Rakim Turnipseed

· Business Development and Cost optimization

- Led the technical team for the successful qualification of TEOS product with a key semiconductor customer leading to an increase of sales by 20% y/y.

- Set up a brand-new clean lab - with a capability of detecting trace metals up to parts per trillion (ppt) level -developed operational procedures and trained personnel that annually saves $250,000 for the business.

· Process Development and Supply Chain Management

- Optimized main plant process for TEOS production that is being used for sourcing and qualifying new vendors for raw materials.

- Instrumental in scaling up colloidal silica in the 500-gallon reactor. Supported lab-scale synthesis, characterization and helped process team for successful plant trial.

· Innovation and Process Improvement

- Optimized chemical pretreatments for biomass that leads to the generation of materials for increasing output of biodiesel by 25%.

- Processed biomaterials towards development of composite materials that are being tested in the production of car bumpers.Innovation and Process Improvement

- Optimized chemical pretreatments for biomass that leads to the generation of materials for increasing output of biodiesel by 25%.

- Processed biomaterials towards development of composite materials that are being tested in the production of car bumpers.

• Safety stewardship and Mentorship

- Led the safety efforts in the laboratory, organized process hazard analysis before a new reaction and/or process. Maintained a chemical hygiene plan, wrote SOPs and managed staff training records.

- Trained junior scientists, international fellows and undergraduate students in lab processes and instrumentation.

● Research and Innovation

- Proposed, designed & synthesized nickel-based electrocatalyst that performed hydrogen oxidation at ambient temperature and pressure and at the same time reduced overpotential. This work has potential to use sustainable catalysts in hydrogen fuel cells replacing third row metals.

- Developed novel transition metal-doped optical materials replacing lanthanide-doped ones.

· Collaboration, Safety and Supervision

- Collaborated with top US universities like Yale, UW-Madison as part of a research consortium and published research papers.

- Supervised and trained two summer interns at PNNL.

- Part of the safety team doing weekly and monthly inspections of critical lab equipment and highly toxic chemicals.