templates for tangential flow filtration, calculating yields, mass balance closures, and evaluating other key parameters. Mentored colleagues on how to use the template.• Created an Ion Exchange/Adsorption Chromatography template for data entry and analysis for calculating yield, mass balance closures, and other key parameters.• Designed, conducted, and analyzed experiments for lipids extraction processes.• Coordinated company culture change initiative and organized meetings with colleagues from North American sites and external consultants. Led global webinars featuring guest speakers during site shutdown. Show less • Assist in designing, conducting, and troubleshooting lab scale microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and nanofiltration experiments.• Analyze data of experimental results to aid project decisions on unit operations for scale-up of a workstream for production and purification of human milk oligosaccharides for infant formula.• Create a cost model to help project management choose between membranes for full scale production. Perform cost modeling for a separate workstream related to the extraction and distillation of polar lipids.• Perform ion exchange chromatography experiments to remove impurities from human milk oligosaccharides on a lab scale.• Dissect literature on ion exchange chromatography and adsorption to aid in experiment design.• Aid in conducting lab scale experiments for aqueous extraction of ARA from bio-meal pellets.• Responsible for writing technical reports and giving presentations to downstream processing team. Show less

  • Associate Scientist

    May 2020 - now

  • Research Associate

    Nov 2018 - May 2020

  • R&D Downstream Processing Intern

    May 2018 - Nov 2018