- High Country Backpacking
- Outdoor Rock Climbing Enthusiast
- Wilderness First Responder Certification (WFR)
Megan Cavanaugh
Process Engineer
US
Overview
6
6
years of professional experience
4043
4043
years of post-secondary education
Work History
Process Engineer II
Monolith
03.2024 - 05.2025
- Supported a planned multi-billion-dollar methane pyrolysis plant expansion, scaling capacity 12x for hydrogen and carbon black production.
- Analyzed data from the existing pyrolysis plant using JMP to define operating parameters and scale-up risks. Operating parameters were added to the Process Design Basis for use by the EPC.
- Utilized Aspen EDR and Aspen HYSYS to make design recommendations on boiler and heat exchanger sizing.
- Contributed to internal data analysis tools in Python to streamline process monitoring, reporting, and decision-making.
- Led a team of mechanical and chemical engineers to solve a rate-limiting factor in the process, improving control and plant performance. Quantified process levers, which were previously unidentified, were able to be used for in-run decision making.
- Conducted root cause analysis to identify cause of recurring process shutdowns. Result of RCA reduced this failure mode entirely while also improving overall startup efficiency.
R&D Process Scientist II
Clorox
03.2023 - 09.2023
- Lead process engineer for agglomeration team in commissioning of a greenfield cat litter plant.
- Developed operational plan for particle production (agglomeration). Trained operators and plant managers to execute.
- Delivered 3 optimized unit operations critical for running plant at 100% capacity.
- Created Design of Experiments and led plant scale trials to understand critical process levers. Analyzed trials with JMP to improve plant yield by 20%.
- Minimized downtime by optimizing powder conveying and feeding systems' parameters in our continuous solids process.
- Identified and reduced commissioning product waste by 90% through changes in procedures, surpassing plant waste reduction goal of 50%. Created a culture of focus on sustainability.
R&D Process Scientist I
Clorox
09.2021 - 03.2023
- Process and product developer of a new silica gel processing line with a co-packer in China for a $20M dollar business growth opportunity.
- Created and distributed a new quality test method to 3 manufacturing plants and suppliers to improve consistency across the Clorox network. Improved ability to detect product quality issues by increasing signal to noise ratio by 10%.
- Spearheaded implementation of JMP for new data analysis techniques in business unit and pushed for increases in efficiency.
Graduate Research Assistant
Dr. Angela Pitenis Research Lab
09.2019 - 03.2021
- Proposed new models to describe contact mechanics of soft polymeric materials.
- Developed new method of measuring the friction coefficient and thickness of an aqueous gel with an SFA (Surface Forces Apparatus). Characterized gel properties including surface roughness and Young's modulus via SEM and SFA.
R&D Intern
Clorox
06.2019 - 08.2019
- Developed and led a consumer test for new R&D formulas.
- Created and ran Design of Experiments to identify best product from formula space. Made a new Excel tool to organize and view formula data, increasing efficiency in decision making during supply chain disruptions.
Education
Master of Science - Materials Science, Macromolecular And Biomolecular Materials
UC Santa Barbara
06-2021
Bachelor of Science - Chemical Engineering
UC Santa Barbara
06-2020
Skills
- MATLAB
- JMP (Statistical Software)
- Microsoft Excel
- Minitab (Statistical Software)
- Aspen HYSYS
- Python
- Design of Experiments (Stat-Ease/DX, JMP)
- Process Capability Analysis
- Root Cause Analysis
- Solids Processing
Publications
- 02/01/21, A Simple Contact Mechanics Model for Highly Strained Aqueous Surface Gels, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11340-021-00699-5
- 06/01/21, Amphiphilic gel lubrication and the solvophilic transition, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352573821000111
- 11/01/22, In Vitro Models of Soft Tissue Damage by Implant-Associated Frictional Shear Stresses, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13506501221132897
Interests
Timeline
Process Engineer II
Monolith
03.2024 - 05.2025
R&D Process Scientist II
Clorox
03.2023 - 09.2023
R&D Process Scientist I
Clorox
09.2021 - 03.2023
Graduate Research Assistant
Dr. Angela Pitenis Research Lab
09.2019 - 03.2021
R&D Intern
Clorox
06.2019 - 08.2019
Master of Science - Materials Science, Macromolecular And Biomolecular Materials
UC Santa Barbara
Bachelor of Science - Chemical Engineering
UC Santa Barbara
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