2016 CBE Alumni Panel

Panel Discussion: Changing Roles of Chemical Engineers

Join past and present Chemical Engineers from Drexel University as we discuss evolving career opportunities with your academic training. Over a sumptuous breakfast and lunch, alumni will share their career trajectories and discuss challenges and opportunities in Energy, Water and Health Care industries. Career paths of the panelists in these sectors will be illustrated. You will have the opportunity to learn from their experiences and network with peers across the industries.

Panel Event Sponsored by Drexel University Alumni Association
Raffle Prizes Sponsored by Trader Joe's, Joe Coffee, Wahoo Tacos

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Saturday, April 23, 2016
9:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Bossone Atrium, 3rd Floor

MODERATOR:

Raj Mutharsan received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Madras (India) and a Ph. D in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University in 1973. After a post doctoral year at the University of Toronto in Canada, he joined Drexel University on the faculty and has been there since 1974.

He is the Frank A. Fletcher Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Currently he is the Program Director of NanoBiosensing at the National Science Foundation. He has served in many administrative capacities at Drexel including as the Interim Dean of College of Engineering (1997-2000). He led Engineering Curriculum Innovation Program – a seven university coalition on engineering education - at Drexel funded by the National Science Foundation during 1995-2004.

He is a Fellow of American Institute of Chemical Engineers (2000), Fellow of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2006) and Fellow of the American Association of Advancement of Science (2011). He serves on the Editorial Board of Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, a Springer journal.

His research interests are in biosensors and process biotechnology. He has published extensively in the areas of biosensors, bioreactors and materials processing. He has directed 27 PhD and 47 MS students.

At Drexel, Raj directs research on cantilever, fiber optic and magneto-elastic sensors for detecting pathogens, proteins and DNA. His biosensors research is funded by the NSF, USDA, EPA, Pennsylvania Department of Health, and by the Department of Transportation/Department of Homeland Security.

Mutharasan’s inventions have lead to several patents – in the area of aluminum processing and biosensors. The biosensor have been licensed to two start-up companies.

PANELISTS

Dr. Jeff Barrett is Vice President, Global Head of the Interdisciplinary Pharmacometrics Program (IPP) and Global Head of Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology at Sanofi Pharmaceuticals. He leads the modeling and simulation efforts across scientific core platforms at Sanofi -- developing, testing, and exploiting quantitative relationships to facilitate critical decisions. Jeff spent the previous 10+ years at the University of Pennsylvania where he was Professor, Pediatrics and Director, Laboratory for Applied PK/PD at the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania (CHOP). His academic career was highlighted by sustained NIH support for pharmacometric research across numerous therapeutic areas in adult and pediatric populations. He continues to serve as an Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics at the U Penn School of Medicine and is the course director for two courses in the regulatory sciences track in the Masters in Translational Research program. Prior to tenure at U Penn / CHOP, Jeff spent 13 years in the pharmaceutical industry. Jeff received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University and Ph.D. in Pharmacokinetics from University of Michigan. He is a fellow of ACCP and AAPS and the recipient of numerous honors including ACCP awards for Young Investigator (2002) and Mentorship in Clinical Pharmacology (2007) and the AAPS Award in Clinical Pharmacology and Translational Research (2011). Dr. Barrett was awarded for Exceptional Innovation and Advancing the Discipline of Pharmacometrics at the International Society for Pharmacometrics (2013) and was inducted into Drexel University, College of Engineering’s Circle of Distinction in 2015. He has co-authored over 150 manuscripts and has given over 125 invited lectures on PK/PD, clinical pharmacology and pharmacometrics. He serves on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics and the ASCPT Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology Journal and is the co-Specialty Chief Editor of Frontiers in Obstetric and Pediatric Pharmacology.

Mr. Brandon is the Vice President and General Manager of the Philadelphia Refining Complex. In this role, Mr. Brandon is responsible for the safe, environmentally responsible and reliable production of quality products at the Refining Complex. Responsible for all facility operations.

Mr. Brandon has extensive Petrochemical/Refining experience that spans 25 years and includes leadership roles in operations, optimization, engineering, maintenance and capital project management. Prior to joining Philadelphia Energy Solutions, Mr. Brandon was the Site Operations Director of Sunoco’s Philadelphia Refinery and held a variety of leadership positions at three Sunoco sites. Prior to Sunoco, Mr. Brandon worked for 5 years in the gypsum industry at four sites.

Mr. Brandon holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University. His wife, Donna ’88 BSChemE, and sons, Mark Jr ’13 BSME, Mike ’16 BSME and Matt ’19 BSECE, currently attend or have attended Drexel.

 

Jim is a Chemical Engineering Principal Consultant in the Chemical & Bioprocess Engineering group of DuPont Engineering Research and Technology. A leader in applying chemical and environmental engineering fundamental principles and know-how to solve challenging problems of significant environmental concern, he has 31 years of combined experience in plant process engineering, environmental and chemical engineering consulting, process and product development, and project engineering. Jim’s expertise areas include aqueous electrolyte thermodynamics, environmental fate and transport, remediation of trace metals, pollution prevention, air emissions control, water treatment, and economic evaluations. He is the corporate authority on chemical fate modeling for underground injection wells and management of arsenic- and mercury-contaminated systems. Jim’s multidisciplinary educational background includes a BS in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University and both an MS in Environmental Engineering and Ph.D. in Environmental Soil Chemistry from the University of Delaware. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Delaware.

