ADETOKUNBO OGUNBAJO (TK)
Knightdale,NC
Summary
Innovative Product and Application Development Engineer with over 10 years of experience in release liners, flexible packaging, and advanced materials development. Expertise in material selection, formulation, and scaling products from concept to commercialization. Skilled in silicone release liners, adhesive lamination, and polymer chemistry. Collaborates effectively with cross-functional teams to address complex product-performance challenges and deliver viable solutions.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
Work History
Application Development Engineer
TOPPAN FLEXIBLE PACKAGING AMERICAS
08.2024 - Current
- Lead application development activities for flexible packaging products, partnering directly with customers to understand technical requirements, application conditions, performance expectations, and critical-to-quality requirements.
- Design sealing laminate structures for food, medical, and healthcare packaging applications with consideration for product protection, seal performance, manufacturability, and customer requirements.
- Translate customer requirements into packaging structural recommendations, including selection of appropriate materials, suppliers, grades, films, coatings, adhesives, and laminate configurations.
- Conducted pilot and commercial trials for flexographic and rotogravure printing, gravure coating, adhesive lamination, and extrusion lamination to validate product performance.
- Collaborated with internal and external manufacturing facilities to ensure consistent production of newly developed structures across multiple locations.
- Work cross-functionally with Business Development, Supply Chain, Customer Service, Sales, Operations, and manufacturing technical teams to deliver customer projects and new product development programs.
- Provided technical support during customer and production trials, analyzed results, and recommended structural or process modifications to enhance product performance.
- Develop and provide Technical Data Sheets (TDS) and other technical documentation to customers.
- Partner with plant technical teams to develop and maintain plant specifications for new and existing structures.
- Prepare and submit Trial Request Forms (TRFs) and Product Safety Review/Qualification documentation to support commercialization.
- Build product structures and commercialization information in the company's commercialization/CRM platform to support pricing and launch activities.
Senior Product Development Engineer
TEKNIPLEX
Winston-Salem, NC
10.2021 - 07.2024
- Led discovery and development of new flexible packaging products and structures in collaboration with Sales, Supply Chain, Customer Service, Operations, and customers.
- Designed sealing laminate structures for food, medical, and healthcare packaging applications based on customer performance requirements and manufacturing capabilities.
- Translated customer requirements into material and structural recommendations while balancing performance, cost, manufacturability, and supply considerations.
- Developed cost estimates for new and modified flexible packaging structures, enabling informed commercial proposals and guiding product development decisions.
- Conducted commercial and pilot-scale trials involving flexographic and rotogravure printing,gravure coating, adhesive lamination, and extrusion lamination.
- Worked directly with customers and operational and quality personnel to investigate and resolve product performance and application issues.
- Cultivated relationships with raw-material suppliers and assessed new materials to enhance performance, supply flexibility, and drive cost reduction.
- Created technical reports, presentations, and trial summaries, providing actionable recommendations for customers and internal management.
- Planned, documented, and communicated trial requirements to Sales, Operations, Customer Service, and other internal stakeholders.
- Applied project-management tools and structured development processes to manage multiple projects across different customers and markets.
- Communicated effectively across organizational levels, from hourly manufacturing personnel to senior management, to ensure successful project execution.
Product Development Engineer
LOPAREX INC.
Cary, NC
01.2020 - 10.2021
- Led product development projects from customer requirements and product concept through laboratory development, pilot trials, manufacturing scale-up, commercialization, and customer acceptance.
- Served as project lead for multiple new product development programs across customers and market segments.
- Identified, developed, and modified silicone formulations to improve product performance and meet customer requirements.
- Developed silicone release liner processes and formulations for industrial and consumer applications serving building products, consumer products, medical, and graphic arts markets.
- Optimized silicone release systems using flexographic printers, offset gravure, five-roll metering-roll coaters, and forced-air thermal curing to enhance product performance.
- Worked with solventless platinum- and rhodium-catalyzed silicone systems to develop release liner products with targeted performance characteristics.