Jim has been recognized for his accomplishments throughout his academic and industrial careers, including corporate Engineering and SHE Excellence Awards for pollution prevention, an Innovation Award from DuPont Titanium Technologies, the University of Delaware’s Wolf Prize for the most outstanding dissertation in the Physical & Life Sciences, an invitation to the National Academy of Engineering's Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, selection as a finalist for the National Academy of Sciences’ International Prize for Sustainable Development, and being named an associate with the DuPont Fellows Forum. He is the author of a book on pollution prevention and 3 chapters in books on VOC control and geochemical modeling. Jim has also published over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles and more than 70 environmental technology pamphlets and 20 engineering accession reports inside DuPont. He has given more than 40 invited talks and professional society presentations in several fields.

Jim enjoys reading, sports, the outdoors, home projects, mentoring, and serving others. A new home- or auto-repair challenge is always welcome.

Doctor Giordano is an alumnus of Drexel University, earning a B.S. in Chemical Engineering in 1988, as well as an alumnus of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she earned a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) degree in 1996. She currently works as a Medical Safety Officer for Johnson & Johnson supporting orthopedic products.

Patricia demonstrated an early affinity for the healthcare field while working through most of high school in the laboratory at Paoli Hospital. The Drexel co-operative education experience then led her to the pharmaceutical industry, with two assignments completed at ICI Americas (now Astra Zeneca) in product formulation and processing technology. Upon graduation from Drexel, she joined Merck & Co., Inc., where, during her 4-year tenure, she held positions in Quality Control, Process Validation and Global Pharmaceutical Engineering & Technical Services.

It was the combination of her engineering education, her exposure to the healthcare profession, and her passion for improving the lives of people through medicine, that motivated Patricia to pursue a degree in Osteopathic Medicine and Board Certification in Family Medicine. Following residency, she worked in private family practice for over five years with responsibility for the care of more than 16,000 patients in the rural communities of Chester County, Pennsylvania, practicing in hospital, nursing home and outpatient settings.

In 2004, Patricia left medical practice to join Johnson & Johnson, where she has worked in all three sectors of the company: Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Products and Medical Devices. In the Janssen Pharmaceutical division, she was responsible for the establishment and management of safety profiles for products in clinical development and following market approval. Patricia became a leader in initiatives to incorporate supply chain quality surveillance into medical safety surveillance. The experience prompted her move to the Consumer Products division in 2011 during a critical remediation of supply chain and quality operations under FDA Consent Decree. The acquisition of Synthes, Inc. prompted her move to the Medical Devices division in 2013. She now oversees the safety of orthopedic trauma, craniomaxillofacial, biomaterials, power tools and spine products that are regulated as device, drug-device combination and human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue-based products (HCT/Ps). Patricia provides support across the entire product lifecycle, but she finds it most rewarding when her education and experience are leveraged and applied toward due diligence activities that inform licensing and acquisition opportunities for novel patient solutions to satisfy unmet medical needs.

Patricia has been an elected Director of the Drexel University Alumni Association Board of Governors since July 2015. She resides in Glenmoore, Pennsylvania with her husband and twin sons. Her office is based in West Chester, Pennsylvania where she enjoys collaborating with many other Drexel Dragons.

Mark served as Technical Leader at Monroe Energy from September 2012 to July 2015. During this time, he had oversight of Process Engineering, Process Design, and Process Controls. Most recently, he became Maintenance Leader in August 2015.

Prior to joining Monroe, Mark was a Senior Process Engineer with Norton Engineering Consultants, Inc, where he was responsible for front end engineering, troubleshooting complex issues, and process optimization. Earlier in his career, Mark held Process Engineering, Operations Supervisor, and Planning & Economics positions with ConocoPhillips at the Trainer Refinery.

Mark has a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University.

Jim received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University in 1987 and is a registered Professional Engineer in New Jersey. Jim is currently a Senior Remediation Leader and Remediation technology Manager for Environmental Remediation and Restoration group of The Dow Chemical Company in Bristol, PA. He currently manages a portfolio of remediation projects across the United States. Jim joined Dow in 2009 when Dow acquired Rohm and Haas. He has over 27 years of experience in the fields of environmental engineering and remediation. He has been a project manager and environmental technologist for Union Carbide; a group leader, regional engineering manager and a vice president/global program manager for CH2M; and a risk manager/technologist for Rohm and Haas prior to Dow. He has led the technology selection, design, construction and start-up of remedial systems in France, Italy, Mexico, Canada and the US. Jim has co-authored various papers related to remediation and remedial technology applications. He is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Project Management Institute, and National Society of Professional Engineers. In addition to his industrial and scientific pursuits, Jim is also a Dow STEM Ambassador, the co-chair of his local middle school Science and Engineering Fair, and a FIRST Robotics coach/mentor for his local high school.

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