- Managed product development activities spanning manufacturing, slitting, packaging, customer delivery, and final product acceptance.
- Collaborated with Sales to identify new business opportunities and develop innovative products that aligned with customer needs and supported revenue growth.
- Supported the company's Stage-Gate product development process, ensuring development activities, testing, documentation, and commercialization milestones were completed.
- Led cost-reduction and continuous product improvement initiatives to enhance product quality and operational efficiency.
- Analyzed experimental and production data and communicated technically and commercially relevant conclusions to management.
- Supported scale-up and commercialization activities at internal manufacturing facilities and customer sites to ensure successful product launches.
Manufacturing Technology Engineer
LOPAREX INC.
Eden, NC
10.2018 - 01.2020
- Planned and executed manufacturing trials for new product designs and process modifications.
- Developed operator work instructions and trial procedures, ensuring efficient and repeatable execution of manufacturing trials.
- Supported troubleshooting and implementation of process improvements to improve product consistency and manufacturing performance.
- Provided technical support to manufacturing operations, addressing product design and process-related issues.
- Partnered closely with Operations to optimize production processes during new-product trials.
- Analyzed trial results, preparing technical reports and recommendations to inform senior management decisions.
- Established and documented standard operating conditions for newly developed products.
- Evaluated optimal utilization of plant assets, including slitters, coaters, and printers, from a product-design perspective to minimize cost and maximize profitability.
- Supported technology-development projects from pilot and manufacturing scale-up through commercialization.
R&D / Technical Service Engineer
LOPAREX INC.
Cary, NC
07.2016 - 10.2018
- Designed and followed products through the complete development process, from raw-material selection through coating, printing, curing, slitting, and customer performance evaluation.
- Provided technical support to customers and sales teams, resolving product design and application issues to enhance customer satisfaction.
- Visited customer facilities to troubleshoot product-performance issues and support end-use applications, fostering strong customer relationships.
- Developed product recommendations based on customer end-use applications and required performance characteristics.
- Recommended internal and external laboratory testing to address quality and product-performance issues affecting customers, suppliers, and manufacturing facilities.
- Developed expertise in paper, thin polyester, polyethylene films, and extrusion-coated substrates, including material properties and selection criteria for release liner applications.
- Worked cross-functionally with Operations, Sales, Customer Service, Supply Chain, and Technical teams to complete projects on schedule.
- Supported multiple manufacturing facilities with technical investigations, product recommendations, and process/product-development activities.
Catalyst Test Engineer
CORMETECH INC.
Durham, NC
06.2013 - 07.2016
- Conducted pilot-reactor performance testing of SCR catalysts, assessing mercury oxidation and NOx/SOx emissions to inform catalyst optimization.
- Conducted catalyst activity evaluation testing for R&D and technical-service projects.
- Collected, analyzed, and interpreted experimental data, preparing technical summaries to facilitate data-driven decision-making.
- Characterized new and spent catalyst materials using ion chromatography, FTIR, NOx analyzers, and SO2 analyzers.
- Operated and monitored complex chemical-process systems through Proficy HMI/SCADA IFIX 5.0 and Honeywell PLC control systems.
- Operated gas-blending systems, mass-flow controllers, power supplies, pumps, meters, and associated test equipment.
- Troubleshot laboratory equipment, sample trains, instrumentation, pumps, meters, and process-related testing issues.
- Supported development and execution of experimental test plans, effectively communicating results to technical stakeholders to enhance project alignment.
Product & Process Development Associate
CORMETECH INC.
Durham, NC
02.2012 - 06.2013
- Conducted detailed testing and analysis, ensuring quality control for titania-based catalyst batches and monolithic catalyst products.
- Evaluated stability and thermal/chemical expansion of catalyst extrudates under simulated process conditions using a LINSIES dilatometer.
- Conducted rheological studies of catalyst formulations using empirical models and an Instron capillary rheometer to improve extrusion processes.
- Designed and executed DOE studies on mixing and impregnation processes to identify relationships between process parameters and product responses.
- Applied DOE results to new-product validation, process evaluation, and cost-reduction initiatives.
- Developed and reviewed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to enhance consistency in laboratory and production activities.
- Supported compliance with GLP and GMP requirements.
- Qualified and validated R&D testing equipment, including rheometers and dilatometers.
Education
MASTER OF SCIENCE - CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC01-2015
MASTER OF SCIENCE - INDUSTRIAL & PRODUCTION ENGINEERING
University of Ibadan
Nigeria01-2010
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE - CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
Obafemi Awolowo University
Nigeria01-2002
Skills
- Product & Application Development
- New Product Development
- Application Engineering
- Product design
- Product Qualification
- Product Commercialization
- Stage-gate development
- Technical support
- Technical Problem Solving
- Cost Estimation & Value Engineering
- Project Management
- Technical reporting
- Release Liner Technology
- Silicone coatings
- Silicone systems
- Formulation development
- Release Force Optimization
- Paper & Film Release Liners
- Flexible Packaging
- Flexible Packaging Structures
- Sealing Laminate Design
- Food Packaging
- Medical & Healthcare Packaging
- Adhesive Lamination
- Extrusion Lamination
- Coating Technologies
- Flexographic Printing
- Rotogravure Printing
- Packaging Material Selection
- Engineering & Technical
- Polymer Science
- Coatings & Formulations
- Adhesives & PSA Technology
- Rheological Testing
- Material Analysis
- Process Innovation
- Commercial Scale-Up
- DOE
- Data Analysis & Interpretation
- Root Cause Analysis
- Quality Control
- Continuous Improvement
- Manufacturing Optimization
- Analytical testing
- Release Testing
- Adhesion Testing
- Coating Characterization
- Rheological Analysis
- FTIR
- IC
- Catalyst Testing
- Pilot Reactor Testing
- Process Data Analysis
- Pilot Testing
- Microsoft Excel
- Stage-Gate / Commercialization Systems
- Cross-functional teamwork
- Visual Design
- Labeling Solutions
- Pilot Testing
- Microsoft Excel
- Stage-Gate / Commercialization Systems
- Cross-functional teamwork
Full Name
ADETOKUNBO OGUNBAJO (TK)
Headline
Product Development Engineer | Application Development Engineer | Release Liners | Flexible Packaging
Personal Information
Title: Applications Development Engineer
Project
- M.S. Chemical Engineering / Graduate Research
- B.S. Chemical Engineering Research, Study of Rheological Properties of Crude Oil in Relation to the Effect of Flow Improvers
- M.S. Industrial & Production Engineering Research, Facility Redesign of a Parallel Flowshop: Case of a Gas Station
Training
- Adhesives and Advanced Technology of PSA Tapes — Pressure Sensitive Tape Council (PSTC)
- Manufacturing and Testing of PSA Tapes — Pressure Sensitive Tape Council (PSTC)
- Advanced Lamination Sessions — Comexi CTEC
Timeline
Application Development Engineer
TOPPAN FLEXIBLE PACKAGING AMERICAS
08.2024 - Current
Senior Product Development Engineer
TEKNIPLEX
10.2021 - 07.2024
Product Development Engineer
LOPAREX INC.
01.2020 - 10.2021
Manufacturing Technology Engineer
LOPAREX INC.
10.2018 - 01.2020
R&D / Technical Service Engineer
LOPAREX INC.
07.2016 - 10.2018
Catalyst Test Engineer
CORMETECH INC.
06.2013 - 07.2016
Product & Process Development Associate
CORMETECH INC.
02.2012 - 06.2013
MASTER OF SCIENCE - CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
North Carolina State University
MASTER OF SCIENCE - INDUSTRIAL & PRODUCTION ENGINEERING
University of Ibadan
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE - CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
Obafemi Awolowo University